Hurricane Milton: How to Help
Project HOPE is on the ground in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton in Florida. Learn more about our response and how you can help.
Hurricane Milton caused widespread damage in Florida after making landfall near Sarasota on October 9, leaving entire communities without power and facing widespread wind damage and flooding.
Project HOPE is on the ground in Florida providing immediate support to affected communities. Immediate needs in the region include the restoration of electrical power, the provision of essential hygiene supplies, and reconnecting communities with access to health care, especially in under-resourced communities.
Read on to learn more about how you can help.
>>Read our latest Situation Report on Hurricane Milton
How is Project HOPE responding?
Project HOPE and SAMU First Response (SAMU) have a team of emergency response experts and paramedics from North Macedonia, Spain, and the United States working in the Sarasota, Florida area, providing support to local first responders, clearing roadways, and delivering critical medicine and humanitarian relief supplies in the most affected communities. Our team is conducting a rapid assessment of medium and long-term needs while quickly addressing urgent needs and distributing essential health, hygiene, cleaning, and water supplies.
Project HOPE’s response team has already delivered more than 1,500 over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and other water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) items to communities in Lee, Charlotte, and Sarasota counties, coordinating with community associations, health facilities, and local organizations to ensure we are reaching those most affected by the storm through trusted channels. As Project HOPE’s response to Hurricane Milton continues, our emergency response team will continue to coordinate with county health officials as well as local free and charitable clinics, which serve low-income communities and are critical to ensuring health equity in emergency responses. Right now, Project HOPE is seeing urgent WASH, health, and mental health needs, particularly among under-resourced and historically marginalized communities.
The emergency response team has received surge staffing support requests from several free and charitable clinics and county officials further north along the western Florida coastline.
What are the greatest health needs?
As the impact of Hurricane Milton becomes clear, Project HOPE is working directly with local and regional partners, including free and charitable clinics, which are vital for treating low-income communities and ensuring health equity in emergency responses. The most important health needs our team is seeing right now are restoring disrupted access to health care and WASH supplies in the most impacted communities.
During the storm, shelters in Florida housed more than 80,000 people. Now, the remaining open shelters are housing people who require specific assistance, including those with mobility, disability, or elevated medical needs.
“In addition to addressing acute needs, our team will be on the lookout for concerns like compromised water sources that lead to waterborne illnesses and a lack of sanitary conditions, and extended power outages that ruin food sources and compromise medications like insulin,” said Arlan Fuller, Project HOPE’s Director of Emergency Preparedness & Response.
“Displacement at this scale typically results in crowded shelter conditions, rising infectious diseases, and disruptions in people’s ability to access medications and health care which can be particularly dangerous for people with chronic conditions. From a long-term perspective, we will likely see a massive need for mental health support for people who are experiencing the stress of displacement and trauma.”
“In addition to addressing acute needs, our team will be on the lookout for concerns like compromised water sources that lead to waterborne illnesses and a lack of sanitary conditions, and extended power outages that ruin food sources and compromise medications like insulin.”
Where did Hurricane Milton make landfall?
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota, Florida on October 9 as a Category 3 hurricane, causing extensive flooding, up to 18 inches of rain in some areas, and storm surge up to eight feet along the western coastline. Milton continued across the Florida peninsula causing wind damage and flooding across the state. Wind speeds over 100 miles per hour whipped across the Tampa Bay area, leaving more than 3 million people without power.
What is Project HOPE’s history in the U.S.?
Project HOPE has a long history of emergency response in the United States. Project HOPE recently responded to Hurricane Ida in 2021, Hurricane Ian in 2022, and Hurricane Idalia in 2023 by providing surge staffing to health facilities, delivering urgently needed supplies to affected communities, and equipping health facilities with medicines and supplies.
Project HOPE and SAMU First Response conducted joint responses to the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye, Syria, and Morocco last year, aiding in search and rescue and providing immediate medical care.
Project HOPE previously partnered with free and charitable clinics across the southeast during the Covid-19 pandemic, helping dozens of clinics across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas provide more than 21,000 vaccines to communities in need. As frontline responders to underserved and under-resourced communities, charitable clinics are critical to improving health equity, especially during emergencies. Project HOPE is committed to supporting local responses and partnering with local organizations.
