The volunteers had to spring into action in what Red Cross officials described as the first-ever statewide tornado disaster response test.

Pedro Herrera is a volunteer with the El Paso Chapter of the American Red Cross. Using pictures of devastated homes as examples of damage done after a tornado, he went to work.

"We look at those [pictures], assess the damage of the home and decide how bad it was structure damage. Give a description of the damage," said Herrera.

The damage assessment of a neighborhood or community is an essential part of the Red Cross' response to any disaster.

"It's critical to have an assessment done in times of disasters like this so that we could have an accurate amount of meals served and the stuff that the clients might need," said Freddy Martinez with the American Red Cross. "Make sure we have the accurate resources to be able to respond and make sure that all Red Cross volunteers are trained and get the training in case anything like this happens."

While a tornado is not likely to hit the Sun City, the training is still critical.

"This is going to be the same process we're going to use whether it's going to be major flooding, tornado, or just like we're going to have this Sunday, major winds," Herrera told KFOX 14.

Red Cross officials said they do the training sessions with the volunteers so when a disaster actually strikes, the process becomes second nature.

El Paso was one of 22 chapters taking part in Saturday's statewide drill.

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