Veterans arriving to help flood victims in Lake and McHenry counties
Team Rubicon, a national disaster response nonprofit organization led by veterans, will be helping McHenry and Lake County residents affected by this month's historic floods starting Tuesday.
Carol McCoy, the incident commander on the cleanup mission, said Team Rubicon plans to have 30 to 40 volunteers helping for 30 to 45 days in what they are calling Operation Fox Yeah.
"This is one of our longer operations," McCoy said from Johnsburg Junior High School, where team members planned to spend Monday night. "We will have a blend of local Chicago volunteers and people from all across the country, as far away as North Carolina and Hawaii."
A team of volunteers will spend Tuesday mucking out flood-ruined basements and removing debris. Another team will meet with residents and assess damages.
"They will be looking to see how big the home is, how deep the sludge is, will we need to remove two feet of drywall or the whole wall," McCoy said.
Residents seeking an assessment from Team Rubicon can call (800) 451-1954. They offer their services for free.
McCoy believes this is the first time Team Rubicon volunteers have responded to a natural disaster in the Chicago area.
The nonprofit was started in 2010 by U.S. Marine Corps veterans Jake Wood and William McNulty in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. Team Rubicon has grown since from eight volunteers to more than 46,000. It has conducted more than 200 operations, including responses to Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013 and Hurricane Matthew last year.
McCoy said when the organization decides to respond to a disaster, it puts out a call to their volunteers. If it's an operation that warrants flying people in, then they do it in waves so they have a consistent number of volunteers.
Beyond disaster relief, Team Rubicon helps veterans find a renewed sense of purpose, which is vital as many veterans return to civilian life after their time in the military, according to the organization.