x
Breaking News
More () »

Local disaster relief organizations prepare for the worst ahead of Florence

Operation Blessing will send out crews to two relief locations starting on Wednesday.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) — Emergency Relief organizations are busy preparing to help people ahead of Hurricane Florence.

On Tuesday, tractor-trailers were in and out of Operation Blessing's headquarters in Chesapeake. They loaded 900 emergency food bags and by the end of the day, they were all distributed to YMCA locations throughout Hampton Roads. Doug Hensley, a manager at Operation Blessing, said their mission was to distribute the food and emergency kits before the storm makes landfall.

"We wanted to make sure that we deliver the food as soon as possible. We don't wanna wait until the last minute where folks are rushing, we just want to get it in their hands," said Hensley.

Wednesday morning, the organization will begin sending out their first set of crews and volunteers to two disaster relief locations. One location will be placed locally in Virginia Beach, the other will be in Emporia, Va.

As volunteers packed 900 food kits, one of them, young Camilla Wallace, was there all day long with her parents.

“I don't really know how much I come here, but I’ll say it’s a lot of days,” said Wallace.

She and her parents volunteer to pack food bags every Monday of the week. Now, they’re spending a lot of time at the facility to make sure enough food gets distributed.

In addition to distributing food, Anthony Lloyd, Senior Director of Disaster Relief for Operation Blessing said they’ve prepared to go into people’s homes and help them clear any damage.

“Operation blessing stands ready, this is our mission. We look forward to helping individuals in need.

Locally, all of the organization’s relief equipment is ready to go. That includes a mobile kitchen, which is prepared to feed 2,500 meals per day. Additionally, each relief site will have a mobile command center, a power generator, shower trailers, and volunteer supplies for home or roof repairs.

Follow 13News Now on Facebook and Twitter

► Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13News Now App.

Before You Leave, Check This Out