Through the storm today, there have been no requests for emergency shelters, but the Red Cross was ready to provide them in any case.
Red Cross Regional CEO Erica Mani says volunteers began preparing vehicles and supplies Friday afternoon in anticipation of the storm, but they weren’t needed after all.
“We are right now seeing that the storm wasn’t as severe as anticipated. Right now we are manning the state’s emergency operation center and we have assets placed throughout the region in 22 different counties so that we could respond to needs such as shelter for anyone who had power outages, etc.,” said Mani.
“Since those needs did not arise in the storm, it was a good exercise for the Red Cross to be able to go out and make sure that we could prepare and respond to any needs that arose.”
On its website, Appalachian Power said the storm brought less ice accumulation than anticipated, and is producing snowfall that is not accumulating heavily on trees. As a result, damage and outages associated with the storm are minimal. But Mani says the Red Cross will be ready for the next storm.