Response Units Move In After Ike Ravages Texas
The worst of Hurricane Ike is over. Now relief teams are moving into Ike-hit areas to assess damages and provide emergency aid to responders and victims of the formerly ferocious Category 2 hurricane that was nearly the size of Texas.
Salvation Army deployed Saturday five of its mobile disaster response units to support three Texas National Guard "Strike Teams" that are assessing damages in the hard-hit cities of Galveston, Lufkin and Beaumont, Texas.
Response units will provide hot meals, hydration, emotional, and spiritual care to military personnel, emergency responders and others affected by the storm.
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"The early indications are that this storm is the worst of the five we have already responded to in the 2008 hurricane season," said Major Marshall Gesner, Greater Houston Area Commander for The Salvation Army. "With more than 4 million people without power, wide-spread flooding and high temperatures forecast for the area, our response will be about twice the size of our effort for Hurricane Gustav."
In total, the ministry has more than 60 canteens on active duty throughout Texas to support evacuation and shelter efforts.
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said 40,000 Texans are in 250 shelters, according to CNN.
Hurricane Ike struck Galveston at 2:10 a.m. Saturday as a Category 2 storm with winds topping 100 mph. The coastal island was heavily damaged by the storm, including broken roadways; at least 17 buildings destroyed by fires, strong winds and a storm surge; and severe flooding.
The death toll rose to 30 in eight states and rescuers said they had saved nearly 2,000 people from flooded streets and houses by Sunday afternoon, according to The Associated Press. Those who tried to ride out the storm boarded buses that would take them to shelters. Some Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations in the South have also offered their church buildings as shelters to evacuees.
"We are in a recovery mode," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said in a press conference Saturday afternoon. "This eye came right over us, stayed a while and went on, but it brought a lot of damage to our city."
In downtown Houston, streets are overrun with floodwaters carrying traffic lights and glass. The city's tallest skyscraper, JP Morgan Chase Tower, was missing many of its windows, CNN reported.
Operation Blessing International, a Christian humanitarian group, had pre-staged heavy machineries – including a crane, skid steer, shower and construction trailers - ahead of the storm to facilitate a quicker clean-up response after Ike hits.
In addition to construction equipment, OBI has already delivered more than 33,000 pounds of disaster relief supplies including non-perishable food and ready-to-eat meals (MREs), it reported.
Another Christian group, World Vision, is working with local churches and community partners in Texas to distribute response supplies such as hygiene essentials, children's clothing and toys, and cleaning supplies in Dallas and Mississippi.
Toys and games were delivered to the Dallas Convention Center ahead of the storm to help children and families occupy their time while in the shelter.
The global humanitarian agency also allowed the Texas government to use its storehouse in Dallas as a hub for the distribution of 5,000 cots for local shelters.
"Once the hurricane passes, we'll work with them to help supply what's needed by the people in their communities who need the most assistance," said John Pettit, World Vision's national director for disaster response, on Friday.
"We plan to help them get families back on their feet in the short-term as well as clean up and recover from this storm."
Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist Convention's Disaster Relief arm said Saturday that 41 of its disaster relief units are on their way or already on-site in Texas and Louisiana.
"Our goal is for all disaster relief units to arrive at the local affected sites by Monday afternoon, set up and then be ready to start preparing and serving meals by Tuesday at lunch," said Mickey Caison, director of the disaster operations center at the North American Mission Board.
Caison said the SBC DR feeding teams will serve 250,000 meals a day for The American Red Cross and another 160,000 meals for The Salvation Army, for a total of 410,000 meals per day.
After Hurricane Ike made landfall in Texas, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression as its center moves over Arkansas early Sunday. Remnants of Ike moved into Canada early Monday after terrorizing the Midwest.
High winds of up to 74 mph ripped the roof off a Delta Airlines hangar at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, The Associated Press reported.
The storm's wind also downed trees in Kentucky and its heavy rain flooded streets in Chicago, St. Louis and Indiana. More than 5,000 people were evacuated in Munster, Indiana because of flooding, according to AP.
Ike was the first major hurricane to hit a U.S. metropolitan area since Katrina struck New Orleans three years ago. And for Houston, it was the first major hurricane since Alicia in 1983.
Relief groups are requesting monetary donations to help meet the immediate needs of those affected by Hurricane Ike. To make donations please visit the ministries' websites.
