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Red Cross needs blood after Florence closes donation centers

Since the hurricane made landfall, the Red Cross has canceled more than 150 blood drives in Georgia, Virginia and both the Carolinas.

CHASKA, Minn-- Hurricane Florence has increased the American Red Cross' need for blood.

Since the hurricane made landfall, the Red Cross has canceled more than 150 blood drives in Georgia, Virginia and both the Carolinas.

The group says those canceled blood drives would have brought in about 4,400 samples.

“They’re closing a lot of centers down there,” Red Cross collection specialist McKenzie Meier says.

The shortage of blood creates a big hole to fill and the group is encouraging donors to get out and donate.

“It feels like I’m actually doing something,” donor Danielle Miller says.

Miller donated blood during a drive at the Mindfulness Center in Chaska Saturday afternoon.

She was already scheduled to donate blood long before Florence made landfall, but she says seeing the damage the storm left behind has motivated her even more to donate.

“Now I know it could be going somewhere that truly needs it," Miller says.

The blood drive in Chaska lasted more than four hours, but only brought in seven samples.

Meier says it’s less than half of what she was hoping for.

“The good weather probably played a role,” Meier says. “People are probably out, because it doesn't feel like September, it feels more like June today.”

But she says even one sample makes a difference.

The Minnesota Red Cross chapter is currently adding additional blood drives to make up for the lost donations due to Florence.

To find a blood drive year you visit RedCrossBlood.org

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