Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief teams are ministering in the Texas Hill Country, where catastrophic flooding over the past few days has claimed the lives of more than 80 people — including 27 children and camp counselors attending a Christian camp. An unknown number of people are still missing.
Flash floods struck the region early July 4. At the time of this report, 68 of the deaths — 40 adults and 28 children — have been recorded in Kerr County, according to Sheriff Larry Leitha. Some of the children came from Camp Mystic near Hunt, where 10 children and one camp counselor are still missing as of this morning (July 7). Camp co-owner/director Richard Eastland, 70, died attempting to rescue campers, according to multiple news reports over the weekend.
As soon as reports of the Hill Country tragedy rolled in, SBTC DR teams geared up to deploy.
“A feeding team with a QRU [quick response unit mobile kitchen] arrived in Kerrville on July 4 and began preparing meals for the community and first responders on July 5,” SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice said.
An incident management team has also deployed to Kerrville. Chaplains and damage assessors began arriving Sunday.
‘Ready for anything’
SBTC DR volunteers are working closely with First Baptist Church Kerrville and its pastor, Joey Tombrella. The church has opened its facilities to DR teams.
“In a disaster like this, there’s often a lot of uncertainty. We are ready for anything,” Stice said, praising the assistance of the church and pastor. “We will send mud out and recovery teams as soon as the work orders appear and the floodwaters recede, and we will provide food and water as long as the needs exist.”
In addition to ministering in Kerr County, an SBTC DR team staffing a shower unit is open in San Saba, where flooding also occurred on Independence Day. A QRU arrived July 6, Stice said, adding that assessors, chaplains, and mud out volunteers are also en route or recently arrived at the Central Texas town, where they are based at San Saba’s First Baptist Church and the community center.
Meanwhile, SBTC DR chainsaw, recovery, shower and laundry, and feeding operations in response to a major wind event in Fannin County are due to end soon, Stice noted. Teams handled a little more than 50 chainsaw jobs and were housed at Boyd Baptist Church in Bonham.
“These devastating floods have affected so many in the area,” Stice said of the Hill Country disaster. “We are here to provide hope in the recovery process and remind people that they are not alone.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Jane Rodgers and originally published by the Southern Baptist Texan.
