• Dulcinea Kimrey

The Salvation Army of Florida Sends Equipment and Personnel to Texas

Tampa, Fla (August 27, 2017) - The Salvation Army of Florida is sending an Incident Management Team comprised of emergency disaster services professionals along with additional equipment to assist in the Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery efforts in Texas.

The Florida equipment includes: two bunkhouses, two shower trailers, one generator and a Ford utility truck.

Last year, Salvation Army teams from Texas came to help Florida recover from hurricane Matthew. 

“We are honored to reciprocate representing with the heart of Floridians during this unprecedented disaster,” said Kevin Smith, Emergency Disaster Services director for The Salvation Army of Florida.

Flooding remains a major concern for the coming days with torrential rain forecasted as the storm stalls over south Texas and southern Louisiana.

The Salvation Army is preparing for the largest mass feeding in U.S. history in the wake of the catastrophic flooding.

“Mobile feeding units from all over the country are mobilizing as we speak,” Smith said.  “Our advanced disaster recovery units of mobile kitchens, shower units and bunkhouses are just pieces of a massive puzzle that will require a whole community effort across Texas.”

A large number of Texas Divisional resources are already on the ground serving throughout Texas.  Additional resource requests are being made by the moment. 

Lt. Colonel Ken Luyk, Florida Divisional Commander has directed that all Florida disaster resources be ready to respond to support any requests from Texas.

Nine Florida mobile kitchens standing by ready to be deployed to Texas within in the next few days as priority areas of service are determined.

To make a financial donation to support the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts please go to www.helpsalvationarmy.org or call 1-800- SAL-ARMY. You may also mail checks to The Salvation Army, PO BOX 1959, Atlanta, GA 30301. Please designate “Hurricane Harvey” on all checks or via text by texting STORM to 51555.

At this point, in-kind donations are not being accepted.  Used clothing and used furniture are seldom required during an incident.  However, these gifts are vitally important in supporting the day-to-day work of your local Salvation Army. Please consider giving these items to your local Salvation Army Family Store or dial 1-800-SA-TRUCK (1-800-728-7825).

For the latest emergency disaster services news, please visit www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org and follow the disaster services team on Twitter @SalArmyEDS.  You may also visit www.salvationarmyflorida.org, www.facebook.com/TheSalvationArmyFloridaDivision or @salarmyfla on Twitter for the latest information on how Florida teams on involved in the relief and recovery efforts in Texas.