Hurricane Harvey: Red Cross Minnesota Volunteers Deployed

Twenty-five responders from Red Cross Minnesota, many of them volunteers, have been deployed to assist with relief efforts following deadly devastation from Hurricane Harvey. The extra help from Minnesota will be needed as the National Weather Service warns rain totals could reach more than 4 feet, gobbling ever more cars and houses as flotillas of rafts, canoes and small boats pick up as many fleeing residents as possible. Up to five people have already been reported dead in the floods.

The Red Cross is mobilizing trained Red Cross disaster relief workers to support this response effort, and has more than 17 shelters ready to open and support thousands of people if needed, according to a news release.

Trailers full of shelter and relief supplies were pre-positioned before the hurricane hit, including cots, blankets, comfort and cleaning supplies.

Officials have called a forecasted rainmaker in the area an unprecedented weather event, with the weather service describing the destruction as "beyond anything experienced" even as it warned that rising waters have yet to crest.

Read more: Houston Floods, Torrential Rains 'Beyond Anything Experienced'

Photo credit: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel