VAN, W.Va. — A group of 15 volunteers from an organization which specializes in disaster recovery will wrap up a week of work in Boone County this week. The members of Team Rubicon arrived Monday in Van and fanned out to a number of area homes to assess and help residents with their flood cleanup work.
“Right now primarily we’re doing what you would call ‘mucking out’ a house,” said Rubicon’s Incident Commander Paula Repka.
Team Rubicon is no stranger to West Virginia. They had teams in the state helping with cleanup and rebuilding work during the 2016 flood a decade ago. During that time, they formed close ties with West Virginia Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) as well as the state Office of Emergency Services. Repka said it was those organizations who reached out to see if they could spare the help.
“Those two areas got in contact with us and felt we would be better here in Boone County,” she explained.
Although there is a state of emergency in Boone, Logan, and Raleigh County, the area along Pond Fork from Van to Wharton had the most damage from the June 22nd high water. The state estimated 120 homes in the county were impacted by the floods. A dozen of those homes were considered a total loss and a dozen more were considered to have severe damage. It was those areas where Team Rubicon concentrated their efforts this week.
“They’ve been angels, they really have,” said Sheryl Beard as a crew of Rubicon workers helped move soaked items out of her late parents’ home along Route 85. “They have been an answer to a prayer, they really have.”
Repka estimated the team had helped muck out a dozen homes during their stay. They expect to pull out of Boone County Friday.
“We’ve completed three. Today we should be able to wrap up another eight or nine. We’re looking in the 12 to 15 house/property range,” Repka explained.
The team was formed in 2010 when a group of veterans got together and went to Haiti to offer assistance in the wake of a devastating earthquake. During the response the team realized the skills they acquired in the military were useful in the wake of natural disasters. So they organized and formed Team Rubicon which is based in Los Angles, but has volunteers actively working in disaster zones all across the nation.