Photo Courtesy of Texas Conference
Texas Recovers
Volunteers help Hurricane Harvey victims evacuate flooding using both a boat and a truck.
Scott Moore remembers exactly what was going through his mind when Hurricane Harvey visited Houston one month ago today. “When I saw that Harvey was going stall over Texas and dump 50 plus inches of rain, I knew this hurricane was going to be one of the worst flooding events Texas has ever seen,” said the Texas Conference Response Coordinator.
And unfortunately, Moore was right. Harvey killed some 60 people, FEMA is reporting 1.2 million people are asking for aide and the National Hurricane Center calling this the worst flooding disaster in U.S. history.
While Irma victim are still in recovery mode and Maria victims are waiting on damage reports, the Texas Conference is pleading for volunteers to come help. Moore says conference volunteers are exhausted, having mucked and gutted nearly 5,000 homes with thousands more to go.
“We need help immediately. The scale of this and the resources we need are going to take years to repair. Volunteers are tired and homeowners are frustrated,” Moore said.
Despite the rubble piles on the sides of homes, driving around Southeast Texas, it looks like the state has recovered. The flooding is gone. There are no snapped trees or downed billboards. But unlike the majority of hurricanes, Harvey was a flooding event. The hurricane dumped 19 trillion gallons of water on Southeast Texas. If you piled up 20 trillion gallons of water over the District of Columbia (approximately 68 square miles), the height of the water would be 1,410 feet — or almost the height of the Empire State Building. (Washington Post)
“In the Texas Conference, you don’t see damage until you begin to open people’s doors,” said Texas Conference Bishop Scott Jones. “Then your heart breaks.”
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Thank you for volunteering in the Texas Conference. To help with Texas Recovers, please go to www.txcumc.org or follow these instructions.
- Put an adult work team together to volunteer by filling out the form at http://www.txcumc.org/disastervolunteerteamreg. Other questions about volunteering can be emailed to Pyppa Johnson at pypjohnson@txcumc.org
- Help is still needed throughout the Conference where neighborhoods are still in shambles.
- Make your travel plans
- Prepare your work team and gather the needed supplies including the following: http://www.txcumc.org/floodppe