By Glen Denny, Baron Critical Weather Solutions:

Team Rubicon is an international disaster response nonprofit with a mission of using the skills and experiences of military veterans and first responders to rapidly provide relief to communities in need. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Team Rubicon has more than 80,000 volunteers around the country ready to jump into action when needed to provide immediate relief to those affected by natural disasters.

More than 80 percent of the disasters Team Rubicon responds to are weather-related, including crippling winter storms, catastrophic hurricanes, and severe weather outbreaks – like tornadoes. While always ready to serve, the organization needed better weather intelligence to help them prepare and mitigate risks. After adopting professional weather forecasting and monitoring tools, operations teams were able to pinpoint weather hazards, track storms, view forecasts, and set up custom alerts. And the intelligence they gained made a huge difference in the organization’s response to Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

Team Rubicon relies on skills and experiences of military veterans and first responders
About 75 percent of Team Rubicon volunteers are military veterans, who find that their skills in emergency medicine, small-unit leadership, and logistics are a great fit with disaster response. It also helps with their ability to hunker down in challenging environments to get the job done. A further 20 percent of volunteers are trained first responders, while the rest are volunteers from all walks of life. The group is a member of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (National VOAD), an association of organizations that mitigate and alleviate the impact of disasters.

By focusing on underserved or economically-challenged communities, Team Rubicon seeks to make the largest impact possible. According to William (“TJ”) Porter, manager of operational planning, Team Rubicon’s core mission is to help those who are often forgotten or left behind; they place a special emphasis on helping under-insured and uninsured populations.

Porter, a 13-year Air Force veteran, law enforcement officer, world traveler, and former American Red Cross worker, proudly stands by Team Rubicon’s service principles, “Our actions are characterized by the constant pursuit to prevent or alleviate human suffering and restore human dignity – we help people on their worst day.”

Weather-related disasters pose special challenges
The help Team Rubicon provides for weather-related disasters spans the gamut, from removing trees from roadways, clearing paths for service vehicles, bringing in supplies, conducting search and rescue missions (including boating rescues), dealing with flooded out homes, mucking out after a flood, mold remediation, and just about anything else needed. While Team Rubicon had greatly expanded its equipment inventory in recent years to help do these tasks, the organization lacked the deep level of weather intelligence that could help them understand and mitigate risks – and keep their teams safe from danger.

After learning of the impressive work Team Rubicon is doing at the Virginia Emergency Management Conference, a Baron Critical Weather Solutions team member struck up a conversation with Team Rubicon, asking if they had a need for detailed and accurate weather data to help them plan their efforts. Team Rubicon jumped at the opportunity and Baron ultimately donated access to its Baron Threat Net product. Key features allow users to pinpoint weather hazards by location, track storms, view forecasts and set up custom alerts, including location-based pinpoint alerting and standard alerts from the National Weather Service (NWS). The web portal weather monitoring system provides street level views and the ability to layer numerous data products. Threat Net also offers a mobile companion application that gives Team Rubicon access to real-time weather monitoring on the go.

This suited Team Rubicon down to the ground. “In years past, we didn’t have a good way to monitor weather,” explains Porter. “We went onto the NWS, but our folks are not meteorologists, and they don’t have that background to make crucial decisions. Baron Threat Net helped us understand risks and mitigate the risks of serious events. It plays a crucial role in getting teams in as quickly as possible so we can help the greatest number of people.”

Learn more about Team Rubicon.

About the Author: Glen Denny is President of Enterprise Solutions, Baron Critical Weather Solutions, the developer of Baron Threat Net.