In 2011 the city of Joplin, Missouri was severely impacted by a EF5 tornado – one of the deadliest in US history with 158 people killed. Following the disaster, volunteers from across America travelled to Joplin to assist.

In nearby Christian County, Director of Emergency Management, Phil Amtower, and Assistant Director, Linda Barger were preparing teams of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers to deploy to Joplin.

Their involvement was extensive and they assisted with a range of tasks, supporting the local community. They also helped to coordinate spontaneous volunteers which Phil describes as ‘the second disaster’.

There were thousands of people who came, and this was pretty much broadcast live on the weather channel. I think 95% of America saw it, because 85% came.

Phil Amtower

During the deployment, the CERT team were provided with a list of hundreds of people, and spent weeks searching in person and online to locate all of them.

They also assisted Frank – an elderly man who lived alone. His house was destroyed and the team helped him clear away debris and eventually remove his damaged house. The volunteers supported Frank through this very challenging time and when it came time to say goodbye to his house, the CERT team acted on Frank’s time, when he was ready.

But nothing is more important than the people that you’re there to help

Linda Barger

There are more than 250 volunteers in the Christian County CERT team, who undertake training across a range of areas so they are able to assist during times of crisis. The team have deployed to many significant disasters, with an average deployment time of 10 days and are self sufficient.

In 2014 the team were awarded an Outstanding CERT of the Year award from FEMA in a ceremony at the White House, and in 2017 the team were recognised as the leading CERT team in the state of Missouri for their work in a flood response.

They have currently been assisting with the response to COVID19 in the local community.

Learn more about the Christian County CERT team here >

Part two of our conversation with Amanda Lamont explores how we can better create an environment to attract and engage women in disaster roles. We also speak about Amanda’s role establishing the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network.

Join the AWE Network at awenetwork.org.au

Amanda Lamont is the co-founder of the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network and also works on a range of disaster related projects. She volunteers with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Red Cross in Victoria.

”Women do these jobs too. Not better, not worse but simply #ustoo

Amanda Lamont started as a corporate lawyer working in Adelaide and discovered her passion for helping others after spending a year travelling and working in South America.

After a catastrophic bushfire season, Amanda joins us to discuss the unprecedented bushfire season and what this means in terms of ‘building back better’, community perception of their future risk, investing in recovery and coordinating spontaneous volunteers.

When someone asks what I think disaster recovery is, I say it’s about recovering our resilience

Amanda Lamont

Stay tuned for a second episode with Amanda Lamont next week as we discuss the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network and the strength of a female perspective in disasters.

The first episode of the Me, Myself and Disaster is here! This week we speak with Anthony (Antz) Rohan who volunteered with the Student Volunteer Army following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Thousands of properties were damaged or destroyed, and spontaneous volunteers were key to the community’s recovery. Antz talks about his involvement and the resilience of Christchurch in the years following the earthquakes.