LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Volunteers from the American Red Cross of Southern Nevada are lending a helping hand to those in Kentucky and Missouri after devastating storms recently ripped through the area, killing over two dozen people.
FOX5 spoke with leaders at the non-profit on relief efforts and the devastation those volunteers will see on the ground as they help people who lost everything. It’s something Community Disaster Program Manager, Lowell Smith, with the Red Cross, is all too familiar with.
“They’re going to see a lot of people in trauma, a lot of grief, a lot of chaos, a lot of destruction,” Smith said.
That’s because news images and videos show neighborhood after neighborhood destroyed in both Kentucky and Missouri.
“The amount of damage that you see and the way it impacts people, it’s really traumatic,” Smith said. “It’s really serious.”
That’s why two trained disaster relief volunteers are on a two-week mission to help communities impacted by the tornadoes and storms, providing free shelter, food and emotional support.
That last part is what gets Smith every time he goes on a mission.
“You see the people just breaking down and you know what they went through. That’s when you really experience it because you’re right there and you actually feel the grief and you can feel their emotions and it’s really impactful,” Smith said.
Smith adds over 90% of his team is made up of volunteers who are leaving their families to help out, like a veteran volunteer from Pahrump who’s been deployed 31 times, and another from Las Vegas who’s helped with 14 missions.
Smith says based on the scope and scale the duration of the planned 14-day missions could change.
“I‘ve never been on one that’s wrapped up sooner and every one I‘ve gone to, they’ve asked for people to extend,” Smith said. “That’s pretty common.”
Smith adds it’s also pretty common for volunteers in Southern Nevada to get the call for help because of where we are in the country.
“Well, fortunately for the Nevada region, we don’t have the widespread destruction that you see some in the Gulf Coast areas like that, so our volunteer forces are usually looked at as being support,” Smith said.
The Red Cross says 270 volunteers are on the ground helping across both states.
The non-profit handed out over 13,000 meals and snacks, and thousands of relief items.
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed or suffered major damage.
For information on how to help, click here.
Copyright 2025 KVVU. All rights reserved.
