How you can cope — or help others — when disasters strike
All told, the US sustained 403 weather and climate disasters from 1980–2024, where overall damages and costs reached or exceeded $1 billion. And in the first half of 2025, we experienced 15 separate billion-dollar weather disasters, including tornadoes, hail, wind, and flash flooding from severe thunderstorms.
Learn more: How much does flood insurance cost in every state?
Earl Johnson wrote a new book about how to cope when those disasters hit home: Finding Comfort During Hard Times: A Guide to Healing after Disaster, Violence, and Other Community Trauma.
At the American Red Cross national headquarters, Johnson's responsibilities included preparedness and response to every domestic mass fatality incident since the weeks after 9/11, including transportation incidents, natural disasters, and criminal acts.
Here are edited excerpts of our conversation:
Kerry Hannon: What was the experience of aiding in a disaster that made this work become your mission?
Earl Johnson: 9/11 changed everybody's lives. I moved from lower Manhattan to Arlington, Va., on Sept. 9, 2001. I was in the backyard, and I heard the plane hit the Pentagon. I had training as a hospital chaplain and it kicked in. All of my skills and everything were transferable to a disaster. Hurricane Katrina was my other seminal event. I was with the Red Cross, and we were tasked to open a thousand shelters for a thousand people each in the next 24 hours.
It wasn't just a Red Cross response. It wasn't just a federal response. It was everybody, all hands on deck. And we were a team.
With the Texas Hill country flooding disaster on our minds, what's the best action for someone to take if you want to give, but you can't be there in person?
The temptation for many people is to drop everything and go help the victims. And that's the wrong thing to do unless you have specialized training and also an invitation to go with an official group. The best thing you can do, if you can afford it, is to contribute — give money, but don't give stuff.
A lot of times that will just inundate a community. The best thing is to stay, pray, and pay. If you have a specific charity, great. Many people contribute to a faith-based charity or the American Red Cross or Salvation Army. Donations do make a difference, and you are doing something.
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Is this something that you recommend for those who might be retired and have time to volunteer on-site?
Yes. But don't wait until the disaster happens. Get your disaster training because there are unique aspects of disasters, and you need to be trained for a specific function whether it be shelter management or mass care feeding. Retirees offer a pool of expertise.
How would someone get that training?
Well, I'm prejudiced. I love the Red Cross. I spent 10 years responding to disasters with them. They have an excellent volunteer program and training.
Why is it so important for everyone to have some sort of a disaster plan in place for their community, home, and business?
We never know when there is going to be a catastrophic event. But we have to go on living, and we have to live fully and freely without that kind of anxiety. Making a disaster plan is not only good business, it's also common sense — because that's another way of not only taking care of yourself and your family, it's also taking care of your customers and your business.
For example, you should have a "go bag" of things to take with you with a flashlight and solar radio, for example. Build a rainy day emergency fund. Have a disaster communications plan in case there's a blackout or the landlines go down.
You write in your book about being on the alert for entrepreneurs and predators and other people coming into a community under the guise of offering help. How do we guard ourselves from being taken advantage of?
It's the second wave of the disaster. Good, kindhearted people respond, but also entrepreneurs and predators who want to take advantage of the vulnerable. Do a background check. Check with a local Better Business Bureau, the police department, the Red Cross, local media, and others in your community to find out if they have heard of this group, or were aware that this group has descended upon the community and are going door-to- door offering roof repairs or whatever.
A lot of people get victimized because they're already vulnerable, because the emotional and spiritual aspects of disasters are so traumatic. If you are in the disaster zone, you already are vulnerable and you want help and you want assistance. Don't sign anything until they have been checked out.
What's the first thing to ask yourself before you head off to a disaster zone to lend a hand?
You can't imagine how many people drop everything, get in their car with a couple bags of ice and a couple dozen sandwiches, and drive a thousand miles to help. When I am screening potential volunteers, I would always ask them why they want to respond, so stop and first ask yourself that question. Who's going to take care of your family and pets if you are gone? Do you have two to three weeks that you can donate?
You also need to be willing to be managed. You can't be the big hotshot coming down to do your part. You need to take direction.What about small disasters? Unemployment can be a disaster for people. Elaborate.
There are thousands of everyday disasters. There are house fires, divorce, homelessness, mental health issues, and yes, unemployment.
Nothing is more violent and traumatic than unemployment. One day your identity as your job or your vocation that you've contributed so much to is gone.
You need to start with considering what gives you hope. What is your source of hope and meaning? Make a fearless personal assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Take that personal inventory, especially because you're devastated when you lose your job. You have to say, wait a minute, I was employed. I have skills, I have learning, and it does have value, and I have made a difference. Talk to people and go deeper and ask them what are the good things they notice about you? What are the things they see that you do well?
What's your biggest takeaway from the book for readers?
Comfort is essential. Preparedness is caring and taking care of one another. It is a huge gift not only to come in and help people to rebuild their home, but also to be a good neighbor and to be a good listener. You may not have physical things that people need, but you have a good ear, and you can support one another. Disasters are not only physical. They're also emotional and spiritual.
For more information on how you can help, check out the Red Cross and FEMA sites.
Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including the forthcoming "Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future," "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work," and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky.
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