An active tornado season keeps disaster relief organizations busy

Team Rubicon has years of experience helping people recover from extreme weather events.

Transcript

00:00 Disaster relief organization Team Rubicon has years of experience providing aid to those in need.

00:07 Yeah, so the real catalyst was that terrible earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

00:12 Eight volunteers went on that first mission to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

00:15 Today, there are over 170,000 volunteers, many of whom deployed to extreme weather events around the world.

00:23 In the U.S., they play a critical role helping people get back on their feet after hurricanes and floods.

00:29 Harvey, Irma, Maria, you know, those were massive sequence of hurricanes that had incredible devastation.

00:35 Most recently, Hurricane Idalia and Hurricane Ian in Florida.

00:40 They also respond to wildfires, tornadoes, snowstorms and more.

00:44 They are all very unique. I think one of the ones that is really challenging is tornadoes.

00:50 You know, these things happen overnight or during the daytime and you have to be able to respond,

00:55 which means the velocity in assembling the people, the equipment and the tools that you need to respond

01:00 just has a different type of urgency and therefore the challenges.

01:04 While the organization focuses on rebuilding or temporarily repairing homes,

01:08 they also use their equipment to clear debris blocking roadways.

01:12 It helps first responders and utility crews access devastated areas.

01:17 Team Rubicon even builds relationships with communities ahead of disasters to mitigate risks.

01:22 We'll do things as an example of fire mitigation where we'll clear fire hazards, you know, before the fire season.

01:29 De La Cruz says they also educate the public about emergency preparedness.

01:33 It can keep people safe and limit the time volunteers spend on the ground.

01:37 Put yourself in a position where should it hit, you can say, I'm glad I did instead of I wish I had.

01:44 You know, have your documents ready, have a plan.

01:46 For AccuWeather, I'm Emmy Victor.