SAN DIEGO — San Diego Red Cross volunteers are stepping up to help those impacted by Hurricane Ian.
So far, 16 volunteers from San Diego have been deployed, with more on standby.
Hurricane Ian hit Florida's Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with winds upwards of 150 miles per hour. The destruction across the region is widespread.
On Thursday, President Biden said it could be the deadliest storm in Florida’s history.
"Right now, the Red Cross is doing everything we can to help those impacted by the storm,” said Brianna Kelly, with the American Red Cross.
Kelly said the San Diego branch has been monitoring the situation closely. Ahead of it, they sent 16 local volunteers to the region. It's likely more volunteers will be sent to Florida, but right now, getting them there is a challenge.
“We're always monitoring to see how we can get people to the disaster, but then there's also things like travel challenges when airports close down or it might impact travel arrangements for our volunteers so we try to get as many volunteers as we can ahead of the storm on the ground and then we can reassess when airports open we can deploy additional volunteers if needed,” said Kelly.
Currently, there are a total of 500 Red Cross volunteers on the ground.
The volunteers are primarily working in shelters, where more than 30,000 evacuees have found refuge.
“Making sure people have a safe place to stay…food water, emotional support services as well,” said Kelly.
Since Ian hit, Kelly said the Red Cross has been receiving calls from people wanting to help.
She said the best way is to donate money, because items are expensive to ship, and it allows them to be more flexible based on specific needs.
You can make donations online, by calling the Red Cross or texting 'REDCROSS' 90999.
"We want people who donate to be comfortable in knowing their donations are going specifically to help people affected specifically by Hurricane Ian. We've opened the specific giving designation so all donations to Hurricane Ian will be used for immediate disaster relief as well as additional recovery support in the days and weeks to come,” said Kelly.
WATCH RELATED: Ian leaves trail of devastation through Florida, downgraded to tropical storm (Sep. 2022).