Lakewood Church, others jump in to help after Hurricane Beryl batters coastal Texas

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, July 10, 2024

After Hurricane Beryl barreled into coastal Texas on Monday morning, Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston is among several churches using their resources to help communities in need, with over 1.6 million homes and businesses remaining without power Wednesday.

"Yesterday, we were honored to deliver food and water to 400+ disabled veterans and their families. Hundreds of guests came through Lakewood's Cooling Center, and 40,000+ bottles of water were distributed at our drive thru," the church said in a Facebook statement Wednesday with a video showing staff and volunteers moving food and supplies for relief. "Lakewood will continue to operate as a Cooling Center again today at 8:00 am."

Lakewood Church made it clear the day the storm hit that they had every intention to help their community.

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"We are praying for everyone on the Gulf Coast. Lakewood is working with the Office of Emergency Management and [is] standing by to help those impacted by the storm. Please stay safe!" the church declared on X on Sunday night.

During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Lakewood Church received criticism from some in the mainstream media for not initially sheltering people inside the church during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. However, the church has said building was also taking on flooding at the time and was unsafe for hurricane evacuees. After the flooding subsided, church officials deemed it safe to host hundreds of evacuees after the city's main shelter reached capacity. 

Beryl made landfall early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. The storm has caused at least six deaths in Texas and one in Louisiana. Eleven deaths have been reported in the Caribbean, according to The Associated Press. 

It has been incredible to see people in Houston coming together to help those affected by the storm.

If you need a place to get out of the heat and cool off, you are welcome here!

3700 SW Freeway
Houston, TX 77027 pic.twitter.com/XHWX9I5OYB

— Lakewood Church (@lakewoodchurch) July 9, 2024

"Local authorities are asking people to stay off the roads today. Beginning tomorrow, Tuesday 8:00am, Lakewood will serve as a cooling and water distribution center, and safe haven for anyone in need," Lakewood Church said in a message posted to social media Monday.

Nearly 1.7 million customers impacted by the storm still lacked electricity as of Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. This is an improvement on the 2.7 million customers who had no electricity on Monday.

Some 30 minutes away from Houston, churches in Katy were also jumping in to help.

Katy's PowerHouse Church offered food and supplies to anyone in need.

"I knew that we had a lot of disaster relief supplies, and I figured they had plenty of food, so I gave them a call and said, 'What do you think about doing something?' and they said, 'We're on it,'" Marco Ruiz of the aid-group YAIPak Outreach told Fox 26 about their partnership with the church.

And scores of people showed up for the aid.

A man identified only as Lucas told the news outlet that he and his wife and their two children went to the church for help at 5 a.m. Tuesday.

"We're able to get food right now, water, to feed the kids. It's a blessing," he said.

The drive in Katy to help hurricane victims with supplies is an extension of the Katy Christian Ministries food pantry program.

"When we're called to action, everybody gets together, and wants to help out," said Fernando Cruz of PowerHouse Church. "That's the bigger picture, here, to help your brother out."