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One Family's Story
Central Texas (Marble Falls) Flooding |
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In my travels around Burnet and Llano counties, I found one family that for the first time in their lives was experiencing what it means to live through a disaster. The family does not live in a flood plain; their home is on a gentle slope that leads down to Lake LBJ. However when 11 inches of rain fell in a short period of time, their home became a barrier to the torrents of water. The water could not get around their home quickly enough and found ways under the walls and through doorways and into their newly carpeted home. They have no flood insurance.
When a representative from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and I arrived, we walked into a home that was in disarray. Furniture, clothing, books, papers, etc., were all carried from the back of the house and piled into the living and dining rooms to keep them dry. Hardware stores had long run out of sand, so the family had bought Kitty Litter, wrapped in black plastic wrap, to place on the outside of the home to keep the water at bay. Pumps to drain water had been borrowed and purchased; plastic piping ran from the pump around the side of the home to try and move water away from the house.
They were still going to work each day and said everything was "fine." Carpet had been ripped up, fans were blowing, belongings were stacked on every surface, and life was "normal." But life wasn't normal...
In the words of a family member, "Thank you so much for your work and the relief that you have sent. ..Also, your words of advice were priceless. It is so hard to wrap our minds around the amount of damage and the long-term effect on our house. Thank you for bumping us into reality a bit. We are so grateful that you are blessed in this ministry at this time."
The great gift of TIDR and other faith-based disaster recovery organizations like the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the Week of Compassion of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), is that we can quickly assess situations and make a call to the faith community to find help for a family in crisis. Such organizations offer the quiet support of a listening ear, they understand the cycle of disaster, and they have resources to address some emergency needs. So, on this day one family found some support and now know that they can call on TIDR and the faith community as they continue the recovery process, which could last weeks or months in their situation.
I thank you for your support of TIDR and for your own faith community so that together, we can continue to provide assistance to those who live through disaster. |
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Information provided by Amy Elder, TIDR. |
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To Texas storm index
To U.S. response page |
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