Celia Salazar holds her grandson Ricardo Salazar Jr. as they check into the emergency shelter at Largo High School as the Tampa Bay region prepares for the high winds and water from Hurricane Ian in Largo, Fla., Wednesday. (AP Photo)

PARKERSBURG — Volunteers from the Ohio River Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross have already been deployed to Florida where Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday, a local official said.

About 500 Red Cross volunteers from around the country have been pre-positioned and primarily are involved in sheltering in Florida, said Sharon Kesselring, executive director of the American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley. About 13,000 people are in shelters, although not all in Red Cross facilities, she said.

The storm a few days ago changed its course. That made it difficult to determine where shelters and volunteers should go, she said.

“The tough part of this was the tracking of it,” Kesselring said.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida as a Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds, just shy of a Category 5 storm. Authorities have advised residents to evacuate to safer environs and warned the state could see catastrophic wind damage and historic storm surges.

An uprooted tree, toppled by strong winds from the outer bands of Hurricane Ian, rests in a parking lot of a shopping center Wednesday in Cooper City, Fla. (AP Photo)

Volunteers from the Ohio River Valley Chapter who were deployed to Florida are involved with sheltering storm evacuees, Kesselring said. The four sent to Florida include Jan and Chip Pickering of Parkersburg, long-time volunteers and supporters of the Red Cross.

Two volunteers also have been sent to California for the wildfires, Kesselring.

“We have done our share so far from our region,” she said.

Kesselring said the local chapter has been notified that it will be on standby through Oct. 25.

More than 500 Red Cross disaster volunteers from across the country are in Florida, she said.

A truck pulls a man on a kayak on a low-lying road after flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, in Key West, Fla., Wednesday afternoon. (AP Photo)

The agency initially moved trucks filled with cots, blankets and comfort kits and other relief supplies to Florida to help 60,000 people. Dozens of emergency-response vehicles have been positioned across the state and blood products have been sent there to maintain access to a blood supply, she said.

The situation in Florida also underscores a need for local volunteers, too, Kesselring said. People who don’t want to be deployed across the country can help with local disasters, she said.

“We can definitely use more volunteers for local disaster response,” Kesselring said.

Residents are also asked to donate blood as disasters such as hurricanes can tax supplies, she said. Monetary donations also are needed can be made at redcross.org, calling 800-RED-CROSS or by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancing@newsandsentinel.com.

Utility trucks are staged in a rural lot in The Villages of Sumter County, Fla., Wednesday. (AP Photo)