By Carl Manning, American Red Cross

Red Cross volunteer Chris Bozdech was at a Little Rock, Arkansas apartment complex as part of the Detailed Damage Assessment team surveying the tornado damage to the homes there.

One of the first people he met was Antoinette Baker, whose building had major storm damage. Chris wanted to know where the damage occurred, so he started talking to Antoinette.

Like many who survived the destruction, Antionette had a story to tell, and a Red Cross volunteer seemed like someone willing to listen to her.

Antoinette explained how she was in her apartment when the storm hit, causing some exterior damage to her building. She took shelter in her bathtub and soon her whole apartment was shaking.

“I really was worried that I was going to die. It really was just too much and I tell you, I did some real praying,” she said. “I was scared but I realize now that I am so very fortunate.”

Chris and his teammate, Pat Stinnett, took the time to listen because it made Antoinette feel better that she could share her experience with others.

As part of the assessment team, Chris and Pat checked on the condition of each home in their assigned area, whether it was rows of homes on a street or dozens of apartments in a complex.

Assessing the damage to homes required several teams fanning out in the impacted areas of Little Rock. Each morning, they gathered for a briefing and were told where they would be working that day.

In previous times, it could take three or four days to gather data on paper forms and for that information to then be checked and verified.

But thanks to technological advances, that same information can be gathered, and an accurate report generated in real time using a special app on a person’s smartphone known as Survey 123.

Damage assessment also can use a pre-impact and post-impact high resolution swipe tool. Using satellite images or aerial photos, it can show what an area looked like before it was impacted by a natural disaster.

At the apartment complex, Pat was using his Survey 123 app when a resident asked him what he was doing. As a veteran of damage assessments, he’s use to such questions and politely explained he was gathering information so the Red Cross can better provide needed assistance.

The detailed assessment is seen by many as the engine that drives the Red Cross recovery train. It is with this information that the Red Cross can determine where the greatest damage occurred and where the greatest need exists for recovery resources.