The Red Cross is running low on blood, and the blood donation shortage is nationwide. 

Fewer donors than needed gave this summer, drawing down the national blood supply and reducing distributions of some of the most needed blood types to hospitals. Hurricane Idalia further strained the blood supply with blood drive cancellations and reduced blood and platelet donations in affected areas. Sharon Watson, spokesperson for the American Red Cross says several factors played into this year’s shortage.

When Idalia slammed into the Southeast it compounded a shortfall of about 30,000 donations in August. Right now, blood product distributions to hospitals are outpacing the number of blood donations coming in. You can find a list of area blood drives at www.redcrossblood.org.