“The community has to learn to take the hit and survive it together,” says Abe Powell. “Outside assistance is not always going to come.”
Powell is the hero, co-founder, and executive director of the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade (SB3), and he is currently expanding the scope of the organization beyond response into disaster prevention, preparedness, and resiliency building.
“Based on the past 10 years, there’s been a dramatic change in natural disasters, a reflection of climate change,” he explains. “We’re not prepared for it. What are we going to do about it?”