Homeland Security Calls for Volunteers in Lubbock - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Hurricane Katrina came within seconds and just minutes later this is what it left behind. Rosalyn Martinez, Emergency Operations Planner for South Plains Association of Governments urges Americans to be prepared. "We need to be prepared. We have seen what tragedy disasters can bring."

The Department of Homeland Security is calling on all Americans to be prepared for natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados and for acts of terrorism. Martinez says, "We have been planning this for some time and it just happened that it came at this time. It's an eye opener. Why do we need to volunteer? Why do we need to get involved?"

The South Plains Association of Governments in Lubbock wants to prepare all fifteen counties in its region for an emergency. Martinez says, "We're looking for people who can literally get up and go." You'll learn disaster response skills like search and rescue, basic first aid.

Martinez says, "We need to take responsibility for ourselves so we may be able to help somebody else." Training exercises like this one for CERT volunteers in Plainview will help you prepare before it's too late. Martinez says, "By helping ourselves is by being informed, by taking the training, participating in activities that test our training and by being able to be there when called or we'll be left out in the cold."

In Lubbock the goal is to have four disaster response teams to cover all areas of the city. If you would to get involved, call SPAG at (806) 762-8721.