ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In the southeastern states where people are trying to recover from Hurricane Helene, you could picture layers of helpers. The top tier is the federal government effort that FEMA is coordinating. President Biden and Vice President Harris both visited the region. Here's what Biden said from the White House earlier in the week.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I want you to know the administration is going to be there - and we just talked about this - until we finish the job. It's going to take a hell of a long time and a serious amount of assets.
SHAPIRO: At the bottom tier, there's a grassroots recovery effort, neighbors helping neighbors, like Turbo Tetterton of Asheville, N.C., who finally got online after days without power and started scrolling through messages on her phone.
TURBO TETTERTON: Just, hey, have you heard from this person? Hey, I haven't heard from that person. Does anybody - heard from them? Are they OK? Do they have power? (Crying) Does she have water? Are you alive? I didn't realize how bad it was.
SHAPIRO: And between the big federal government mobilization and the ad hoc neighborhood effort is a network of humanitarian organizations, like Team Rubicon, a nonprofit group led by military veterans. Art delaCruz is the CEO. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
ART DELACRUZ: Thank you for having me.
SHAPIRO: Where are you right now, and what have you been up to these last several days?
DELACRUZ: So I have been busy on a road trip. I'm actually on my way to Pasco County, Fla., which was impacted by Hurricane Helene.
SHAPIRO: That's around Tampa, right?
DELACRUZ: That's correct. And we've got team members spread across the southeast from North Carolina through Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. So a presence throughout the affected areas.
SHAPIRO: I know the specific need depends on the specific location, but broadly speaking, what is most urgent right now?
DELACRUZ: Yeah, I think, depending on the location, you know, the biggest, the top tier concern is, you know, preservation of life. I think in North Carolina in particular, trying to understand is that previous interview had shown, understand where people are, what they need and the conditions around them. And they're recovering at various stages. And here in Pasco County, Fla., you know, we have people that are getting ready to tarp roofs and move debris, which is very, very different from some of the services that are being delivered farther north.
SHAPIRO: And so what are your teams actually doing on a daily basis?
DELACRUZ: You know, we go from phase to phase. In the initial stages, we actually had route clearance teams with heavy equipment and chainsaws. They were able to clear actually enough debris on these roads across Florida, South Carolina, Georgia to fill up a convoy of, you know, 1,050 dump trucks. These roads being cleared allows citizens to transit, emergency services to transit. And this long marathon process of restoration of services, all of those can occur once these roadways have been cleared.
And now we'll transition into serving, you know, individual homeowners and contributing in this seam, this layer between the grassroots and the federal government, aiding and facilitation of these services that are so critical in the beginning days and then stepping into our primary focus, which is, you know, helping to restore people's lives.
SHAPIRO: Is there a specific person or a scene that stays with you from the last few days?
DELACRUZ: You know, I think one of the things that is recurring, No.1, is the vastness of the storm. You know, from east to west, the size of Helene was absolutely immense. It was uncharacteristic in the speed that transited through from landfall on because it carried the windstorm forward. And then what we are seeing to the north in places like North Carolina is very, very reminiscent of what we saw with Hurricane Harvey in 2017, where, you know, this incredible amount of rain becomes stationary and creates, you know, water issues, freshwater issues and damage that's, you know, almost incomprehensible. So this one is absolutely immense. And in my time at Team Rubicon, this is certainly the worst that I have seen.
SHAPIRO: Have you seen improvement since the weekend?
DELACRUZ: We have. You know, and one of the things that's absolutely incredible as the storm transits through is how quickly people are springing into action. Oftentimes, these are services that are planned. You know, pieces are prepositioned and then you begin the recovery. But I think it's also important to note as the headlines begin to fade from the news that, you know, we literally have sprinted into the beginning of a marathon. This will take months to recover across this entire region.
SHAPIRO: And for people who are not personally affected by the storm but want to help, who might be living in other parts of the country, is there a need you see right now that civilians in other places might be able to help meet?
DELACRUZ: You know, the reality is there's a million things more important than money in a disaster, but they all take money. You know, that is the resource that allows, in particular, nonprofits to be able to operate and be able to bring and match the proper services with the unmet needs. You know, and I'd also encourage people to check in on, you know, relatives and family members and make their own personal preparations for the disasters, you know, that they might face. But, you know, this is one of those times - and this idea of neighbors helping neighbors - where it should, you know, go from West Coast to East Coast and come together to be able to help these people impacted.
SHAPIRO: That is Art delaCruz, CEO of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit group led by military veterans, speaking with us from Florida. Thank you so much.
DELACRUZ: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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