WE ARE RESPONDING TO
HURRICANE IDALIA
On August 30, Hurricane Idalia slammed into the northwest coast of Florida—an area known as the “Big Bend”—as a dangerous Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour and life-threatening storm surges of up to 16 feet.
The storm has moved from the Big Bend area to the northeast, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain further into Florida, parts of Georgia and the Carolinas.
International Medical Corps has activated our emergency response teams, and is transporting supplies to the region as our teams perform assessments. We are coordinating efforts with state and local authorities, and are working with local partners throughout the region, including the Florida state association that represents community health centers and federally qualified healthcare centers, which serve lower-income and other at-risk families.
Donate today to provide medical care and support to families affected by this powerful storm.
Our Response: Hurricane Idalia
International Medical Corps, which maintains a Memorandum of Understanding with the Florida Department of Health (FDoH), is in close contact with FDoH and our partners in the state, including the Florida Association of Community Health Centers—a group that represents health clinics and associations, including federally qualified healthcare centres, which serve lower-income and at-risk families. We also are working closely with partners in the Carolinas.
As we monitored the storm and its approach to the state, we began work to transport emergency relief supplies there, activated our Emergency Response Team and called on our roster of medical volunteers to prepare them for a response.
Our teams in Florida are performing assessments and we stand ready to respond as needed to provide medical services to areas where healthcare infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
International Medical Corps has collaborated with state and local agencies to support response and recovery efforts in Florida since 2017’s Hurricane Irma. Since then, we have:
- supported responses to Hurricanes Michael, Dorian and Ian, and COVID-19 in the state;
- delivered more than 4,200 direct patient consultations;
- reached some 400 women, men and children with community-based outreach and education;
- deployed 89 medical volunteers to staff MMUs;
- trained nearly 300 clinic staff on infectious disease and disaster preparedness and response; and
- provided medical supplies and equipment that have kept health facilities open and operational for tens of thousands of Floridians.
We will continue to support Florida communities both as they recover from the immediate shock of this disaster and as they rebuild over the long term, focusing especially on communities most at risk.
Help People Affected by Hurricane Idalia
Donate today to provide medical care and support to families affected by this powerful storm.
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