Red Cross Aids 10 in Aberdeen Shelter

As the Susquehanna River rose Thursday, residents of The Graw senior apartment complex were taken to a shelter set up in Aberdeen, according to sources at the Red Cross of the Chesapeake Region.

"As of last night, the Red Cross was assisting shelter operations at the Aberdeen High School," said spokesman Doug Lent on Friday. "Ten people spent the night there. They were from a nearby independent living facility."

That facility was The Graw, said Bethany Brown, a Red Cross official.

By Friday evening, the Aberdeen High School shelter had been closed, Lent said. But with the Susquehanna and its tributaries are expected to crest, 2,000 Red Cross volunteers throughout the state are ready to help in that the Maryland Emergency Management Agency decides to open.

The Aberdeen shelter was run by Harford County, Brown said. The Red Cross also supported a shelter in Cecil County for the Perryville evacuation.

At the Aberdeen shelter, besides offering its usual services, such as cots, food, blankets and water, the Red Cross provided special cots for people with physical disabilities, Lent said. Two of those cots were used overnight Thursday.

"As the water continues to rise in the Susquehanna and tributaries as well, we are trying to get people to be prepared if they need to evacute from other areas," Lent said.

He said it's important in this area, where residents are not accustomed to flooding, to obey all government warnings to evacuate.

To prepare

• Have a plan of where you will go and stay with family and friends.
• Check in on elderly neighbors to make sure they have a plan as well.
• If neighbors don't have a plan, help them make one. And if they need transportation to a family member or friend's home, offer to drive them.
• If efforts to find another place to stay fail, (Lent says it's more comfortable staying in a residence rather than at a shelter) call the Red Cross 24-hour emergency line at 410-624-2040.