Multiple recent natural disasters across Central Texas have strained emergency response efforts.
The Central Texas chapter of the Red Cross needs more volunteers to bolster its numbers. Members of the organization are reporting that volunteer numbers have dwindled while disaster scenarios like fires and hurricanes have increased.
Richard McAlister, a volunteer with the Red Cross in Central Texas, told KXAN that there is a 46% deficit in volunteer personnel across the region, while Austin is experiencing a 36% deficit. There are currently only six volunteers who respond to disasters in the 31,000 square-mile area of the hill country.
“We used to operate in an environment that we kind of defined as an acute disaster phase,” said McAlister, according to KXAN. “We knew that during the summer we would get hurricanes, and we knew that we were going to get fires, but now we’re moving into a more chronic phase where there doesn’t seem to be a season anymore.”
According to McAlister, some of the organization’s volunteers have traveled to other areas to help out with disasters there, including Corpus Christi and even Maui.
McAlister said that the organization was called on to respond to 77 fires in the last two months, with 55 of those happening in August alone. Volunteers normally receive a two-week break period between responses; however, many responders are volunteering to immediately go back into service.
“As our volunteer base declines and as we stretch it out, we’re putting those Red Cross volunteers in a position where they’re doing more, where they may have already exhausted the vacation time they have,” said McAlister, according to KXAN.
The public can assist the Red Cross in a variety of ways, including by volunteering and donating blood or money, reported KXAN. Training to volunteer, which is free, takes about two weeks, McAlister told KXAN.
To learn more about volunteer opportunities with the Central Texas chapter of the Red Cross, click here.
