History

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Georgia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (GAVOAD) is a coalition of voluntary organizations that have a mission before, during, and after disasters that occur in Georgia.  After Hurricane Camille in 1969, many national voluntary organizations shared their mutual concern about the lack of coordination between their agencies.  

Representatives of the voluntary organizations began meeting regularly to share their respective activities, concerns, and frustrations.  Their goal was, and still is, to jointly minimize duplication of effort and more efficiently manage activities during disasters.  GAVOAD was formed to expand this movement of interagency cooperation, coordination, communication, and collaboration to Georgia.

2008 was highlighted by a spring tornado that ranged through downtown Atlanta on a Friday night.   

The year 2009 was a very active year with floods in South Georgia and also in the Greater Atlanta area and North Georgia.  Recovery efforts are still ongoing  

Today, GAVOAD is the primary forum used by the voluntary organizations in Georgia to coordinate activities with each other, staff the Volunteer Desk at GEMA's State Operations Center, and develop COAD's.