CERT volunteers support Hays County first responders in disasters

HAYS COUNTY — One local organization has been the backbone of aiding first responders when they are assisting in emergency situations.

The Hays County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is part of a nationwide approach to volunteer training and an organization that professional first responders can rely on during disaster situations. The volunteers are trained in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations.

Hays County CERT was originally activated in March 2003 at Wimberley Fire Rescue as the Wimberley Valley Community Emergency Response Team. It participated in the Memorial Day Flood in 2004, Tropical Storm Erin in 2007, Labor Day Wildfire in 2011 and severe storms and flooding in 2013.

Later in 2015, the team was redesignated at the Hays County Office of Emergency Services as its current official name: Hays County CERT. It has participated in severe storms, tornadoes, straight line winds and flooding in 2015; Hurricane Harvey in 2017; Hurricane Laura in 2020; the COVID-19 pandemic; the severe winter storm in 2021; and continuous wildfires in 2022 and 2023.

For Candy Lonie, joining CERT was all about being able to help and support the community during disaster situations — something she has witnessed firsthand.

“In my lifetime, I've seen a few tornadoes. I've seen the destruction from them. I've also seen the destruction from hurricanes. I'm also involved in a national disaster response organization. I responded after Hurricane Dorian and I was in Florida and the Bahamas. [I] saw what happened, how the citizens were victims; however, I also saw how some were more prepared and they endured the storm much better even though the entire island was flooded. I have kids at home and so for me to travel like that out of the state [and] out of the country is a little bit more difficult,” she said. “When I came back, I was looking for something where I could be more involved within my community and bring some of that awareness to where I lived. I found CERT, so once I saw that that organization existed, I joined that.”

Lonie has been a volunteer for Hays County CERT for a little over two years and became the lead of the Kyle/Buda Division after her first year. There are four divisions within the county: Wimberley, Kyle/Buda, San Marcos and Dripping Springs.

“We actually have a response [or] rehab trailer in each of those locations, so depending on where in the county we are needed, that trailer is always the first one to deploy. Then, sometimes we will have other trailers on standby and we'll have to deploy those as well if it's a larger event,” Lonie said. “Similar to the Papa Jack’s fire in Kyle [last year], that was a 13-hour event, as far as CERT was concerned. We arrived on scene at like 3 a.m. and we were there until 3 p.m. We were constantly running out of resources and we had to call for a backup trailer.”

Not every incident is alike. Once CERT volunteers are called to a scene, they follow the Incident Command System — a standardized approach used by public agencies to manage emergencies — and get their direction from the incident commander who is on-site.

“We'll set up rehab and sometimes, once we've set up for rehab, we will get called if there's an incident and we find that we have to detour traffic. So then, we are called to traffic control. We also communicate with those residents who are there and try to inform them or tell them where to go to get the information that they're needing or for updates to try to assure them,” Lonie explained. “On a fire rehab, we might set up misters. We will have coolers of water, oximeters, blood pressure cuffs, crackers and beef sticks. Sometimes, we'll have to call in for larger meals if it's an extended fire and we'll have meals provided. Oftentimes, those are donated from businesses within the community [and] sometimes they're provided by the Office of Emergency Services.”

CERT is solely made up of volunteers and any amount of time that they can give to support first responders and members in the community is appreciated.

“We have been on scene for 24 hours. We've been on scene for six days. We will have shifts and that's where the importance of having a lot of members really comes into play, because [we] set that up on rotation and again, it's always by volunteers,” Lonie said. “It's whatever anybody can give and sometimes, people are like, ‘Well, I really don’t have a lot of time to commit to this, I can only give half an hour.’ But that might be enough time to give another member a break or it might just be at the right time, which often it is. Any time that anybody can give is always very much appreciated by other CERT members, the community and first responders. Nothing is too little or too great. It’s all appreciated.”

Lonie enjoys being a CERT volunteer because of the people who believe in the cause.

“They enjoy being able to support their community. It's really just a big family. We're there to support one another … The organization, just its purpose, it has value [and it] kind of gives us as members a larger purpose and something that we just enjoy doing, knowing that it’s also bettering where we live,” she said. “It’s making our homes, communities and county more resilient.”

Those who are interested in becoming a volunteer or wanting to get more information about the organization can visit www.hayscountycert.com.