Hurricane Idalia struck Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. It brought torrential rain, severe wind and dangerous flooding to communities across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas and left hundreds of thousands of people without power.

Around 5,500 Florida National Guard troops have been activated in response to this disaster, and more across the southeast are preparing to leap into action if necessary.

In a minute, I’m going to ask you to donate to support the USO and our troops around the world, but first, I wanted to update you on all the work we’re doing during this disaster:

• We are staging three mobile centers in Atlanta, preparing them to travel to meet troops supporting recovery efforts.
• This afternoon, we’re holding a “stuff the truck” event to ensure these centers are well stocked — even if they’re on wheels.
• We’re putting together care packages filled with hygiene essentials and more for the troops who have been activated — many with little notice — so they have what they need while they work tirelessly to help these communities.

The USO is doing whatever we can to support them and all members of the military community affected by the storm — but we need your help: Will you rush a rapid-response donation right now to support troops around the world, including those responding to this emergency?

We will continue to monitor the situation and scale up our emergency troop support efforts as needed, but we’re counting on military supporters like you to be with us and our troops every step of the way. Please donate now to stand with all our heroes in uniform as they work so hard to keep us safe.

In emergencies and always, thank you for all you do to show our service members that the American people have their backs.

Sincerely,

Christopher Plamp, USO