During these classes new volunteers are given a general overview of what to expect before and during deployment.
So they can prepare and decide if they can handle it.
"There may or not be electricity, may or may not be drinking water, they will be sleeping in a staff shelter, sleeping on a cot."
If you choose to go the online route, it's always available.
You can choose what specific type of training to get -- like disaster assessment or feeding.
"Take three or four classes in maybe five or six hours, and then they would be able to deploy as a service associate"
The online option is not for everyone, some prefer being face to face with an instructor.
"Information is information, I'm not tech savvy necessarily so I like people to people."
Ellie Berman has been with the Red Cross for 37 years, serving from Hurricane Katrina to San Diego's wildfires and she says the training is important.
But it isn't all-encompassing.
"You're never completely prepared because something always comes up that you don't expect, but certaintly as a red cross volunteer are very well trained."
Prepared or not, Debbie Rial couldn't stand watching the flooding from her couch.
She had to get up and do something.
"Now's the time, you need to go do it, they need help you need to go."
