With Recovery Underway, Medical Aid Advances for Those in Path of Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Over the past 7 days, Direct Relief has delivered 657 shipments of requested medical aid to 48 U.S. states and territories and 18 countries worldwide. The shipments contained 5.8M defined daily doses of medication.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included insulin, vitamins, medication refrigeration systems, and more.

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall over Florida’s Big Bend region and triggered historic flooding and landslides across western North Carolina, Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, a barrier island off Florida’s southwest coast. Hurricane Milton’s arrival brought hurricane-force winds, heavy rainfall of up to 18 inches, and dangerous storm surge, and triggered more than 120 tornado warnings across central and southern Florida.

In North Carolina, relief and recovery efforts—including debris removal, service restoration, and the delivery of emergency food, water, and other assistance—continue now nearly three weeks following Hurricane Helene’s passage. As of October 16, state officials had verified 95 storm-related deaths, while nearly 100 people remained missing.

In response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Direct Relief has made available $78 million in essential medicines and medical supplies to community health centers, free and charitable clinics, and other healthcare partners in hurricane-affected areas.

In addition, Direct Relief has committed $750,000 in emergency operating grants to 30 healthcare provider partners, many of which have reported storm-related damages, loss of medicines, and site closures due to continued communications, power, and water outages. The grants seek to provide a financial cushion, enabling these safety net providers to launch critical mobile health and community outreach initiatives, procure urgently needed supplies, and cover other unanticipated expenses following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

As of October 17, Direct Relief had dispatched 77 shipments of specifically requested emergency medical aid valued at nearly $1.5 million to 21 healthcare providers responding to the needs of storm-affected communities in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In addition to commonly requested items, such as antibiotics, emergency medical backpacks, hygiene kits, over-the-counter products, personal protective equipment, and medications to manage chronic diseases, Direct Relief is responding to increased requests for tetanus vaccine, hepatitis A and B vaccines, epinephrine for allergic reactions from bee and yellow jacket stings, oral rehydration salts, and water purification tablets, reflective of the widespread flooding and water service outages in many storm-affected areas.

Direct Relief is also preparing to deliver re-entry kits comprising personal protective equipment intended to minimize the risks associated with returning to one’s community or property following a disaster event to support communities in North Carolina that experienced significant flooding.

In addition to these emergency relief efforts, Direct Relief continues to support healthcare providers in states affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as across the U.S., with ongoing donations of essential medicines and medical supplies. Since Hurricane Helene’s landfall, Direct Relief has delivered 243 shipments valued at more than $1.9 million to 116 healthcare providers in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee

–Reporting by Sofie Blomst

“There are so many Americans that do not have access to healthcare, and that’s the thing that Premier Mobile is able to provide, with the help of Direct Relief, to the residents living on the beach.”

This week, Direct Relief staff visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Diabetes Association, and the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service. Direct Relief also conducted site visits with ongoing program support partners.

A shipment of emergency supplies from Direct Relief was delivered to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health this week, coinciding with the organization’s visit, in response to the devastating landslides that occurred in Ethiopia’s Gofa zone over the summer, which resulted in over 250 fatalities. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and 10th most populous in the world. On Thursday, Direct Relief met with Her Excellency Dr. Mekdes Daba, the Ethiopian Minister of Health, to present Direct Relief’s history of support to Ethiopia and new opportunities for closer cooperation with the MOH.

Direct Relief met with the Africa CDC Headquarters to discuss the ongoing mpox outbreak that has been spreading through Central and West Africa. The two organizations coordinated an emergency response for the current mpox outbreak, and have begun developing a strategy for Direct Relief to continue to support Africa CDC’s disease outbreak responses continent-wide. The current outbreak has led to 31,166 suspected cases and 844 confirmed fatalities, 87% of which have occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Goshen Medical Center, in Clinton, North Carolina, received the state’s second solar power system from Direct Relief’s Power for Health initiative. The health center’s solar power system is now fully operational and will provide reliable power for up to 26 hours off grid.

Direct Relief’s Power for Health Initiative seeks to bring clean, renewable backup power to community health centers and free clinics to ensure they can deliver critical healthcare services during power outages.

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 627 shipments containing 2.7M doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 3.1M defined daily doses of medication totaling 43,450 lbs., to countries including the following:

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 19.8K shipments to 2,261 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 88 countries. These shipments contained 346M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.4B (wholesale) and totaled 4.3M lbs.

Filed Under: Health