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Show FLORIDA LEADS RELIEF RECORDS Heads Major Disasters of 1926. Red Cross Active in 62 Emergencies in Year. ALSO SERVES FOREIGN LANDS Preparedness to Cope with Great Disturbances Gives Good Results in Action. . Facing one of the largest rehabilitation rehabilita-tion efforts of its whole history, as a result of the Florida hurricane, the American Red Cross already had behind be-hind It a record of service In 62 disasters dis-asters at home, up to the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1926. When the hurricane struck Florida with such devastation and loss of lif ft. the Red Cross National Headquarter was just congratulating Itself that a year had passed without a major disaster dis-aster within the borders of the country. coun-try. The destruction In Florida has been- tentatively estimated by Director Direc-tor of Disaster Relief Henry L. Baker, of the American Red Cross, in terms of relief work ahead of the organization. organiza-tion. This takes into account all sufferers suf-ferers who must be cared for. Careful surveys by experienced authorities au-thorities place the injured at 4,000, exclusive of the stricken Gulf Coast cities of Moorehaven and Clewiston. Of the 1,200 injured sent to Miami .hospitals, 500 were suffering with major ma-jor fractures. In two other east coast communities the Injured numbered i nearly 1,000. The homeless were con-; con-; servatively estimated at 50,000. Such i figures sketch only vaguely the human and material problem which the American Red Cross is still doing Its utmost to solve. For comparison the other outstand-! outstand-! ing recent disaster, the Midwest tornado tor-nado of March 18, 1925, can be described de-scribed In more detail. In that catastrophe catas-trophe the final check showed 800 dead, 3,000. Injured and 6,847 families of approximately 30,000 men, women and children rendered homeless. The j final relief operations, of the Red I Cross were brought to a close March 18, 1926, exactly a year from the day the tornado struck five states. So terrible did the death and de-strutcion de-strutcion impress itself on the experienced experi-enced Red Cross forces rushed Into Florida that Chairman John Barton Payne did not hesitate to call for a relief fund from tha whole country of $5,000,000. The Red Cross concentrated concen-trated every resource In trained per- sonnel on the stricken region, i The New Jersey munitions explosion, explo-sion, In July, while terrible as a spectacle, spec-tacle, could not compare with either of these other two disasters In flnai j destructiveness. It gave the Red Cross i an opportunity for service in which Red Cross nurses treated 86 Injured, and during the height of the emei gency fed between 700 and 800 peo pie driven from ' their homes. More I than 400 cases were registered with ! the Red Cross after- the explosions for assistance In regaining their hold on life through rehabilitation work. This latter Is a regular part of the ! Red Cross relief operations In all disasters, dis-asters, and means a task continued long after the country has ceased to think of the occurrence Itself. The year has seen a new measure of disaster relief preparedness lnau-gurated lnau-gurated by the Red Cross, under I which a trained reserve of medical j and other relief experts Is constantly ,. on call for any service. This prepar-I prepar-I edness justified Itself In both the New ! Jersey explosion, and In the Florida j hurricane. In the latter the Red Cross ! had at call more than 300 experienced disaster workers with a network of j prepared Chapters all over the coun-. coun-. try. This preparedness, constantly demonstrated, is cited as material assurance as-surance that the country Is better protected today than ever before from the suffering such misfortunes engender. Bad as were domestic disasters In . both the last fiscal year and recent months, some of those abroad In the same time have been comparable, especially es-pecially a flood in Mexico. Altogether the American Red Cross served ih the name of the American peopl In more than 15 foreign catastrophe. The Tenth Annual Roll Call . for membership to maintain such actlrl- ties will be held from November 11 to 25,. and ie an opportunity for all to enroll themselves In the American Red Cross. |