OVIEDO, Fla. – A Central Florida volunteer is on his way to Missouri to assist communities devastated by deadly tornadoes earlier this week.
John Lanetti, 70, of Oviedo, is one of seven local American Red Cross volunteers deploying to the Midwest. He’ll spend the next two weeks helping assess damage, distribute supplies, and support families who lost everything.
“We are going to be going into the actual area that was hit by the tornado,” Lanetti said. “We’ll be going building to building, assessing the damage to those buildings, and then that information will be uploaded to national headquarters.”
According to the Red Cross, more than 360 volunteers are already on the ground in Missouri, where storms killed 27 people and injured at least 38 others in the St. Louis area. Officials say nearly 5,000 buildings were impacted, and recovery efforts are just beginning.
Lanetti said his hope is to bring comfort, and critical information to the national Red Cross team so that resources can be sent quickly.
“I’m hoping to bring those people some relief,” Lanetti said. “That information [we gather] will generate enough concern to see what kind of supplies we have to bring in, how many trucks we need to send.”
Residents in the hardest-hit neighborhoods describe the scene as a “war zone,” with homes leveled and communities left in shock.
“It took everything from everyone,” one St. Louis resident said. “My brother, my family, all my neighbors… gone.”
The Red Cross says this will likely be a long-term recovery operation and that more volunteers may be needed in the weeks ahead.
If you would like to support the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts:
Visit RedCross.org