The Red Cross recently entered into an agreement with the City of Toronto that formalizes our relationship during times of disaster. It’s an important step towards ensuring Torontonians affected by large-scale and small-scale disasters, such as fire, floods or lengthy power outages, will have the support of the Red Cross when they need it most.
The Red Cross has a long-standing relationship with the City of Toronto and has provided support to the City on many occasions, including this winter’s ice storm.
In order to ensure rapid deployment of trained disaster volunteers to assist people throughout Toronto, the Red Cross has built a hospitality suite for its volunteers at its office on Randolph Avenue. The suite is equipped with beds, showers and a lounge area. On-call Red Cross disaster responders may stay at the hospitality suite on shifts, ready to deploy as needed.
Recent severe storms in Toronto and the GTA, including the summer flash flooding and the December ice storm, remind Torontonians that the City is not immune to disaster. During the December ice storm, the Red Cross, working closely with the City of Toronto, assisted more than 5,294 residents. In addition to managing warming shelters and reception centres, the Red Cross provided 3,000 blankets; 2,700 comfort kits; 1,500 cots and served over 20,000 meals.