Tennessee Disaster Response Team

05/19/2026

Tennessee Disaster Response Team Callout #182: responding to Whitaker Cemetery in Monterey to remove a large dangerous tree. Top Down Tree Service will be on hand to drop the tree. Our team responsibility will be to help get their equipment to the tree by placing plywood down as the machinery is moved to the tree. We will be temporarily moving a few foot markers. We will be chainsawing and moving limbs to the street. Meet at the Monterey Lions Club at 8:00 am tomorrow morning. This will be a four hour deployment.

04/18/2026

Call out #179 at the request of Clay County, TN Emergency Services for storm damage in Celina. Team will meet at Monterey Lions Club at 7:00 am on Wednesday, April 22 and return that evening. A second crew will join us at the Loves Truck Stop in Baxter.

04/18/2026

I had a dream last night about being in Puerto Rico helping after the massive hurricane some years ago. The dream was about the night I tried to sleep on the concrete floor of a parking garage. Each night of that deployment was spent at a different location. This morning I thought I'd make a list of where the Tennessee Disaster Response Team members have slept over the past 20 years. (1) In the beds of our trucks in WalMart parking lots. (2) In a meat butchering facility, (3) In an abandoned house trailer, (4) In a family's basement, (4) in the disaster trailer, (5) in a room with five other team members, (6) in a really shady motel that I'm pretty sure I had seen on an episode of Cops. (7) two different deployments in a church sanctuary, (😎 On the floor of a T-Mobile "Switch" building. Wouldn't change a thing because the experiences have left me with a lot of great memories and some funny stories.

03/17/2026

The Tennessee Disaster Response Team will respond to Lawrence County, TN, tomorrow, March 18, for a one-day deployment to assist in tornado cleanup. Leaving Monterey Lions Club at 7:00 am.

09/07/2025

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Mark your calendars! The 5th Annual Upper Cumberland Emergency Preparedness Expo is happening September 13, 2025 | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. CT — and it's completely FREE!

✅ 70+ agencies
✅ Interactive safety demos
✅ Giveaways, food trucks, and family fun

Enjoy activities like:
🚑 First Aid & CPR Basics
🐶 Pet Preparedness Tips
🚗 Car Seat Safety Checks
🔥 Live Demonstrations
🎁 Vendor Giveaways & more!

Come out, get informed, and leave empowered! For more information, contact the Upper Cumberland Regional Health Office at (931) 646-7545.