Ellen DeGeneres, Cher & More Ask For Prayers Amid ‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Maria
Ellen DeGeneres and Cher are two stars tweeting out love as Hurricane Maria, which has been described as potentially “catastrophic,” hits the Caribbean and makes its way towards Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands.
Both Ellen and Cher shared heartfelt messages for those in the Category 5 hurricane’s path on social media and urged anyone who’s currently in an area expected to be targeted to stay safe.
“Sending love to the people in the path of #HurricaneMaria,” DeGeneres tweeted from the official account of her popular daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show on September 18. “Please do everything you can to stay safe.”
Cher then followed suit and encouraged her followers to pray that the hurricane is downgraded to a less severe storm and avoids making landfall in the U.S.
“PRAY 4 HURRICANE MARIA 2 BE DOWNGRADED, 4 ISLANDS 2 BE SPARED, 4 [the U.S.] 2 BE SPARED,” the “Believe” singer wrote.
Actor Mark Ruffalo then quoted Cher’s tweet and added that he was “praying,” shortly after sharing a message of his own in which he called for more action regarding climate change.
“Let us turn our thoughts and prayers to action for these island nations and people after the storm,” he said of Maria. “Hurricane relief and #ClimateAction.”
WATCH: Hurricane Maria makes landfall as a Category 5; tracking double tropical threat in Atlantic: https://t.co/cWJShLm5CW – @Ginger_Zee pic.twitter.com/KStS7fIblD
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 19, 2017
CNN, ABC, and Telemundo contributor Anna Navaro also urged her followers to pray on the social media site.
“Folks, I’m worried sick about Puerto Rico,” she tweeted of the huge storm as it approached the island. “Maria is scary. If you’re the praying kind, please do. If not, please keep them in your thoughts.”
Sir Richard Branson, boss of the Virgin Group and whose private island Necker Island was recently devastated by Hurricane Irma, also spoke out about Maria as it heads towards his home in the British Virgin Islands and called the storm “terrible” and “catastrophic.”
“The people of the BVI and Caribbean, who have been absolutely devastated by Irma, are now bracing themselves for another terrible hurricane,” he said as the storm approached the area per Yahoo!.
He also confirmed that he and his team were preparing to help victims in the affected areas in any way they could.
“There could be even more catastrophic damage for people who have already lost their homes and their livelihoods,” Richard added of Maria.
The huge storm has the potential to make landfall in the U.S. in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, which have battered parts of Texas and Florida over the past few weeks.
Celebrities rallied around the affected areas and raised millions for hurricane relief efforts. A huge $44 million was raised during the star-studded Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief benefit which aired across major U.S. networks on September 12.
As reported by the Independent, Maria was initially downgraded to a Category 3 storm but quickly regained its Category 5 status as it gathered wind speed in the Atlantic Ocean and battered the Caribbean island of Dominica.
A hurricane warning is currently in place for St. Kitts and Nevis, Monserrat, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques. Guadeloupe and Dominica have already been hit.
In Martinique, Antigua, Barbuda, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Anguilla, and St. Lucia, a tropical storm warning has been issued as Hurricane Maria continues to gain momentum.
[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney]
