World Renew DRS Responds to New Texas Flooding

World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) is responding to flood-weary Texans this week as some areas have received 12 or more inches of rain.

DRS regional managers are in several of the affected communities, offering the organization’s services as residents start to recover. This includes building estimating, needs assessments, clean up, and home repair and rebuilding.

World Renew DRS is seeking financial donations to expand its current response to the flooding.

“World Renew DRS is already responding to the flooding in Texas. Volunteers began helping distressed homeowners in June 2015 after massive flooding affected many areas of the state,” said Andrew Ryskamp, the program’s acting director.

“Since then, DRS has been involved in clean up, debris removal, and housing reconstruction in Houston, San Marcos, Hidalgo, Austin, Corpus Christi, Cameron and Willacy counties.”

World Renew DRS volunteers have been working on flood reconstruction San Marcos, Texas, since April 2016 after the Blanco River overflowed last year. This fall, the organization will add home repair and rebuilding services in Hidalgo County, where residents earn the lowest per capita income in the state.

On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency in 31 flooded Texas counties, including Hidalgo, after President Obama declared a federal flood emergency in Fayette, Grimes, Parker, and Harris counties on April 25.

These most recent storms and river overflows result from a year-long, persistently wet weather pattern that is reaching 100-year flood levels.

“We are all tired and depressed,” an emergency worker said.

Nearly a dozen people are known to have been killed in this week’s events, and several more are still missing. Government personnel are evacuating thousands of residents in hard-hit areas, and more record-setting floods are expected.

“When World Renew DRS responded in the Houston and Austin areas in March, homes four miles away from the Brazos River were in jeopardy,” said DRS regional managers Len and Carrie Blaukamp. “Over the Memorial Day holiday last weekend, 20 inches of rain fell in Simonton, breaking a 20-year flood record.”

World Renew DRS volunteers also conducted unmet needs assessments in seven Texas communities in the last nine months, helping local recovery groups who are responding to last year’s flooding identify residents who are not covered by insurance or other assistance.

Ryskamp said that he expects more assessments will be needed in the communities affected by this week’s floods.

“World Renew prioritizes those who are vulnerable, elderly, disabled, or low-income and need outside help to recover from a disaster, and we fund the work of our volunteers through donations from the public,” said Ryskamp.

“There are opportunities for World Renew DRS to be present in Texas, helping those most in need in the months ahead.”

To support the World Renew DRS flood response in Texas, go to worldrenew.net/donate, call 1-800-552-7972, or mail your check, made out to World Renew DRS and designated North American Disasters 2016, to: World Renew, 1700 28th St., SE, Grand Rapids, Mich. 49508, or World Renew, 3475 Mainway, P.O. Box 5070 STN LCD, Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Y8.