Here's how you can help with Hurricane Ian disaster relief efforts

Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read

Hurricane Ian strengthened into an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds at 140 mph, and is expected to cause life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida Peninsula, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands of Floridians faced mandatory evacuation orders as the National Hurricane Center expanded its hurricane warning along more than 150 miles of the state's Gulf Coast. Power outages are expected statewide.

On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to approach the west coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area Wednesday morning and make landfall later.

At 5 a.m., the center of Hurricane Ian was located 75 miles west-southwest of Naples.

In anticipation of the approaching storm, organizations both locally and across the country issued calls for donations to help with the relief effort.

Here's a list of organizations accepting donations for Hurricane Ian disaster relief:

  • Matthew 25: Ministries is gearing up to respond to the coming storm. The Blue Ash-based nonprofit accepts cash, check, credit card and online donations. The group also accepts donations of gently used clothing, non-perishable food, school supplies, first-aid and medical supplies, baby products, and personal care and hygiene products.

  • The American Red Cross accepts monetary donations for disaster relief online, by phone and via mail.

  • The Salvation Army takes donations over the phone at 1-800-725-2769 or via mail. The organization urges people, before they begin collecting supplies, to contact their local Salvation Army to confirm the need for donated goods.

  • All Hands and Hearts is accepting money donations to help with the Hurricane Ian relief effort. People can donate online, by phone at 508-758-8211 or via check.

A list of other disaster relief organizations trusted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency can be found at https://www.fema.gov/assistance/volunteer-donate.

USA TODAY contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Hurricane Ian disaster update: how to help Florida