In preparing for whatever storms or emergencies may come next, communities across North Carolina are creating or expanding Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs). About 70 CERTs are now in the state, according to the NC Division of Emergency Management.

While the name brings images of disasters, CERT training also includes basic skills, such as how to use a fire extinguisher, pack a first aid kit, and perform hands-only CPR.

“The first goal is to take care of ourselves and neighbors,” explains Youngsville Fire Chief Brian Christmas.

Mountain strong

Helene’s legacy will be the neighbors helping each other in the immediate flooding, in the days without power or phone services, and through ongoing emotional grief and physical rebuilding.

“All of our members survived the storm, and most volunteered in unofficial capacities,” notes David Billstrom, town liaison to the Black Mountain CERT. Formally organized in Spring 2025, it is said to be the first CERT west of Hickory. Initial funding from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina has been augmented by additional partners.

About 70 CERTs are now in the state, according to the NC Division of Emergency Management.

“In Helene, as a firefighter for a public agency, I had to turn away skilled volunteers because they had no way to serve in an official capacity,” David notes. “CERT provides the structure — and liability protection — that these citizen volunteers need to be able to be part of the solution in emergencies large and small.”

He is proud that the Black Mountain CERT is helping other new teams be established.

The team also has brought back — and improved — a radio network that does not need internet or electricity, offering resilience when “modern” communication fails. All the certified team members have radios, and the system is available to police and firefighters. CERT members also help the public choose and use radios on the system, known as GMRS.

By Spring 2026, 45 members had completed CERT certification. A dozen or more will take courses this year.

“One of the incredible developments that every member of our program talks about: Each other,” David says. “They’re not only serving community, they also have created community within the CERT program and support each other.”

Likewise, Helene offered the impetus in 2025 for Henderson County Emergency Management to organize a CERT in conjunction with the Henderson County Rescue Squad.

“One of the key takeaways we discovered was the need to equip residents with the knowledge and skills to be more self-sufficient until emergency personnel could reach them,” notes Kimberly Lughart, a rescue squad captain and CERT coordinator.

Training topics, such as basic first aid and triage, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, and emergency preparedness, include sessions led by rescue technicians who were heavily engaged in response operations during Hurricane Helene.

Training paid off for members during winter storms this year.

“We were thrilled to hear that many were already putting their training into action, using what they learned to better prepare themselves, their families, and their communities,” Kimberly says.

Mutual aid in the Piedmont

Although 200 miles away, Youngsville CERT stepped up to help mountain communities and the state in the aftermath of Helene.

Reports of people as “missing” had surged as folks panicked when they could not reach loved ones. The state had tasked the 211 hotline with receiving new reports. But updating the thousands of reports required additional work.

The Youngsville team was relatively new, but Brian Christmas offered CERT services and quickly gathered additional volunteers. Across several shifts each day over nine days, 265 people made more than 10,000 calls to update extensive spreadsheets.

In most cases, the family or friends had been located and were safe. Other calls revealed ongoing needs for medical help, water and critical needs. Later, the state reported very few persons officially listed as missing from Helene.

“Helene sparked an interest in people wanting to help,” Brian notes.

Through 2025, Youngsville CERT leaders developed specific roles and committees, even establishing a nonprofit working closely with the fire department. By early 2026, the team had offered trainings in English and Spanish, volunteered at traditional events, and added safety at intersections as the monks’ Walk for Peace went through Franklin County.

Youngsville CERT president Scott Yeakey, who had previous experience in emergency response, led a February training with scenarios simulating a small fire, as well as a tornado-damaged church.

“We are getting them closer to the real world,” he explains.

Karen Lindquist of Wake Forest, who has a business providing flood-monitoring technology, agrees. She found CERT sessions interesting and useful. “At times it is scary, but I am more able to handle a real situation,” she says.

CERT member Christopher Williams ran the scenarios’ communications command, with radio calls to assign tasks and confirm completion. Alongside skills from his day-job as assistant manager and dispatcher at a towing company, he has 250 hours of CERT training including cybersecurity topics.

“I am the only one in the state with a visual impairment,” he says.

Serving neighbors along the coast

CERTs also are found in the coastal region. For example, the Hatteras Island team organizes the placement of satellite phone and internet options when regular service is not available, thus letting residents contact loved ones, insurance companies and more.

In New Hanover County, emergency management officials and first responders provide training for the local CERT members.

All CERTs are available throughout the year as residents may experience varied emergencies: ice and snow, flooding, tornadoes and fires.

“Being able to help them prepare is such a great way to give back to the community,” says Kimberly Lughart, a Henderson County native. “We always say: Stronger Together!”