Hurricane Patricia is expected to make landfall Friday night on the west coast of Mexico. While Valley weather won’t be significantly impacted, organizations like the Red Cross of Arizona are ramping up programs to help residents locate family from the area.
Red Cross officials say it’s too early to tell if any volunteers from Arizona will be traveling to Mexico. But local programs like Restoring Family Links, which connects families in war zones and weather disasters with their worried relatives, are beefing up staff.
Spokesperson Trudy Thompson Rice estimates the Red Cross of Arizona will bring on at least 10 to 15 additional volunteers to staff the program in the wake of the hurricane.
"We won’t have instant results," said Thompson Rice. "It’s chaos in a time of disaster. But we can help start the process to help families find their loved ones."
Air traffic in western Mexico will also be impacted. Officials at Sky Harbor say Friday’s two direct flights to Puerto Vallarta have been cancelled.
Restoring Family Links can be reached locally at 1-800-842-7349.
