Sioux Falls, S.D. (March 22, 2019) – Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization, has launched an operation to provide assistance and support to the residents of Minnehaha County, Sioux Falls, S.D. following the recent floods. The operation began Thursday, March 21 and is anticipated to last four days.
This operation is part of continuing coordinated effort between the City of Sioux Falls Office of Emergency Management and Minnehaha County Office of Emergency Management. Team Rubicon is providing spontaneous volunteer management and is assisting with building and distribution of sandbags to homeowners of the affected communities – helping them prepare for additional potential flooding in the coming days. Team Rubicon is prepared to transition from sandbagging operations to flooded home muck-outs and debris removal if needed.
As of Friday, March 22, 16 Team Rubicon members as well as 1,504 spontaneous volunteers have come together to fill 18,000 sandbags to help the community of Sioux Falls. Korey Schroeder, Incident Commander for Team Rubicon commented, “Sioux Falls is a very strong and resilient community. It has been an honor to help them increase their resiliency to potential flooding over the next few days and we are prepared to help in any way we can.”
Team Rubicon boasts a 90,000-strong, highly skilled volunteer force that helps communities stabilize and recover after a devastating natural disaster. Since its inception following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Team Rubicon has responded to 325 disasters, including Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, and Michael.
Through a strong communications infrastructure supported by our cutting-edge technological solutions, Team Rubicon volunteers efficiently and effectively respond to natural disasters and help families return to their homes as soon as possible. By giving military veteran volunteers the opportunity to continue their service through disaster response, Team Rubicon provides them an avenue to gain a renewed sense of purpose, community, and identity.