Hello Galveston County CERT Family!
As we enter the new month of March, we are saddened to announce the passing of one of our very active CERT members in late January, Dr. Donald Deyo, DVM. Donald joined our CERT team in 2013 and remained very active and contributed to our success in many ways. Donald became one of the team leaders for our CHAT (CERT Ham Action Team) group and was very active with our Search and Rescue team. He recently was active and helped in our inaugural DART (Debris Abatement Response Team) training in November. Donald will be truly missed, and we will keep him, his family, and his many friends in our thoughts and prayers. You can visit his obituary page by clicking this link.
Our CERT team is still experiencing the financial trouble that has been created in Washington DC as the administration continues to re-invent FEMA. The federal government had defunded many grants going to blue states and cities last year. The states and cities sued the federal government to restore the funding, and it looked as if the funding may be restored in the coming months, but the federal government filed an appeal last week, and this could mean a long delay to our team activities returning to normal. Please keep our team in your thoughts and if you have contact with business leaders who may want to partner with us to enhance preparedness and response in our communities, please pass the information to John.
Our CERT team is working with the Ironman Foundation to support the race that is happening on Sunday, March 29th, on Galveston Island. We are responsible for helping contestants start and end the swimming leg of the race. This is early in the morning, and we should be done around Noon. Volunteers do not have to be CERT members, so you can get family and friends to come out and help alongside yourself, and we need 24 people to sign up for our group. Here is the link to register with the Ironman Foundation in the Swim Start group! Let’s turn out and have a fun morning making the swimming safe for all!
We will continue to put our activities on hold, but we are still a team, and we will help when and where we are needed. Stay CERT STRONG!