On March 13, Winter Storm Ulmer began to move from the Rockies across the Midwest – delivering severe winds, blizzard conditions, and heavy rainfall across a significant portion of the United States and leading to historic flooding, emergency declarations, and evacuations. However, this storm and its devastating impacts did not receive a very high amount … Read More
The National Weather Service called the flooding by last week’s Winter Storm Ulmer, a bomb cyclone, “historic” and they and the United States Geological Services provided a map of the almost two dozen states—from coast to coast—affected by the severe pressure drop that caused increased winds, severe blizzards, and record rains that clashed with ice … Read More
My hands were damp and clammy inside their heavy orange work gloves and a sheen of sweat soaked my grey shirt. The cloud of sweet-smelling sawdust we’d kicked up stuck to my arms, my neck, my face. It wormed its way into every crease and crevasse of my clothing until I resembled a pine scented sugar cookie. In Team Rubicon, we call this dust “tree glitter.” It sticks to everything and … Read More
When will I know I am deploying? Well, it depends on the operation. If you don’t sign up for an operation, then for sure, you aren’t deploying. After signing up, you’ll know you are deploying when you receive dispatch instructions in your email, but the timing for when you receive these instructions varies. Each operation … Read More
I recently had the opportunity to represent Team Rubicon along with a few colleagues at the UN’s Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week in Geneva, Switzerland. This is an annual event where humanitarian partners connect to work on pressing issues in the humanitarian space. Amongst a variety of conversations aimed at improving humanitarian action, a discussion on … Read More
Under the bright Florida sun, a handful of former service members and their grey-shirted volunteer crew is hammering roofs on homes. Nails plunge into new wood and the song of hammers rings loud. All may seem cheery now, but when Hurricane Irma came tearing ashore here in 2017, she took roofs across Collier County with her. At least 65 homes—including 44 mobile homes—were destroyed, … Read More