Information from WYSH Radio
Anderson County Emergency Management Director Steve Payne is looking for volunteers to serve as leaders for damage assessment teams.
“We’re looking for 30 volunteers with a commitment to serve their neighbors in the event of a natural disaster,” Payne said.
Volunteers will be trained to lead a small team into communities that have suffered damage from severe weather or floods. These teams will make an initial assessment of damage as a first step in providing food and shelter and obtaining state and federal assistance for the communities.
“When a disaster occurs, hundreds of people come, wanting to help their neighbors in some way,” Payne said. “With trained leaders, we can organize those people, put them to work on a team, and know we’ll get the information we need to help those who have lost their homes.”
Payne stressed that, except for the four-hour class, volunteers will not be called upon except in the event of a disaster.
“People are busy,” he said. “After training, there will be no meetings, no further obligation of time until leaders are needed at the disaster site.”
If you are interested in serving your community as a damage assessment team leader, call Lin Chilcoat at (865) 457-7846 to register. The class will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at the Anderson County Emergency Management Agency, 111 South Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton.
This story brought to you through an agreement between Oak Ridge Today and WYSH. See more local news headlines on the WYSH website at http://www.wyshradio.com/local_news.html.
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