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Salvation Army readies to deploy locals

Posted at 6:11 PM, Sep 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-18 19:11:56-04

The destruction that Hurricane Harvey did to Houston has thousands of people either displaced or still in need of help.

Today people are learning how to be that help.

"I was happy to get that call; I was ready and willing to serve"

Jim Civitate has been with the Salvation Army since 2005, he was deployed to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

He's ready to get back to work.

"It can be an emotional roller coaster, it’s some self satisfaction from being able to help other people."

Today about 40 people are taking an incident command course.

Any day now they could be called to duty.

"I don't know it's kind of scary"

Brian Johnson says he just found out this morning he'll deploy to Texas on the 26th.

"I usually just run local stuff like a little house fire or grass fire, nothing on this scale of a disaster."

It’s something brand new to him.

He'll be taught how to help victims spiritually, coordinate with teams to provide aid , and identify community resources.

"To me it's going to be a learning experience, it's something I haven't done that I would like to do."

With so much uncertainty of where they'll be stationed, what they'll eat or where they'll sleep, the deed of helping someone who needs it is why Johnson is here.

"Makes me feel good that they are getting what they need whether it's just a bottle of water or somebody to talk to."

The team will be in Texas for two weeks.