• Philip Burn

The Salvation Army Providing Relief in Golden Triangle as Flooding Recedes

Dallas, Texas (September 3, 2017) – Salvation Army mobile feeding units and an Incident Command Team (ICT) from Kentucky and Tennessee are providing relief to those impacted by Hurricane Harvey in  Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur – the Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle team continues to use Lake Charles as a base and plans the transfer of all personnel, equipment and operations to Beaumont as soon as possible. Six mobile feeding units are currently serving and four additional units have been deployed to the area. The ICT, led by Major Roy Williams, held a strategy and planning meeting on Saturday with The Salvation Army officers from the three area corps.

Captain Frankie Zuniga, of the Orange Corps, spent the day providing emotional and spiritual care in his community. “We were stranded in our house for seven days because of the flooding and it was very frustrating knowing that people in our community were hurting and needed our help,” said Captain Zuniga. “Now that the water has receded The Salvation Army is out in the community and ready to serve.”

One challenge ahead is a request for The Salvation Army to provide three meals a day to 1,100-1,500 meals. The request is for the Army to cook and box the meals in feeding units and for volunteers to deliver the food.

In the Houston area, 33 feeding units mobilized on Saturday along with 12 ESC officers. Nine additional feeding units are on the way. The Social Services department staff are utilizing iPads and tablets at mobile feeding sites to help residents to apply for FEMA assistance. Corps operations continue throughout the city and services are rapidly changing reflecting the needs of each community.   

The Austin Area Command feeding units were reassigned from the Texas coast to serve in the city of La Grange. Located an hour south-west of Austin, the Colorado River has reached record levels and has flooded about 500 homes in the community. Relief efforts are anticipated to continue in La Grange for at least the coming week.

A disaster response on the current scale has not been experienced since Hurricane Katrina. The ongoing relief work throughout the state is engaging the efforts of every Salvation Army location at some level.

To make a financial donation to support the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts please go to www.helpsalvationarmy.org, call 1-800- SAL-ARMY, text STORM to 51555.

For the latest information please go to www.disaster.salvationarmy.org and watch for regular updates on our social media pages at www.facebook.com/salvationarmytexas/ and www.twitter.com/salarmytx. To access photo and video resources related to The Salvation Army Hurricane Harvey relief efforts please go to www.salvationarmysouth.org/harvey.