Disaster Agencies Form Emergency Response Group for Longview Area

LONGVIEW — Longview took its first step toward establishing a local agency to coordinate disaster assistance during an organizational meeting Tuesday. The purpose of VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) will be to coordinate the resources of various agencies during a disaster, so that people get streamlined service and there is no unnecessary duplication of efforts by various agencies. That’s according to Lee Lester, who was elected president of the group at the meeting.

“If we can get to know who does what in our community, we can make referrals to other agencies and work together to help people get their lives back on track after disasters,” Lester said. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, agencies represented at the initial meeting were the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the Greater Longview United Way, East Texas Baptist Men and Global Operations Division-International Services.