The American Red Cross of Northeast Indiana issued this news release tonight:

While still helping those in need in the greater Fort Wayne area, the American Red Cross of Northeast Indiana will also help our neighbors in Ohio. The Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) will be deployed to Columbus, Ohio tomorrow (Tuesday, July 3) to assist with disaster relief operations there. A husband and wife team of volunteers will be driving the ERV from Fort Wayne to Columbus and filling volunteer roles there. The ERV will depart the American Red Cross headquarters at 1212 E. California Rd. (across from the Coliseum) at approximately 9:30 a.m.

The shelter at the First Assembly of God (Washington Center and Lima) remains open 24 hours for anyone who has been displaced by Friday's storms. Anyone interested in seeking shelter here should enter through Door #5 and bring medications, personal hygiene items, pillow, blanket and towel. As temperatures continue to hover around 100 degrees, millions of people are still without electricity after the weekend's storms. Nearly 1,000 Red Cross disaster workers are spread out over 12 states, helping people forced from their homes by the power outages in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions, wildfires in the west, and flooding from tropical storm Debby in Florida.

The storms and power outages have caused the cancellation of dozens of Red Cross blood drives, resulting in a shortfall of more than 1,000 potential blood and platelet donations. The blood supply was already at emergency levels, with June blood donations down 50,000 fewer than expected nationally. In Fort Wayne, all eligible blood donors are encouraged to donate during this week's All American Blood Drive at the Fort Wayne and Lutheran Hospital donor centers. Donors can make an appointment or find other blood drives by calling 1-800-RED CROSS or visiting redcrossblood.org.

If someone would like to help people affected by these disasters, they can make a donation today to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.