TEXAS HURRICANE HARVEY UPDATE HOUSTON & COASTAL BEND DISASTER PROFILE
(AUGUST 2018)
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25, 2017, near Rockport, TX as a category 4 Hurricane with a record 52" of rain and 130-mph winds. It led 41 counties in Southeast Texas to be designated as federal disaster areas; one third of Houston was completely flooded. An estimated 136,000 homes were damaged in Harris County (Houston) alone. Additionally, the Coastal Bend region was hit especially hard, with an estimated 39,927 damaged structures totaling $4.5 billion. Damage in this region was even more varied than in Houston - not only were homes affected by storm surge and rising waters, but the high speed winds damaged many trees and roofs. This caused top-down water damage, debris and tree hazards, and led to long-term struggles to keep homes dry. RESPONSE PHASE Thanks to critical support from donors, partners, and volunteers from around the world, All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response was able to complete an impactful 16 and 18-week programs across the Coastal Bend and Harris County regions, respectively. Our teams responded to the cry for help with gutting and mold sanitizing homes. Between the two programs we were able to complete: 310 muck/gut jobs and 103 sanitation jobs, facilitating 2,074 volunteers and providing assistance to 1,374 people. Teams were also able to remove trees from 77 sites, and debris from 105 sites in the Coastal Bend region. CURRENT ACTIVITIES (RECOVERY PHASE) As we continue response work (mucking, gutting and sanitizing homes), we are also rebuilding homes in northeast Houston and the Coastal Bend. In this phase, we complete ~4 home rebuilds/month. Volunteers travel to job sites each morning at 6AM and return each evening to our base for a nightly meeting recapping the day. With 50 volunteers in Texas at the moment, over 40 nationalities have been represented since January. Thanks to support from our partners at TUMI, we are also working on our first ever domestic school rebuild at the Rhodes Performing Arts School. We made a 2-year commitment to help Texas recover, so we aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
Before and after photo at the home of Miss Catherine Watkins
Volunteers Conrad and Grady work in the hallway of Catherine Watkins’s home
OUR IMPACT (SEPTEMBER-JULY)
4,003
PEOPLE IMPACTED
996
JOBS COMPLETED
3,118
VOLUNTEERS
23,053
VOLUNTEER DAYS
HOMEOWNER HIGHLIGHTS
Every Friday, we invite homeowners to come have dinner with us on our program in Coastal Bend, Texas. We sit down and get to know each other better, and reminisce about some of the work we have accomplished together. Here, Francis talks about her experience with the All Hands and Hearts volunteers as they were able to help rebuild her home after Hurricane Harvey.
VOLUNTEERS VOICES “When signing up for this project I was very unsure what to expect. I am not familiar with any kind of construction [...] To be honest I was very nervous coming here. However, when I got to a site I was blown away by the leadership, dedication, kindness and most of all patience of each site supervisor and fellow volunteers. [...]I have nothing but good things to say about this organization and the incredibly special humans that work here on staff. You are all such special people and I am better now that I have known you.” “My stay here at Rockport, Texas has filled my heart with extreme warmth to know that people of all backgrounds are coming together to rebuild new homes for the people of Texas.”
OUR MISSION To effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. By listening to local people, and deploying a unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, we rebuild safe, resilient schools, homes and other community infrastructure.
OUR TEXAS PARTNERS
4 YEARS IN A ROW! Only 13% of charities have received at least 4 consecutive 4-star ratings. This means All Hands and Hearts outperforms most of the other 1.5 million charities in America in operational and financial efficiency.
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For additional information: Rebecca Connelly, Partnership Manager rebecca.c@allhandsandhearts.org or (508) 965-0787 www.allhandsandhearts.org