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About Avery County CERT

A Community Emergency Response Team is a group of trained neighbors who can look after their community until — and alongside — professional help. It’s a national FEMA program, run here by Avery County.

Who runs it

Avery County Emergency Management sponsors the program — only a government agency can. Emergency Management is the only one who activates the team, and members never self-deploy.

The Avery County Long Term Recovery Group convenes it: recruiting, organizing training, raising grants, and keeping volunteers connected between emergencies. Fire chiefs and other partners help shape it, so CERT supports our volunteer fire departments rather than competing with them.

What members do

Check on neighbors
Door-to-door welfare checks when phones and 911 are down — the only method that worked in several counties in 2024.
Pass the word by radio
A neighborhood radio network that runs without cell service, internet or the power grid.
Run supply points
Help staff points of distribution for water, food and fuel, as Elk Park, Banner Elk and Frank did with no trained staff.
Organize volunteers
Sign in and direct the neighbors and out-of-town helpers who show up, so their effort goes where it’s needed.
Support shelters
Help at shelters and reception centers alongside the county and the Red Cross.
Assess damage
Report damage, blocked roads and failed bridges quickly and accurately to Emergency Management.
Light search and first aid
Basic triage, first aid and light search — supporting fire and rescue, never replacing them.
Clear debris safely
Only for members who pass a recognized chainsaw safety course, with full protective gear.

How you become a member

  1. Sign up. Tell us where you live and what interests you. We’ll invite you to the next class near you.
  2. Take CERT Basic. 21 hours (North Carolina’s NC-317 course), with part online if you prefer, ending in a hands-on disaster simulation.
  3. Get your kit. After a background check you receive an ID and a protective kit: helmet, vest, gloves, eye and dust protection, light, whistle, first aid and a field guide.
  4. Join your community team. Each team has a named leader and a place on the county’s radio network.
  5. Keep your skills up. At least four activities a year — drills, monthly radio check-ins, preparedness events.

Western North Carolina skills classes

On top of the federal course, we’re adding classes for what happened here. Each comes from a real failure during Helene.

Flood response
Mountain flash floods, river gauges, and what the 2024 sequence taught us.
Landslide awareness
Recognizing slope failure before and after heavy rain.
Private roads and bridges
Spotting and reporting failing private roads, culverts and bridges — the main way people were cut off here.
Off-grid communications
GMRS radios, working with local ham operators, and satellite messengers.
The first 72 hours
Getting a cut-off community through three days without power, water or outside help.
Chainsaw and debris safety
Through a recognized program with a pass/fail skills check — never self-taught.
Wells and spring boxes
Recognizing contaminated water after a flood.
Neighbors with access and functional needs
Helping people who depend on power, medication or mobility aids.

They’re built to share: fire departments, road crews, church disaster teams and other counties can use them too.

Later on

Teen CERT at a high school, Campus CERT at a college, and Workplace CERT for large employers with outdoor crews and seasonal staff — all under the same county program.

Where the program stands

  1. County sponsorship approved Done

    Avery County Emergency Management agreed to sponsor the program.

  2. Registered with the state and FEMA Under way

    New program application to NC Emergency Management and national registration.

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