A team of veteran volunteers is gearing up to respond to whatever impacts Tropical Storm Francine may have when it makes landfall in Louisiana.
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00:00As states, cities, and parishes prepare for Tropical Storm Francine, relief organizations
00:05are getting ready as well. And you may be well familiar with Team Rubicon, a veteran-led
00:11humanitarian organization that helps in disasters globally. So joining us now is Art De La Cruz,
00:18CEO of Team Rubicon. Art, ahead of this storm, what are your teams doing right now?
00:23Yeah, you know, the reality is as a veteran-led humanitarian organization,
00:28we've been preparing for months. We actually had a hurricane tabletop exercise in the first
00:34quarter. We have people that are trained, equipped, and mobilizing now to be positioned in
00:39the event that our services are needed. So, you know, they're basically in their final prep and
00:45getting ready for the game. And Art, there is a large variety of types of different disasters and
00:51severe weather events that you respond to. So how do you determine which severe weather events
00:58you want to mobilize for? Obviously, you can't respond to every little disaster out there.
01:03Yeah, I think, you know, ideally, you can actually find a way, hopefully, to be able to
01:08have our volunteers help in some form or fashion. But something of this scale,
01:13you prepare for what you can expect. And we know there's going to be wind.
01:17We know there's going to be flooding. We know there's going to be
01:20services that are needed to begin to put those homes back together to prevent further damage.
01:25You know, the other thing that we're also preparing for, some of the things that you see after
01:29infrastructure gets knocked out, access. We have route clearance teams that can be prepared to
01:34clear the roads. We have sawyers who are able to take felled trees. We can move debris, tarp roofs.
01:42The other element that we want to think very carefully about is both for the volunteers
01:46and the clients we're helping, is if infrastructure such as critical electricity
01:52is, you know, disrupted, we also have to think about heat, both for the people we're serving
01:57and the people who are helping those same clients. And Art, what types of help do you
02:01anticipate people in Francine's path will be needing? Yeah, it's been a really, really interesting
02:08year for that entire area along the Gulf. We know that they've had saturation to include a system
02:14that's recently lingered there. So I think flooding will be a big piece of it. There will
02:18obviously be debris and storm surge. So all of those bring concerns about, you know, homes being
02:24flooded and disrupted. But then of course there are trees as they move forward. The other unique
02:30thing, and we've seen this from the previous two hurricanes this year, is the storm as you watch
02:35it track is also going to have opportunities for our volunteers to serve, you know, up the
02:40Mississippi Valley as this track moves forward. So it's not just about, you know, this hurricane
02:46making landfall, it's also about its continued track moving northward. And we expect that we'll
02:51see similar problems along its path. And Art, there's a huge scope between publicly run organizations
02:58that are government-funded and then other organizations that are entirely civilian-based.
03:04So how can people help your organization and what does that look like for Team Rubicon?
03:10Yeah, you know, there's a million things more important than money and they all cost money. So
03:14we would love for people to support both as volunteers, but finances to fuel our mission.
03:19And again, we have a team that's ready to go into this with, you know, specialized skills and training.
03:24If they can go to trusa.org, you know, we would love your support in either of those capacities.
03:30We know that this is a moment like it's always been where neighbors have the opportunity to help
03:34neighbors in a time of need. And we are all neighbors here. So thank you so much, Art De La
03:39Cruz, CEO of Team Rubicon. We appreciate all that you're doing and your administrative duties there
03:45to manage a lot of people with boots on the ground when people really need help the most.
03:50Thank you for having us. Well, thank you, Art.