Be the Eyes After a Storm -- 2008 Community Disaster Assessment Workshops

Be the Eyes after a Storm for Your American Red Cross
Communities get ready with Red Cross disaster assessment workshops

PHIL ATTINGER/American Red Cross

Terry Loyd explains to workshop participants that the sheer size of Polk County makes sending out disaster assessment teams from one location slow and inefficient. However, members of a mobile home or other residential communities have an advantage: They can check for damage immediately after a storm, report how they have been affected to the Red Cross, and can check on the welfare of their neighbors at the same time.

POLK COUNTY, FL — Sixty-one mobile home parks and Residential Communities have joined the Red Cross to help serve their neighborhoods before, during, and after a disaster.

They have partnered up with the Red Cross through the Community Disaster Assessment Program– free training on making a disaster plan for a community, assessing storm damage, and phoning in a damage report to the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter. Once the Red Cross volunteers know how many people have been affected, where they are, and how much aid they need they can send assistance.

During the 2004 hurricane season, crews of disaster assessment volunteers could spend an entire day in relatively small areas of Polk County, learning how many people had been affected. Instead, Disaster Volunteers Terry Loyd (pictured) and Linda Haskins are asking residential communities to call in a damage report. Community residents are on-scene right after a storm. They know the area well, and know how badly they and their neighbors have – or haven’t – been affected.

They also learn how to assess damage based on Red Cross guidelines. It helps them give an accurate picture of the damage in their neighborhood, so aid will be fast and efficient. The training empowers residents, before disaster strikes, and lets them join the Red Cross to help neighbors in need.

Training is free. Communities are invited to send up to four representatives -- year-round residents who are physically able to survey and report damage as soon as safely possible after a storm. Parks already enrolled in the program are invited to send representatives for a refresher course.

The next workshop is yet to be announced. For more information, contact your local American Red Cross Polk County Chapter at (863) 294-5941, fax to (863) 293-9626, or e-mail linda@polkredcross.org.

View examples of Community Disaster Assessment from our PowerPoint presentation.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people, which help the victims of hundreds of disasters in Polk County each year, including house fires, wildfires, floods, tornados and hurricanes. The Red Cross provides shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The Red Cross also trains people in valuable life-saving skills such as First Aid, CPR and Water Safety. To learn more, contact the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter at 147 Avenue A, NW, Winter Haven, by calling (863) 294-5941 or by e-mail at polkcofl@polkredcross.org.

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