Nearly 650 Washington state evacuees are being housed today shelters due to the recent flooding on the west side, according to a news release from the state’s Emergency Management Division (EMD). Shelters are operated by various churches, the Red Cross and other community shelters, are located in several counties including Lewis, Grays Harbor, Thurston, Mason and Snohomish County.
The public has responded generously to the needs of flood victims, the release states. Private relief agencies and churches who are helping house flood victims say that cash donations designated for flood relief are the most helpful at this point.
WSU faculty and staff, who would like to make donations to help in the relief efforts, can be made through the WSU Combined Fund Drive, and can be targeted to any of a multitude of agencies. Donation forms and eligible agencies can be found by clicking on the following link to the WSU CFD website at www.cfd.wsu.edu and the state CFD site at https://www.cfd.wa.gov. Additional questions can be directed to Kim Bzotte, administrative assistant CFD, 360-664-1995, kimb@dop.wa.gov.
Although relief agencies continue to accept donated goods, the EMD said they want the public to understand that “donated goods” cannot be designated for specific locations or response efforts. Also, organizations such as Goodwill, Salvation Army and Red Cross are not organized to rapidly process goods directly from drop-off to local flood relief in large-scale disasters.
Primary relief efforts currently are focused on assisting local jurisdictions to repair or replace generators powering water systems, plus supplying bottled water, food and fuel to outlying population centers.
