Michigan organizations providing aid as Hurricane Milton approaches Florida

• Hundreds of Michiganders are going to Florida to provide aid before Hurricane Milton makes landfall
• The hurricane is expected to make landfall Wednesday night and cause widespread damage 
• Hurricane Milton comes just days after Hurricane Helene impacted the region

Michiganders are heading to Florida to provide aid to residents as Hurricane Milton approaches the state.

The storm was rated Category 4 as of Wednesday afternoon, and later downgraded to Category 3, with sustained winds of up to 120 miles per hour as it neared Florida’s west coast. The National Hurricane Center says Milton could bring a life-threatening storm surge, floods and damaging winds.   

Over 60 Michigan volunteers from the American Red Cross have been sent to provide aid in Florida, North and South Carolina — as residents are still grappling with the damages of Hurricane Helene. 

“We are doing all we can to help, which does require a huge lift from the American Red Cross,” said Latoysa Rooks, regional disaster officer for the Red Cross Michigan Region in a press statement. “We are racing against the clock to ensure we have our volunteers ready, that we have shelters staffed and relief supplies ready to go.”

The Red Cross has also assigned about 2,000 trained disaster workers across the country and sent truckloads of supplies to open shelters in Florida. 

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DTE has roughly 600 people across the south to help with Hurricane Helene, Brian Calka, the president of distribution operations at DTE Energy, told a local news outlet. 

DTE is among various utilities in Michigan offering assistance ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton. The Michigan Electric Cooperative Association says 30 co-op lineworkers from the state were headed south. A line crew from the Grand Haven Board of Light & Power headed to the region Monday, and the Lansing Board of Water and Light says it has dispatched a pair of three-person line crews and a two-person tree crew to Orlando to aid with restorations. 

“We understand the importance of needing to get power back following a major storm, and our BWL team is ready to safely get to work where it’s needed most,” BWL General Manager Dick Peffley said in a statement.

Bracing for Milton’s impact

Millions of Florida residents have evacuated the state as the storm nears. Hurricane Milton is expected to hit the mainland Wednesday night into Thursday morning. 

The hardest-hit region will be along Florida’s western Gulf Coast, according to Weather.com. The storm will cause life-threatening flash flooding and winds up to 145mph. 

Miami, Tampa Bay, and Fort Myers are also under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. Wednesday. 

As of Wednesday, at least 230 people across six states have died since Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 27.