KENTUCKY, USA — As part of ongoing relief efforts following devastating tornadoes that ravaged parts of Kentucky, Anheuser-Busch says it is donating more than 50,000 cans of drinking water.
The truckload of emergency drinking water was requested by the American Red Cross and will be delivered by the brewery's wholesaler partner, Golden Eagle Distributing.
"The clean, safe drinking water was produced at Anheuser-Busch’s Cartersville, GA brewery which periodically pauses beer production throughout the year to can emergency drinking water to help communities in times of disaster," the company said in part in a release.
According to Anheuser-Busch, the company has been providing support for disaster relief with the Red Cross since 1906.
Since it started its emergency drinking water program in 1988, Anheuser-Busch says it has given more than 90 million cans of water to communities affected by natural disasters and other crises across the U.S.
The company says in 2021 it has donated more than 4 million cans of water to communities and first responders across 49 states, including 100,000 cans to support Kentucky communities affected by flooding earlier this year.
If requested, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie say Florida is prepared to deploy emergency management crews, urban search-and-rescue teams, ambulance strike teams and disaster recovery specialists.
State leaders said Floridians interested in helping could make tax-deductible donations to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund or click here to learn more about volunteering.
The tornado outbreak killed 88 people, 74 of whom were in Kentucky, according to The Associated Press. In addition to Kentucky, the tornadoes wreaked havoc in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Ohio. They destroyed a nursing home in Arkansas and caused major damage to an Amazon facility in Illinois.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.