After two weeks of removing flood-damaged debris and gutting waterlogged homes in Christian County, volunteers from Team Rubicon have completed their mission and returned to their homes across the country.
“Well, our primary task was to help homeowners clear out their homes from debris left over from the floods,” said Timothy Owens, incident commander for Team Rubicon. “A lot of what we did was remove furniture, carpeting, some flooring, and then we removed drywall that was damaged from the floodwaters.”
Owens said crews cut drywall above the water line to ensure homes could dry out properly before repairs begin.
“We’d go a certain amount of distance above that wetness area,” he said. “We’d cut it, remove the damaged drywall, and then remove insulation and whatnot so that the home can dry out more effectively and then they can repair from that point on.”
During the operation, approximately 60 volunteers rotated in and out of Hopkinsville over two weeks, helping about 30 homeowners recover from the recent flooding.
According to Owens, some homeowners remain in their damaged houses, while others have found temporary shelter with relatives or in hotels.
click to download audioAlthough the team is now demobilized from Christian County, Owens said there have been discussions about responding to other flood-impacted areas in western Kentucky.
“We were exploring the idea of moving up towards Henderson because there were a lot of affected homes in the greater Henderson area, Daviess County, Henderson County, some of the other surrounding counties,” he said. “Whether or not that’s happened, I don’t know.”
Team Rubicon is a veteran-led disaster response organization founded in 2010 following the Haiti earthquake. Today, it boasts more than 100,000 volunteers across the country.
click to download audioIn Christian County, some neighborhoods remained inaccessible due to high water.
“There were some neighborhoods that were just still underwater that we just couldn’t help them because the water was still too high,” Owens said.
Team Rubicon provides services at no cost to homeowners or local governments. The group is funded entirely by donations and staffed by volunteers.
click to download audioIn addition to flood cleanup, the group also responds to tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters, offering help with tree removal, roof tarping, and general debris cleanup.
“We respond around the country for disaster relief,” Owens said. “We do chainsaw operations to remove trees from properties, driveways, access points. We also help with cleaning out homes from flood victims.”
The organization has also supported vaccination clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided labor for local community events.
“We do have relationships with emergency managers in various states and counties around the country,” Owens said. “They do reach out to us and we also reach out to them and say, hey, if you want us, we’re available. We’re willing to help out wherever we can.”
Owens encouraged anyone who wants to support the group’s mission to donate.
“ TeamRubiconUSA.org. <https://teamrubiconusa.org/> There should be a spot right on that front page that says donate now,” he said. “We certainly would love to have any support that we can get from people around the country.”
As long as natural disasters continue, Owens said, Team Rubicon will keep showing up.
“We’ve gained quite a reputation as being a reliable professional organization that… we use the phrase, ‘get stuff done.’ And we do, we get a lot of stuff done.”
