As I write, residents of Texas are just beginning to return to their homes to assess the damage. They continue to need flood remediation (cleanup, debris removal, ripping out of water soaked wallboard/flooring/possessions), emotional and spiritual care, basic personal items and food, along with temporary relocation (45,000 sought refuge in shelters). They have begun the FEMA process, 440,000 applications to date. State wide damage surveys reveal the staggering extent of Harvey’s destruction; 37,000 homes were heavily damaged and nearly 7,000 were destroyed.
Experienced disaster response organizations, including United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Mennonite Disaster Service, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) and Fuller Center for Disaster Relief are on site to provide immediate assistance and to assess which communities need the most help with recovery. Early indicators show that south-east Texas was the hardest hit and may be the area most in need of financial assistance. We will continue to monitor where our Rotary funds can best be utilized.
While on the east coast, a second category 4 hurricane, Irma, struck Florida. More than two-thirds of the state’s 21 million residents are without power. Many continue to be restricted from returning to their homes to assess damage. The most powerful storm to hit Florida in the last decade left a 500-mile trail of destruction and also brought havoc to Georgia and South Carolina.
Recovery and restoration from both hurricanes will take years. As Rotarians, how can we help? We should continue with our individual and club support for immediate disaster response operations. But keep in mind that the slow process of recovery will be an expensive and long process. Individual Rotarians and Clubs have the option to support any number of worthy projects throughout Texas and Florida. The D7390 Disaster Committee is gathering information to identify an area of extensive need. A community hard hit that does not have the resources to recover on their own. A location where dollars are directly spent on materials and rebuilding. And where families that have no other source of financial support are identified. This will take time. We will keep you posted on the progress.
Peg Sennett, D7390 Disaster Response Chair