Recovering from a disaster such as the October 2024 flood can take years, said Tracy De La Rosa, chair of the Community Crisis Coalition of Chaves County.

“This is a marathon,” she said. “The foot race is kind of winding down, and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is about to pull out of here, so once FEMA is gone, we're it.”

De La Rosa said community members learned about the need for such an organization as the coalition immediately after the flood upon meeting with representatives from FEMA and the National Volunteer Organization Active in Disaster (NVOAD).

“They let us know that they could help us build a long-term recovery program, so we started organizing towards that," she said.

VOAD has a guideline for communities that are hit by disaster, which the coalition is commit

See Full Page