FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) – A group of veterans are on the way to rescue some Fond du Lac residents still reeling from flooding.
The group made up of veterans and first-responders is called Team Rubicon.
On Friday, they were helping out Louise Bowen.
“I thought the 100-year flood 10 years ago wouldn’t repeat,” she explains.
Bowen, who has been in her Fond du Lac home for 16 years, lost her brother early last week and then she lost her home to the flood.
“(Thursday) morning I was not sure where to go because of all the pressure, all the things I was dealing with and timelines,” says Bowen.
Volunteers from Team Rubicon arrived on Friday to assess the damage and turn her fortune around.
“The water might have been all the way up to the rafters,” says Paul Matchett, a firefighter who is one of two dozen volunteers from Team Rubicon who came to Fond du Lac.
The organization, which is made up of a number of veterans and first responders, is dedicated to helping disaster victims.
“We want to get the homeowner back, give them a sense of a place to start, a clean slate,” says Matchett.
First, they’ll assess the damage and then later come in with a strike team.
“Our services are 100% free. We’re all volunteers,” he says.
Nearby a strike team was out in full force on Friday helping clear out another flooded basement.
“We’re just here to help,” says Team Rubicon volunteer Ruben Noceda.
This is Noceda’s, an Air Force veteran from Illinois, third deployment with Team Rubicon.
“Sometimes we don’t feel like we’re done serving our country and our fellow Americans so it’s a great opportunity to do that,” explains Noceda.
Team Rubicon helped at 88 different disasters in 2018 and that number is expected to climb this year to 120.
“I’m just taking one step at a time,” says Bowen.
For her, the help of Team Rubicon is a great first step.
“They’re a God-send,” she says. “They’re a blessing.”
Officials say that if you live in Fond du Lac and require assistance from the flooding you should contact the United Way by calling 211.
