Chennai rains: City’s trusty volunteers have braved multiple crises, from 2015 to 2021
The Hindu
Armed with the expertise garnered from their relief work during the pandemic, Chennai’s online and on-ground volunteers are back in action as the city witnesses heavy spells of rain
There are those who cook, those who crunch numbers, and those who comfort the distressed. In a crisis, a city needs all kinds of helpers.
Earlier this year, we saw them behind screens and on the ground — distributing food, collating information, relaying leads, finding beds and oxygen cylinders, and thus saving lives — in the thick of the brutal second wave of COVID-19 in Chennai, braving personal losses and mental health challenges. Now, as the city wades through heavy rains, they are on the job again, with all systems in place. Chennai’s volunteers are adapting through crises, armed with an expertise that can only come from experience.