Hurricane Hanna Response Underway

Hurricane Hanna has caused heavy damage in El Valle District and limited amounts of damage in the Coastal Bend District. The Rio Texas Disaster Response Ministry began monitoring the situation while Hanna was developing in the Gulf and began supplying UMCOR cleaning kits Sunday evening, as soon as it was possible to safely enter the area. Currently, 975 UMCOR cleaning kits (flood buckets) and 100 tarps have been delivered from the Martinez Disaster Warehouse in Kerrville. Four thousand UMCOR hygiene kits are being delivered from Kerrville later this week and six hundred additional cleaning kits are expected from UMCOR Sager Brown next week. Generators and tools have also been delivered to the area. Most of the supplies have been staged at First UMC McAllen.

The primary damage was from flooding but limited wind damage also occurred. The areas where the most damage occurred were Willacy, Cameron, Hidalgo, and Starr counties. The Disaster Response leadership team headed by Susan Hellums, Roland Pecina, and Whitney Maupin of First UMC McAllen and Cindy Moore of La Feria UMC have worked tirelessly to assess the damage and distribute the supplies. Eugene Hileman, Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, expressed his appreciation to the team stating, “The response to any hurricane is difficult but the response to Hurricane Hanna has been especially challenging because of having to deal with COVID-19. We are fortunate to have a group of people with experience and a deep sense of dedication to lead this effort.”

Volunteers are needed very badly but COVID-19 has forced changes in the response to the disaster. Early Response Teams will only be deployed if they can return home each night. The result is that there will be very few teams available to deploy. Individuals and church groups near the areas where the damage occurred are being asked to consider how they can assist with clean-up or other needs. People volunteering to help with clean-up will receive brief training and necessary tools to do the work. Contact Cindy Moore at 956-245-5742 or email her at moore4@msn.com if you or your group can help.

UMCOR has a great many cleaning kits on hand so they are not asking for more to be made. Persons wanting to help with cleaning kits can assist with verifying kits at the Martinez Disaster Center in Kerrville. Because of COVID-19, only small “family” groups can be used. Cleaning kits in the warehouse cannot be distributed until they are verified. Several hundred unverified kits are currently in the Martinez warehouse and are needed as preparation for the next flood in the Conference. Contact warehouse coordinator Jack Clarke (jack@jdc3.com) to volunteer at the warehouse.

Financial support is badly needed to assist families’ recovery from the damage to their homes because of Hanna. Gifts should be sent to the Rio Texas Conference, 16400 Huebner Rd., San Antonio, TX 78248. They should be designated for the Rio Texas Conference Disaster Response Fund - ADVANCE #2050.