Hurricane Harvey: Texas Salvation Army Volunteers Aid Victims Touched By Natural Disaster

AUSTIN, TX — The Salvation Army team from Austin is playing a key part in offering assistance to victims affected by Hurricane Harvey, including serving meals in one coastal town on Tuesday.

The local Salvation Army team is serving meals in Seadrift, Texas, where resident have no electricity and are operating under a boil water notice, officials said. On Monday, disaster volunteers served more than 900 meals and expect to serve 1,000 meals Tuesday in addition to providing drinks, snacks and emotional and spiritual support for stunned residents who are beginning the job of cleaning up and assessing their damage officials added. The team has the capacity to serve up to 1,900 meals per day, Salvation Army officials noted.

"As the situation in south Texas continues to worsen following Hurricane Harvey's landfall, The Salvation Army has activated all of its US and Canadian emergency disaster response assets," said Maj. C. Mark Brown, director of business operations for The Salvation Army Texas Division. "These units are able to provide food, shelter and emotional and spiritual care to those impacted by this ongoing devastating weather event.”

Salvation Army officials said they continue to seek donations from the public to support the massive relief effort that is growing by the day and will continue for months and even years. To make a financial donation to support the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, visit www.helpsalvationarmy.org, text, STORM to 51555 or call 1-800- SAL-ARMY. Mail Checks to: The Salvation Army, PO BOX 1959, Atlanta, GA 30301. Officials ask donors to please designate 'Hurricane Harvey' on all checks.

As rain continues to fall and flood waters rise in Houston, The Salvation Army is providing emergency assistance throughout the city. Four Salvation Army shelters have opened their doors to those evacuating their homes – Harbor Light Center, Sally’s House, Family Residence and Conroe Red Shield lodge. More than 70 people rescued are currently staying at the Pasadena Salvation Army, according to officials.

Salvation Army teams are ready to move in and serve those in need as additional areas of the city become accessible, according to officials, adding that other locations remain on standby to serve. Capt. Jay Ward, commanding officer of the Houston Northwest Corps, along with his son helped evacuate 32 people by boat in his community," officials reported.

“It’s devastating out here," Capt. Ward said. "I’ve been working disaster all my life but this is the worst I’ve seen. People are coming out in their boats and helping to save people.”

In the Southwest Texas region, an Incident Command Team from Oklahoma and Arkansas began service on Monday based in Corpus Christi, officials added. Seven mobile kitchens from that team, in addition to units from Laredo, McAllen, Corpus Christi, Dallas Fort Worth and Austin continue to serve in the region.

Displaced residents from the barrier island of Port Aransas were allowed by law enforcement to return to inspect their homes on Monday afternoon, prompting another Salvation Army mobilization. The Salvation Army McAllen, Texas, unit descended there with mobile kitchen served meals, snacks and hydration to residents and first responders while a team from Muskogee, Oklahoma, drove through the devastated streets serving sandwiches and drinks to people working to salvage what they could from their damaged homes, officials said.

In addition to securing meals, many victims required nourishment of the soul too. Several people requested prayer from team members, officials said.

The cities of Rockport and Aransas Pass found themselves directly in the path of Hurricane Harvey and sustained considerable damage as a result. A Salvation Army team from Oklahoma will establish service in Rockport at lunch time today while a second unit will continue to provide support in Aransas Pass.

Here's a summary of the aid various Salvation Army teams have provided victims so far:

• Austin volunteers have served more than 2,000 meals at the shelters in the Texas cities of Victoria and Cuero and now in Seadrift where there is no electricity and there is a boil water notice.
• Volunteers in Austin also are cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner in the mobile kitchen. The mobile catering truck is able to deliver these meals into neighborhoods where people are assessing damage and beginning the cleanup to their properties.
• In Houston, shelters have opened at multiple Salvation Army locations, others on standby to provide emergency shelter.
• Mobile kitchens serving at NorthWest Corps, Pasadena and Conroe in addition to Texas City and Galveston.

Additional mobile kitchens are ready to deploy as areas become accessible, officials noted. Moreover, Salvation Army team members from Florida arrived on Tuesday, deploying to portions of Southwest Texas, including Corpus Christi. The team has assembled six mobile feeding units serving in Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, Ingleside, Portland, Tuloso-Midway High School Shelter, FEMA Dome – Del Mar College

Additionally, the Incident Command Team and seven additional feeding units from Oklahoma and Arkansas began service on Monday, with roving mobile kitchen units servicing damaged communities. Other Salvation Army operations include the opening of a shelter at the convention center in Dallas; establishing feeding operations in San Antonio along with a laundry unit; the installation of a Disaster Assistance Center currently supporting Evacuees in Waco with relief supplies; the serving of meals by the Kerrville team at two evacuation shelters; opening of a Temple, Texas, emergency shelter supported by a mobile feeding unit; deployment of a mobile kitchen by Temple volunteers, serving food for 10 buses of evacuees in Belton, Texas.

All told, the various Salvation Army teams have 6,288 meals, 7,162 snacksit and 5,664 drinks as of Monday evening, according to a tally provided by officials of the organization. For the latest information on their efforts, visit www.disaster.salvationarmy.org. For regular updates visit the Salvation Army's Austin social media pages at Facebook.com/SalvationArmyAustin and Twitter.com/SalArmyAustin.

>>> Image via Salvation Army Austin Facebook page