Red Cross Seeks Volunteers to Help with Disaster Assessment

As local residents impacted by Hurricane Matthew are beginning to return home the Red Cross is seeking volunteers to help with disaster assessment.  For those unaffected by the storm please consider lending a hand to help your neighbours.  Training will be provided.

Red Cross Disaster Assessment teams are part of the first step in the recovery process. They visit neighborhoods and homes immediately after a disaster to assess and verify the level of damage incurred. The Red Cross and its partners—like FEMA and the United Way—use this information to provide aid and connect them with other resources. It often takes one to two weeks to visit to every home, gather and enter the information and distribute it to everyone who needs it to begin providing aid. It’s vital that this process is done to make sure families get the help they need and that donor and taxpayer dollars are used wisely.

Here’s how it works. 

Step 1: The Red Cross Disaster Assessment team uses information gathered from various sources, including FEMA, NOAA, satellite pictures, local news reports and other sources, to map out the areas of the worst damage. 

Step 2. Volunteer teams are sent out to verify the areas of damage and make corrections. Instead of visiting every address, which can take days, the team surveys the perimeter of the identified areas and verifies the level of damage

Step 3. With the updated information, a real time map is available for Red Crossers working to provide relief.  

We can use the real-time map to plan daily routes for mobile feeding and delivery of clean up supplies and along with our partners, we can begin providing aid and resources, so families can begin their recovery process. When someone needs help, the level of damage they sustained can be verified just by looking up their address and matching it to the map. 

Please contact 843-945-3034 or visit redcross.org/southcarolina. Trainings are being held daily during office hours at the Red Cross in Myrtle Beach, 3531 Pampas Drive.  Red Cross volunteer training is free and open to the public.  A background check will be performed on every volunteer applicant.