Chattanooga still needs tornado recovery volunteers

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – More volunteers are still needed to help with cleanup from the Easter tornado.

Many cases are still open and continue to pile up, as more people ask for help.

“As of 9 AM this morning, I saw that 151 cases had been approved by the federal government, so we really want people to take the time to register with the disaster relief fund,” says Amy Maxwell with Emergency Management Services.

To apply for a disaster relief fund you can go here https://www.hamiltonready.org/

Amy also says the reason for the delay in trash pickups is that the debris has to be separated in 4 different categories.

“You’ve got your brush, you’ve got your white items which is like your electronics and refrigerators and all, you have construction equipment, and you have hazardous materials so each one of those has to be picked up separately.”

Right now, the number of volunteers compared to weeks ago is about a third of what they used to have.

Melanie Ramirez, a college senior, who has been volunteering ever since the tornado hit says you don’t have to have a specific skill set, just a willing heart to help your neighbors out with tree and debris removal.

“if you have a chainsaw, if you have some rakes, if you have working gloves, that’s all were really sending out our teams to do, so we need a lot of volunteers for that.”

Rick Buckman, is a 30 year resident of Chattanooga who is in charge of going door to door around the east brained area, asking if they need assistance.

“If they have damage, we write up a work report and we put it in the database and then volunteers come and do the work.”

They have two shifts open every day, meeting at the YMCA off Shallowford Road.

You can sign up to help at this website.