A major winter storm is impacting millions of people in the central and eastern regions of the U.S. and the American Red Cross is urging people to give blood, as many blood drives have been cancelled due to the weather.

Snow has already fallen in much of Kansas, and significant snowfall is in the forecast for Oklahoma in the coming days. At press time Tuesday, the forecast for Seminole County included a chance for 1-2 inches of snow beginning Thursday. Temperatures below freezing have settled in. The storm has left hundreds of thousands of people without power or heat, caused dangerous road conditions, closed schools and forced the cancellation of thousands of flights.

The dangerous wintry conditions moving across the country this week have already caused the cancellation of about 100 blood drives and this number is expected to grow as the storm continues. As a result, more than 2,000 blood donations have gone uncollected so far in the new year. Where it is safe to do so, we encourage people to schedule a blood donation appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCross-Blood.org or calling 1-800RED CROSS (1-800-7332767).