JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Immediately after Hurricane Helene flooded western North Carolina in September of last year, neighbors helped neighbors get supplies, operate generators and reach safety. But many people wanted to do more. As part of our series on volunteerism, Here to Help, Zachary Turner from member station WFAE brings us this report on western North Carolina's first volunteer emergency response team.
ZACHARY TURNER, BYLINE: After Helene, Black Mountain resident Chris Kepler sprung into action, using her chainsaw to clear debris.
CHRIS KEPLER: One of my neighbors, a tree fell down across her entire front yard. It blocked her in. She was on oxygen, and of course we didn't have power or anything. And I wasn't quite sure how I would get ahold of first responders because the 911 system was down.
TURNER: The town's emergency communications had failed, along with their backup radio system. As a former Marine, she felt she could help.
KEPLER: There were a lot of people that wanted to do more, but we weren't trained.
TURNER: Other residents were in the same boat. They wanted to help but couldn't. Many had skills that the town could've really used, like Wendy Coin's (ph).
WENDY COIN: As a newly retired family doctor, I felt like there wasn't any organized way for me to help.
TURNER: So you wanted to help, but you just didn't...
COIN: So I wanted to help. And it was really hard. And we had no set systems in place prior to the disaster for community members just to jump in.
TURNER: So they decided to start the town's Community Emergency Response Team - or CERT. They've spent the last several months training with first responders on disaster communications and preparedness. Now 28 residents can help with evacuations, traffic control, supply distribution and other tasks. They got their first assignment during a Halloween event.
(SOUNDBITE OF WOLF HOWLING)
TURNER: About 3,000 kids go door to door on two blocked-off streets near downtown. It's a big deal in a small mountain community of roughly 9,000. Kepler staffed one of two reunification tents.
KEPLER: We're assisting with lost kids. And so we can communicate between our team and by putting out a description of the child, or the parent if the parent got lost from the child (laughter).
TURNER: Tonight, Kepler and her fellow CERT members get a good lesson on using their new emergency radios. Another volunteer radios Kepler.
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER: What members will be in each group, please?
KEPLER: Victor 215.
TURNER: They're trying to use their Victor numbers - Victor for volunteer...
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER: At the same time I was talking.
TURNER: ...Instead of names.
Volunteer firefighter David Billstrom has been training the CERT members on the do's and don'ts of using these radios.
DAVID BILLSTROM: So you have to press the button to talk and hesitate for just a minute - the rule is half a second - and then start talking.
TURNER: Halloween night was a certified success, according to Billstrom. The team reunited four kids with their parents and greatly improved their radio skills. And for Kepler, she feels more prepared.
KEPLER: I always wanted to know, was there more that I could've done? So this gives me the skills to hopefully continue to educate my neighbors, first and foremost, and my family and make sure that we're ready, and then to be able to help the community at large.
TURNER: In the meantime, Kepler and the other volunteers will keep training and refining their radio etiquette.
For NPR News, I'm Zachary Turner in Black Mountain.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.