TEXAS HURRICANE HARVEY UPDATE HOUSTON & COASTAL BEND DISASTER PROFILE
(OCTOBER 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. OUR WORK Thanks to critical support from donors, partners, and volunteers from around the world, All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response was able to complete 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 7 home rebuilds/month. Volunteers travel to job sites each morning at 7AM and return each evening to our base for a nightly meeting recapping the day. With 30 volunteers in Texas, over 40 nationalities have been represented since January. Thanks to support from our partners at TUMI, we also completed our first ever domestic school rebuild at the Rhodes School for the Performing Arts. We made a 3-year commitment to help Texas recover and we aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
Fannie Mae volunteers working on site at our Coastal Bend program
Volunteer Hanttuet working on Veteran Robert Kloesel’s home; Homeowner Robert passed along one of his cherished hats to Volunteer REl
OUR IMPACT
4,068
PEOPLE IMPACTED
1,032
JOBS COMPLETED
3,245
VOLUNTEERS
24,717
VOLUNTEER DAYS
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Our team in Rockport, Texas joined in with the community to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey. All Hands and Hearts staff set up a table at the “Kids Zone” event for the 3 day Harvey Anniversary commemoration. Kids were able to drywall/mud/tape at a mock station and staff talked to parents about our work in the community.
VOLUNTEERS VOICES “Truly wonderful in every way. I came to help and thought that would be rewarding and make a difference. [I] didn't expect everyone to be so welcoming and fun and patient and helpful and funny and just the best. A truly excellent experience in every way. [I] would recommend it to anyone.” “I volunteered for just one week but I felt so welcome that it felt as if I had been here for months. I enjoyed helping people, building houses for a cause. It was liberating.”
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
5 YEARS IN A ROW! Only 10% of charities have received at least 5 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