Malibu couple assesses damage for FEMA, helps serve meals, and helps the community however they can
Malibu’s Cisco Adler used his musical talents in an Oct. 5 concert, a concert that healed, comforted, and empowered not only the attendees of the concert, but also the victims of Hurricane Helene, which devastated Asheville, North Carolina, where Adler was initially scheduled to perform.
“Due to the hurricane’s relentless destruction in Asheville, our show there was canceled,” Adler said. “Luckily, The Music Yard in Charlotte was able to throw a popup show to benefit the good folks who need help due to the hurricane — I’m very grateful that we got the chance to lift spirits through music during this tough time for Western North Carolina.”
And, lift spirits Adler and his band did.
“Cisco’s band was supposed to play in Asheville at the Orange Peel and we were delighted to host them — his band showed so much love throughout the show, they were constantly giving love to Asheville victims on the mike between sets and we had a moment of silence.” Preston Abernathy, lead event coordinator at The Music Yard, said. “We had a huge turnout — incredibly, the concert sold out with only five days’ notice and we did a donation drive for items the hurricane victims need and we also donated some of the proceeds of Cisco’s show to them. We distributed the donations in Asheville.”
Lending a helping hand by holding Hurricane Helene’s victims’ hands
For Malibu’s Rachel and Derek Hebert, the decimating effects of hurricanes are all too familiar.
“Being from Southern Louisiana, we’ve dealt with flooding firsthand — my parents’ house flooded and we had friends, family and neighbors who showed up to help when we were in need.” Rachel Hebert explained. “So, we understand the importance of showing up when someone is in need.”
For the past 19 years, Rachel Hebert has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s insurance program. These days, Derek accompanies her.
“We go out and assess damage for FEMA and while we are there we also help serve meals and help in the community however we can, often tearing down building materials and drywall,” Rachel said. “We were in Florida for a week and a half to help with Hurricane Helene — we arrived on Sept. 28, two days after Helene hit.”
Rachel Hebert’s first experience in working with FEMA was during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when she recalls trying to help victims grasp the fact that their homes were deluged by water and oil — that there were no homes to return to — and that they would have to build their lives from scratch.
Hurricane Rita, also part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season; Superstorm Sandy, which made landfall in Atlantic City in 2012 with tropical-storm-force winds extending 1,000 miles — three times that of a typical hurricane; Hurricane Harvey, the monster that assaulted Texas for four days in 2017; Hurricane Ian, which ravaged Southwest Florida in 2022 — those are a few of the almost countless hurricanes Rachel has helped victims deal with.
“Some hurricanes are remembered for their wind damage or rainfall. Others for their coastal flooding.” wrote Geographer and Climatologist Cary Mock after Helene struck. “Hurricane Helene was a stew of all of that and more — its near-record-breaking size, storm surge, winds, and rainfall together turned Helene into an almost unimaginable disaster that stretched more than 500 miles inland from the Florida coast.”
When that happens, Rachel Hebert says she feels called to help, simply stating, “When you speak to people who have lost everything, you have to help them and give them hope.”
This time, she and her husband, Derek, were called to help in Hudson, Florida.
“Hudson’s victims are devastated, with many having 4 to 5 feet of water and mud in their homes.” Rachel Hebert said. “When you go out to speak to people who have lost all they have, it’s important to let them tell you about their terrible experiences and let them get their emotions out as well as to assess the damage, help them to get estimates regarding how much it will cost them to rebuild and help them to get checks.”
Hudson is, Hebert said, “a small town with a marina where many of the homes are on the water with boat docks.” The victims, she noted, “shared that they were hard-working people and that the homes that were destroyed were their dream homes.” It will, she added, “be very hard for them to get their lives back as many are retired on limited incomes.”
With Adler, through his music, and the Herberts, with their financial assessment acumen, Malibuites did their small part to help the grief-stricken victims of Helene find a source of comfort.
“Playing the concert was special and the people were so amazing!” Adler said. “I can’t wait to get back to Asheville and see it thriving again one day.”
As The Malibu Times interviewed the Heberts, they were briefly back in Malibu.
“We’re going back to Florida and the hurricanes,” Rachel Hebert said. Just as Adler is called to do good deeds by playing music, the Heberts are called to be in situ with hurricane victims, lending them a hand by holding them by the hand as they navigate the nuances of obtaining FEMA assistance as they begin to rebuild their lives.