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Responding to California Wildfires, Hurricane Francine

Direct Relief's Humanitarian Activity for the week of 09/06/2024 - 09/13/2024

News

Operational Update

Direct Relief delivered 50,000 3M N-95 respirators to the San Bernardino County OES at the San Bernardino Emergency Operation Center on Friday, September 13, 2024. The respirators were requested for first responders and the community dealing with the Line and Bridge wildfires. San Bernardino County OES will be sharing these respirators with Los Angeles County. (Kim Ofilas/Direct Relief)
By Staff

Over the past 7 days, Direct Relief has delivered 567 shipments of requested medical aid to 50 U.S. states and territories and 11 countries worldwide. The shipments contained 13.2M defined daily doses of medication.

Medications shipped this week included anti-inflammatory therapies, diabetes management medications, rare disease therapies, chronic disease treatments, and more.

Emergency Response Continues Across the U.S.

Medical aid departs for health centers in Louisiana this week. (Direct Relief photo)

This week, a Category 2 hurricane and several wildfires are among the natural disasters that impacted the United States. Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana and three major wildfires are blazing in Southern California: the Line, Bridge, and Airport Fires.

Hurricane Francine hit in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, on Wednesday with gusts of wind exceeding 100 miles per hour. The storm knocked out power for 93% of Terrebonne residents initially, and about 89,000 people were without power across the state on Friday afternoon. CrescentCare, a federally qualified health center and Direct Relief Power for Health resilient power recipient, reported maintaining power despite a two-day local outage.

Heavy rains caused flash flooding, and dozens of water rescues were reported. In St. Charles Parish, just west of New Orleans, about 350 structures were known to be damaged

Prior to the storm, Direct Relief was in communication with health providers in the area about potential needs. Three clinics in Louisiana requested and will receive hurricane-related aid: Southeast Community Health Systems, Crescent Care, and St. Gabriel Eastside Community Health Center.

In response to the three wildfires in Southern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The Bridge Fire, which is currently the largest of the trio, is 3% contained, the Line Fire is 21% contained, and the Airport Fire is 8% contained.

The total acreage burned so far this year in all California wildfires exceeds the 5-year average, year to date: about 990,000 acres compared to the 903,000 acres. One person has been killed by wildfires this year in California and 1,439 structures have been damaged or destroyed.

On Friday, Direct Relief delivered 50,000 requested N-95 masks to San Bernardino’s Emergency Operations Center.

Addressing Tuberculosis in Syria

A staff pharmacist at SRD’s TB center in northern Syria reviews medications. (Photo courtesy of SRD)

Since June 2023, the Syria Relief and Development, or SRD, organization has been operating the Azaz Tuberculosis (TB) Center, the only TB facility serving a population of over 1 million people in Northern Syria. Throughout this period, the center provided 1,635 consultations and treated 104 TB patients, ensuring compliance with World Health Organization standards.

The center’s operation costs, which include staff salaries and maintenance, have been fully covered by Direct Relief, and the center conducts key activities, such as patient education, family outreach, and treatment compliance monitoring, which have been crucial in reducing TB-related deaths and stigma.

SRD warehousing facilities are pictured here, along with Direct Relief-donated medications. (Photo courtesy of SRD)

In addition, SRD’s warehouse operations in Dana and Azaz, which distribute essential medications to 19 health facilities, have undergone significant improvements, supported by Direct Relief funding. Despite challenges such as earthquake damage and power shortages, infrastructure upgrades including cold chain maintenance for insulin storage, installation of solar panels, and the introduction of semi-automatic forklifts have optimized the storage and distribution processes. These efforts have ensured uninterrupted access to life-saving medical supplies, benefiting over 800,000 people across the region.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 532 shipments containing 593,193 doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

  • Matthew 25, Inc., Indiana
  • San Francisco Free Clinic, California
  • Western Sierra Medical Clinic, California
  • Steve Rummler HOPE Network, Minnesota
  • Clearwater Free Clinic, Florida
  • Community Health of East Tennessee, Tenn.
  • UMC Free Clinic, Florida
  • Smoky Mountain Harm Reduction, North Carolina
  • HIV Alliance, Oregon
  • Clinica Esperanza/ Hope Clinic, Rhode Island

AROUND THE WORLD

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 12.6M defined daily doses of medication totaling 68,224 lbs., to countries including the following:

  • Ukraine
  • Syria
  • India
  • Haiti
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Togo
  • Jamaica

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 17.5K shipments to 2,140 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 85 countries. These shipments contained 329.2.0M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.1B (wholesale) and totaled 3.9M lbs.  

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