Direct Relief sends aid to Florida as Hurricane Ian makes landfall

GOLETA, Calif. - Crews at Direct Relief are working quickly as Hurricane Ian makes its way through Florida.

"The devastation in Florida is absolutely catastrophic it’s gonna take years to recover," said Vice President of Communications Tony Morain of Direct Relief.

Direct Relief is currently coordinating multiple rapid response shipments of medical aid across the state of Florida.

"To help community health centers and locally-based clinics care for some of the most vulnerable patients who are affected by the storms," said Morain.

Shipments are also going out to South Carolina, Georgia, and the gulf coast region.

"Really what they’re asking as far as replacement medications, because a lot of them have lost power they lost cold chain medications," said Public Relations Manager Brea Burkholz of Direct Relief.

Crews say they plan to increase the amount of supplies to send to Florida in the next several weeks.

Over the past three days, Direct Relief sent more than a dozen shipments of medical aid supplies to health facilities across Florida.