00:00Team Rubicon is the humanitarian organization led by military veterans who mobilize at disaster areas around the globe.
00:08Right now they are on the ground helping after Helene.
00:11Jeff Byard is the vice president of operations for the nonprofit and he joins us now. Jeff, good morning.
00:17Good morning.
00:18All right, Helene's damage area is over five states. So how are you all prioritizing Team Rubicon's efforts?
00:26You know, that's a great question. This storm clearly the needs outpace the resources.
00:31So, you know what our approach is is where can we start good work?
00:35That's why we have an operation already up and running to North Carolina.
00:39Excuse me to Georgia. We've got folks cutting teams, a route clearance team cutting there.
00:46We'll quickly get that in. So, you know, you kind of move north with this storm as you know,
00:50it has every hazard a hurricane can bring.
00:53Now I'm in North Carolina as we start assessing, you know, what are the first capabilities that Team Rubicon can bring in to do good?
01:00Of course, we're having some technical difficulties with the video feed, but we are back.
01:06You came from FEMA as an assistant administrator.
01:09What lessons have you applied to Team Rubicon to help on such a large scale?
01:15Yeah, well, it's speed to need, you know, if you're not there when you're needed, you're not going to be needed when you get there.
01:20So, you know, our teams run run fast. We're agile.
01:23You know, we establish a footprint and build out from there.
01:27So, you know, I learned lessons from FEMA and really going back to when I was with the state of Alabama.
01:34You know, you've got to be there and, you know, operate with a sense that, you know, it's all about the people.
01:42It's about the disaster survivors.
01:43Sometimes you got to look through process.
01:46Sometimes you got to throw it out the window and adapt, overcome and improvise.
01:50So, you know, you bring all those lessons and it's natural for Team Rubicon being veteran led and and that's what we do.
01:56Yeah. And the veteran led.
01:57What are some different ways that Team Rubicon can help after the aftermath of Helene?
02:05So, you know, initially what we're doing now is, you know, connecting with local governments to clear roadways for safe access.
02:12Then we'll quickly shift into our expedited home repair.
02:16And that could be a number of things from roof tarping to mucking out the home.
02:20You know, we want to make it safe and sanitary for the survivors, you know, a better day than they had yesterday.
02:26We obviously do a debris work.
02:28And, you know, one of the things that we do that a lot of people don't think of is be there for the disaster survivor, be, you know, an ear they can talk to, a shoulder they can cry on and just make their day better by any way we can.
02:42Jeff Beyer, vice president of operations for Team Rubicon, thanks again for joining us.
02:46And we thank you for all of the great work that you and your team are doing right now to help the survivors of Helene.
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