The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) personnel have responded to the deadly widespread tornado activity throughout the southeastern United States. Reports indicate extensive damage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with storms tracking through N. Alabama, N.W. Georgia, and S.E. Tennessee.
Chattanooga, TN - In response to the Chattanooga area, The Salvation Army today continues to serve disaster victims and emergency recovery workers in Catoosa County, GA and Bradley County, TN. The Salvation Army had deployed neighboring emergency crews today from Winchester, Nashville and Knoxville, TN in response to the largest natural disaster to hit the Greater Chattanooga Area.
The Salvation Army is providing food, beverages and spiritual care. A Mobile Kitchen Truck will be stationed at the Area Command Center for Catoosa County at the Ringgold Ingles, and one is roaming Bradley County serving both emergency workers and victims from the deadly storms.
Three additional Salvation Army Mobile Kitchen Trucks, also known as Canteens, will be available this afternoon in hopes of having one in each of our surrounding counties of Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Hamilton and Bradley counties.
The Salvation Army is partnering with The Chattanooga Chapter of the American Red Cross to provide shelter residents with food, and has called upon the Hamilton County Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Response to assist with feeding.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi - In response to the deadly storms, the Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi (ALM) Division of The Salvation Army has mobilized 10 feeding units and a communications unit. Another 22 mobile feeding units including catering trucks, mobile kitchens, and a 20,000 meal per day full service field kitchen have been placed on standby. Units are providing food, beverage, and spiritual support to storm victims in Tuscaloosa, Guntersville, and Lauderdale County, Alabama as well as Montpelier and Oxford, Mississippi.
As damage reports are received, Salvation Army EDS personnel and mobile feeding units are currently on standby in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Maryland and West Virginia will be deployed to the ALM Division.
Financial donations are needed to support disaster relief efforts. The Salvation Army asks those who want to help to visit www.salvationarmyusa.org or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY and designate April 2011 Tornado Outbreak. Donors may text "GIVE" to 80888. Checks may be made out to The Salvation Army Disaster Relief, P.O. Box 100339, Atlanta, GA 30384-0339. Monetary donations will ensure The Salvation Army can meet the most immediate needs of those impacted by disaster.
Media Contacts:
Major Todd Smith
Area Commander
Birmingham, Alabama
(205) 966-8084
Todd_Smith@uss.salvationarmy.org
Mark Jones
PIO / Director of Public Relation
ALM Division
(601) 961-7709
Mark_Jones@uss.salvationarmy.org
Kimberly George
Public Information Officer
Chattanooga Area Command
Kentucky-Tennessee Division
(423) 503-1801
Kimberly_George@uss.salvationarmy.org
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About The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar spent is used to carry out those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.