The death toll for the storms across central Florida earlier this week is up to 19. My mom tried to call my godparents and couldn’t reach them, but she did get voice mail. I’m not sure if they have voice mail through the phone company (which I’m assuming would still be in service) or if it is an answering machine in their home. If it is a machine, then I’m taking the fact that we got it as a good sign. Their son lives south of us so we need to call him and see if he has been in touch with his parents. A lot of retirees in that area, specifically a large community known as “The Villages” lost their homes.

I was watching CNN last night and saw Anderson Cooper interviewing folks in that area…it’s a bit surreal knowing this happened so close to home, but our area was spared. I found the following numbers on Anderson Cooper’s 360 Blog - they may be of us if you’d like to help folks who were hurt or lost their homes in the storms.

Lake County
Lake County Emergency Management: 352-343-9442
Red Cross of Lake and Sumter Counties: 352-314-0883
United Way in Lake County: 352-223-2173 or 352-409-1860
Salvation Army of Leesburg: 352-365-2540

Volusia County
Red Cross of Volusia and Flagler counties: 386-226-1400 or toll free: 1-866-245-9180
United Way of Volusia County: 386-253-0563
Salvation Army: 386-236-2020

Other counties
Red Cross of Marion County: 352-622-3457
Red Cross of Citrus and Hernando Counties: 352-564-8455
Catholic Charities: 407-658-1818
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida: 407-295-1066