How You Can Help After a Disastrous Hurricane

In the direct aftermath of a hurricane, the most urgent need is for financial support.

Photo: Connor McManus/PEXELS

by Casey Cartwright
Contributor Writer

When a massive hurricane makes landfall, the images of destruction can feel overwhelming. We see flooded streets, flattened homes, and communities turned upside down in a matter of hours. For those of us watching from afar, a sense of helplessness can set in. It’s natural to wonder how you can possibly make a difference when you’re hundreds or thousands of miles away. The good news is, you can. Meaningful support comes in many forms, and every contribution, no matter the size, helps communities begin the long and difficult process of recovery. This guide will walk you through the various ways you can provide assistance, from immediate relief to long-term rebuilding efforts. Here’s how you can help after a disastrous hurricane.

Take Immediate Action

In the direct aftermath of a hurricane, the most urgent need is for financial support. Emergency response teams are on the ground, and they require resources to provide food, clean water, medical care, and temporary shelter to those affected.

~ Donations

Provide Short-Term Assistance

As the initial crisis stabilizes, the focus shifts to short-term recovery.

~ Volunteer

This phase involves cleaning up debris, assessing damage, and providing safe, temporary housing for displaced residents. While many who want to help live far from the affected area, there are still ways to contribute to these efforts. One powerful way is to support organizations that coordinate volunteer deployments. Groups like All Hands and Hearts organize teams of volunteers to travel to disaster zones to help with tasks like mucking out flooded homes, removing debris, and tarping damaged roofs. If you have the time and ability to travel, this can be an incredibly impactful way to offer hands-on help.

~ Raise Awareness

For those who cannot travel, you can support these volunteer efforts financially or by helping to raise awareness. Sharing information about reputable volunteer organizations on social media can inspire others in your network to get involved.

~ Shelter Needs

Another critical area of short-term assistance is providing shelter. Organizations often set up temporary shelters in schools, churches, and community centers. You can support these shelters by donating to the organizations running them or by contributing to funds that help families find temporary rental housing. This donation gives them a sense of stability while they begin to navigate the process of rebuilding their lives.

In these relief efforts, the delivery of temperature-sensitive supplies like medicine and certain foods is critical. This delivery is where thermal packaging plays an important role in disaster relief efforts, protecting vital supplies from extreme temperatures and getting them safely to those in need.

Support Long-Term Recovery

The road to recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. Long after the news cameras have left, communities continue to face the enormous task of rebuilding. This long-term phase can last for months or even years, and it is a time when support is just as crucial. One of the most significant needs in long-term recovery is rebuilding homes and community infrastructure. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity have long-term rebuilding programs that rely on both financial donations and volunteer labor. Contributing to these initiatives helps families return to safe, permanent housing—a cornerstone of recovery.

Supporting local businesses is another vital component of long-term healing. Hurricanes can devastate local economies, forcing small businesses to close their doors permanently. When you have the opportunity, purchasing goods and services from companies in the affected region can provide a much-needed economic boost. Many local artisans and shops sell their products online, offering a direct way for you to bring money into the local economy.

Additionally, you can support community development funds and micro-loan programs that help entrepreneurs get back on their feet. These efforts not only rebuild physical structures but also restore the economic and social fabric of a community, fostering resilience for the future.

Where To Find Reliable Information

When you are ready to help, it is important to direct your support to credible and effective organizations. Here are a few reliable resources to guide your contributions.

~ Charity Navigator and Guidestar

Charity Navigator and Guidestar are excellent websites for vetting non-profit organizations. They provide detailed information about a charity’s financial health, transparency, and accountability, so you can be confident that your donation will help the efforts effectively.

~ American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is one of the most prominent organizations involved in disaster relief. They provide shelter, food, and health services to affected communities.

~ Direct Relief

Direct Relief focuses on providing medical assistance to disaster-stricken areas. They equip doctors and nurses with lifesaving medical resources to care for the world’s most vulnerable people.

~ Team Rubicon

Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to deploy emergency response teams rapidly.

~ Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity has a long-term presence in affected communities, helping families rebuild and repair their homes after a disaster.

Your Support Matters More Than You Know

The journey of a community recovering from a hurricane is long and arduous, but it is not one they have to walk alone. Every act of kindness, from a small donation to a shared social media post, contributes to a collective wave of support that makes a real difference after a disastrous hurricane. Your compassion and generosity provide not just material aid but also a powerful message of hope to people facing their darkest hour. It reminds them that we have not forgotten about them. By choosing to help, you become an essential part of the recovery, helping to rebuild not just homes and businesses, but lives and futures.

Casey is a passionate copyeditor highly motivated to provide compelling SEO content in the digital marketing space. Her expertise includes a vast range of industries from highly technical, consumer, and lifestyle-based, with an emphasis on attention to detail and readability.

TAGS: Rebuilding from a hurricane is long and arduous, American Red Cross can help after a disaster, Rebuilding homes and community infrastructure, Coordinating volunteer groups with clean-up

How communities rebuild after catastrophe, disaster recovery efforts you didn’t know about

After disasters like floods and hurricanes, recovery work continues long after cameras leave the scene of destruction. Teams stay in place to restore ecosystems, preserve cultural artifacts, and rebuild infrastructure.

Photo: Serge Lavoie/PEXELS

After a natural disaster strikes, it takes months, even years to clean up the damage and destruction left behind.

by Casey Cartwright
Contributor Writer

When disaster strikes, the immediate aftermath is a whirlwind of news coverage. We see images of first responders, hear stories of survival, and witness the initial shock of communities torn apart by hurricanes, earthquakes, or floods. But as the cameras move on to the next story, a different kind of work begins—one that is often quiet, complex, and largely unseen by the public. This is the long, arduous process of recovery, driven by dedicated individuals and innovative methods that rarely make the evening news.

Many of these lesser-known efforts are what truly enable communities to rebuild and heal. They go beyond clearing debris and providing temporary shelter. They involve restoring cultural heritage, mending ecological damage, and using specialized technology to solve critical logistical challenges. There are many disaster recovery efforts you didn’t know about that reveal a much deeper story of resilience, ingenuity, and the profound human commitment to putting things back together, piece by piece.

We’re pulling back the curtain on the recovery operations that happen in the background, long after the initial crisis has passed. We’re looking at the specialized teams and surprising techniques that are fundamental to helping communities truly recover.

After a major environmental disaster, such as an oil spill or a wildfire, the visible damage is only part of the story. The long-term health of the ecosystem hangs in the balance. While news crews capture images of cleanup crews in hazmat suits, a dedicated group of ecologists, biologists, and volunteers works to restore the environment from the ground up. This process is slow, meticulous, and can take decades.

For example, following a significant oil spill, the focus extends beyond skimming oil from the water’s surface. Teams work to rehabilitate coastal wetlands by replanting native marsh grasses, which are vital for filtering water and providing habitats for wildlife. They meticulously clean individual animals, a painstaking task that often involves volunteers.

Photo: Denniz Futalan/PEXELS

A lot of work goes into rebuilding an area after a huge, catestrophic wild fire.

In areas devastated by fire, recovery includes reseeding native plant species to prevent soil erosion and help the forest regenerate naturally. These efforts are about giving nature a fighting chance to heal itself, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the affected region.

When disaster strikes a historically rich area, a piece of cultural identity is at risk. A specialized field known as cultural heritage recovery focuses on salvaging and restoring artifacts, monuments, and historical records that connect a community to its past. These are symbols of a shared history and a source of collective strength.

In the chaotic aftermath of a disaster, logistics become a monumental challenge.

Following an earthquake, for example, teams of art conservators, archivists, and archaeologists carefully sift through debris to recover fragments of statues, murals, and important documents. They use advanced techniques—such as 3D scanning—to digitally reconstruct damaged structures and artifacts.

In flood-ravaged regions, they work to save water-damaged books and manuscripts, often freeze-drying them to prevent mold and further decay. This work is vital for morale, as restoring a community’s treasured landmarks and artifacts provides a tangible link to their heritage and a powerful symbol of resilience in the face of loss.

In the chaotic aftermath of a disaster, logistics become a monumental challenge. Destroyed roads, compromised bridges, and debris blocks off critical access points. This is where highly specialized teams come in to solve complex engineering and logistical puzzles. The role of rigging in disaster recovery and relief efforts is a prime example of this unseen but critical work. Professional riggers use an intricate system of cranes, cables, and pulleys to lift and move incredibly heavy objects with precision.

Consider the removal of a collapsed bridge or a large ship washed ashore by a tsunami. This is a carefully choreographed operation. Riggers must calculate precise load weights, anchor points, and lifting angles to move massive sections of debris without causing further damage or endangering recovery teams.

They’re instrumental to clear paths for emergency vehicles, restore access to isolated areas, and enable the larger reconstruction effort to begin. Their work is a blend of physics, engineering, and hands-on expertise that happens largely out of the public eye but is foundational to the entire recovery process.

Other logistical efforts you might not be aware of include:

Temporary Infrastructure: Engineers rapidly deploy temporary bridges, known as Bailey bridges, to reconnect communities cut off by damaged infrastructure.
Aerial Supply Drops: In inaccessible mountainous or flooded regions, pilots and ground crews coordinate precise airdrops of food, water, and medical supplies using parachutes and specialized containers.
Water Purification Systems: Teams set up mobile water treatment facilities to provide clean drinking water, which is a critical step in preventing the spread of disease after a disaster.

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of disaster recovery is the long-term support for the mental and emotional well-being of survivors. While initial crisis counseling is often visible, the sustained effort to rebuild social structures and foster community resilience is a quieter, more profound process. Social workers, community organizers, and local leaders who understand that recovery is about more than just physical structures carry out this work.

The most important work often begins long after the cameras have gone.

These efforts often involve creating community gathering spaces where people can share their experiences and support one another. They organize workshops to teach coping skills and help residents navigate the complexities of insurance claims and government aid.

In some cases, they establish community gardens or art projects to give people a shared sense of purpose and a way to actively participate in their town’s healing. This focus on psychosocial support is important for preventing the long-term trauma that can linger for years after clearing the physical debris. It’s about rebuilding a sense of normalcy, connection, and hope.

The journey from disaster to recovery is long and filled with challenges that extend far beyond the initial emergency response. The unseen efforts—from restoring delicate ecosystems and preserving cultural treasures to executing complex logistical feats and nurturing community spirit—are the foundation of a successful recovery.

These quiet, persistent actions are what transform a disaster site back into a living, thriving community. By recognizing and supporting these lesser-known heroes, we can better appreciate the true meaning of resilience and contribute more effectively to rebuilding efforts when the need arises. The next time you see news of a disaster, remember that the most important work often begins long after the cameras have gone.

Commentary |
When climate disasters hit, who should flip the bill?

Some states are landing on a straightforward answer: fossil fuel companies.

Tornado damaged police car

Photo: PEXELS

by Sonali Kolhatkar

OtherWords

Rebuilding from California’s recent wildfires will cost more than a quarter of a trillion dollars — an unprecedented amount. The estimated damage from Hurricane Helene in the Southeast is almost as much, on the order of $250 billion.

Who will pay for that damage? It’s a question plaguing localities around the country as climate change makes these disasters increasingly common.

Some states are landing on a straightforward answer: fossil fuel companies.

The idea is inspired by the “superfunds” used to clean up industrial accidents and toxic waste. The Superfund program goes back to 1980, when Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The law fined polluters to finance the clean up of toxic spills.

Thanks to the hard work of groups such as the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and Vermont Natural Resources Council, Vermont recently became the first state to establish a climate superfund in May 2024.

It’s an idea whose time has come, especially now that states are less able to rely on the federal government.

Months later, New York followed suit, again in response to pressure from environmental groups. Both bills require oil and gas companies to pay billions into a fund designated for climate-related cleanup and rebuilding.

Now California is considering a similar law in the wake of its disastrous wildfires. Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey may take up the idea as well.

It’s an idea whose time has come, especially now that states are less able to rely on the federal government. The Trump administration is disabling government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with major cuts and putting conditions on other aid.

At the recent Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference, Trump aide Ric Grenell unabashedly endorsed “squeezing” California’s federal funds unless they “get rid of the California Coastal Commission.” (Trump apparently hates the commission, the Fresno Bee explains, because it prevents “wealthy people from turning public beaches into private enclaves.”)

Fossil fuel companies — the lead perpetrators of climate disasters — spent more than $450 million to elect their favored candidates, including Trump. In return, Trump has promised to speed up oil and gas permits and stacked his cabinet with oil-friendly executives.

Why should taxpayers have to foot the bill to clean up the destruction wrought by this industry, one of the most profitable the world has ever known? As a spokesperson for New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “corporate polluters should pay for the wreckage caused by the climate crisis — not every day New Yorkers.”

To be fair, a climate superfund is a “downstream” solution to the climate crisis.

Not surprisingly, 22 Republican-led states disagree. They’ve sued to block New York’s law and protect oil and gas profits at the expense of ordinary people. They have no answer for the question of who pays for recovery from climate disasters or helps people reeling from one disaster after another.

Fossil fuel companies can think of paying into a climate superfund as the cost of doing business. If they’re in the business of extracting and selling a fuel that destroys the planet, it’s only fair they pay to clean up the damage.

And the public agrees. Data For Progress found more than 80 percent of voters support holding fossil fuel companies responsible for the impact of carbon emissions.

To be fair, a climate superfund is a “downstream” solution to the climate crisis, one that seeks to raise the costs to perpetrators. A climate superfund can pay to rebuild homes, but it cannot replace priceless family heirlooms or undo the trauma of surviving a disaster. Most of all, it cannot bring back lives lost. It is only one tool in a multi-pronged tool box to end the climate crisis.

Upstream solutions centering the prevention of climate change — that is, reducing carbon emissions at their source — must be at the center of our fight if humanity is to survive. But in the meantime, fossil fuel polluters should pay.

About the author:
Sonali Kolhatkar is the host of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.

Keywords:

Over 8,000 homes still without power after high winds rip through Champaign County

URBANA - A severe storm that left more than a 500 mile stretch of damage across several Midwest states caused a large number of power outages throughout the mid-section of the Ameren Illinois service territory this afternoon, according to a statement released by Ameren Illinois.

"This was a significant, slow moving weather cell that pounded our electric infrastructure over the course of several hours," said Lenny Singh, Chairman and President of Ameren Illinois. "Crews have been mobilized throughout the service territory and we are calling in reinforcements from Illinois and nearby states. We're in the assessment phase now and will focus on getting the system repaired and power restored as quickly as possible while exercising high standards of safety."

Ameren Illinois activated its Incident Management Team (IMT) at 1:00 pm Thursday, June 29, 2023, to support restoration activities. It will be staffed around-the-clock to coordinate service restoration, logistical support and communications.

Over 8,000 homes in Urbana, Tolono, and St. Joseph remain without electrical service as of 2 a.m., more than 12 hours after the storm ripped through east central Illinois. According to Ameren's outage data, 7,184 homes in Urbana were still without power. Only 165 homes in Tolono do not have electricity. Meanwhile, in St. Joseph, 47.66% of the residents in the community east of Urbana still needed electrical service restored. No estimate was available when the more than 1000 customers could expect power.

"Customer safety is of utmost importance, particularly when severe weather occurs. We urge our customers to take precautions to protect themselves and their families, including staying away from downed power lines and immediately reporting any downed lines to Ameren Illinois," Singh said.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

A branch from a large tree at a condo unit near the corner Broadway and Vermont was peeled away from the trunk after winds close to 80 mph raced through the area after noon on Thursday. Widespread damage has been reported including overturned semis, flattened crops, and fallen trees.

Customers and media can receive timely updates on outage restoration by following the Ameren Illinois news feed on Facebook or at twitter.com/AmerenIllinois. Outages by county can be tracked at AmerenIllinois.com/outage.

Safety Reminders

Customer Reminders

Call Ameren Illinois at 1-800-755-5000 as soon as possible to report a downed line, natural gas odor, or an outage.

Stay away from downed power lines because these lines may still be energized. During an outage, individuals are asked to stay indoors after sunset because downed lines may not be visible. Stay away from brush, shrubs and fallen trees that may be hiding these lines.

If your electric service is interrupted, unplug or protect sensitive computer and electronic equipment with a high-quality surge protector.

Customers seeking more information on their outage:

Customers will receive notification on the restoration status of individual outages. Those who are signed up for alerts will receive alert updates through their preferred channels. All others will receive a phone call.

Customers can report and check the status of their restoration at Ameren.com or download the free Ameren Mobile app where you can report or check your outage right from the palm of your hand.

In addition, safety and real-time outage information is available on the outage map at AmerenIllinois.com/outagemap.

How You Can Help After a Disastrous Hurricane