By Brant Mills
Please pray for all those affected by recent storms in the Texas Annual Conference. There are over 2,000 homes flooded. Countless have damage from hurricane force winds. Nearly 1 million were without power for an extended period, and many are still waiting to have theirs restored.
The Texas Annual Conference Disaster Recovery office and several of our churches have been responding to needs as a result of recent flooding due to heavy rain in early May that damaged thousands of homes in Southeast Texas.
Rev. Godfrey Hubert, Disaster Readiness Coordinator of the Conference says that the scope of damage from these back-to-back storms was substantial enough to warrant a Federal Disaster Declaration. “First, we had as much as 30 inches of torrential rains that inundated two river basins in 5 counties. Some places around the Trinity River have been in flood stage for nearly a month. The San Jacinto river flooding was the first to recede a week after it crested. Where we could access homes for mucking and gutting to help people, we have been.” Then all of a sudden, we get the derecho storm which left quite a bit of wind damage in the greater Houston area.
Hubert says that a month after the Trinity River crested, we are finally able to access neighborhoods to make assessments and begin mucking and gutting, as volunteers become available. “Those houses have been under a lot of water for a long time… These back-to-back storms have created havoc and disrupted life for thousands.”
To date, six Texas Conference churches have responded with volunteers, and many more have participated in the supply drive through the Amazon Wish list. To sustain the long-term recovery effort, Hubert has reached out to neighboring conferences requesting ERT support. Hubert wants to thank Mission on Wheels for providing a shower trailer at the Mission Center in Conroe to support our out-of-town mission teams that are coming to help. “At this time, we have a team of 9 people from Abilene who are mucking and gutting for 4 days, and they will be followed by a teams from Rotary Disaster USA and the Central Texas and Rio Conferences”
And there are plenty of ways others can help.
Volunteer
If you’re interested in bringing a team for mucking and gutting, please sign up online through this form.
Donations:
The Disaster Readiness office has put together an Amazon wish list detailing the actual items needed. Please stick to this list. It will be continually updated as more needs are communicated.
Donate funds to help. Please give to the Disaster Fund so we may deliver funds efficiently and directly to where help is needed the most right now.
You may also give by writing a check to The Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Write “Disaster Fund” in the memo line of your check.
Place the check in the offering plate of any United Methodist Church
OR send the check to the conference office at:
C/O Treasurer’s Office
The Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
5215 Main St.
Houston, TX 77002