Winter Storm Uri

Winter Storm Uri passed through the US, Canada, and Northern Mexico in mid-February 2021. The storm impacted over 170 million people, caused blackouts for over 9.7 million people in the U.S. and Mexico, cut off access to water for more than 7 million people, and created major weather events including blizzard conditions and tornadoes throughout the region. At least 70 deaths have been attributed to the storm so far.

The storm has disproportionately impacted unhoused and low-income populations who are already food- and housing-insecure; due to COVID-19, many ongoing recovery projects in the Southern US were delayed or under-resourced, resulting in these populations becoming more vulnerable to weather events this season. 

On Monday, February 23, Airlink worked with United Airlines to deploy 6 volunteers from nonprofit partner Operation BBQ Relief to Houston, where they will provide 100,000 hot meals to people who have lost access to power, clean water, and/or shelter as a result of the storm.

In addition, Airlink is working to match in-kind donations  of supplies with needs within the organization’s nonprofit network, facilitating nation-wide collaboration in resource-sharing.