As Florida residents prepare for Hurricane Frances, expected to hit the Florida east coast during Labor Day weekend, Episcopal Relief and Development is preparing to offer emergency assistance to hurricane victims.

As of Friday, mandatory evacuations were issued for more 2.5 million people in the path of the powerful hurricane—from Florida City at the southern tip to north of Daytona Beach.

Our staff will monitor developments over the weekend. We stand ready to respond and provide emergency assistance as needs are identified.

Hurricane Frances is twice as large as Hurricane Charley, which took lives and destroyed property in southwest and central Florida three weeks ago. ERD has provided assistance to victims of Hurricane Charley in the Diocese of Southwest Florida and the Diocese of Central Florida.

On Friday, Hurricane Frances had sustained winds of 120 miles an hour with hurricane force winds across an 85-mile span and tropical storm winds over a 185-mile span.

Please pray for people whose lives are affected by Hurricane Frances.

To make a contribution to help people affected by Hurricane Frances and other hurricanes, donate to U.S. Hurricane Relief online at www.er-d.org or call (800) 334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief and Development, c/o U.S. Hurricane Relief, PO Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101-5043

Episcopal Relief and Development saves lives and builds hope in communities around the world. We provide emergency assistance in times of disaster. When the immediate crisis is over, we rebuild devastated communities and offer long-term solutions in the areas of food security, health care, and HIV/AIDS.