"Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.  I spent the day in Gainesville working.  It is heartbreaking to see so much of a person's life being removed from their homes and tossed on the curb for the debris removal trucks.  I really pray that we will be able to put these funds to good use rebuilding some of these lives.  I have attached a few pictures of what used to be a person's home. My thanks and God's blessing to you all. Scott Flowerday, member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Denton, Texas.

Five people died and hundreds were forced from their homes by severe flooding in North Texas.  Widespread flooding was reported in Cooke County, Grayson County, Tarrant County and Denton County, with the most severe flooding centered around Gainesville, Texas.  All the affected areas are within Grace Presbytery. 

The area of greatest need is located in the city of Gainesville within Cooke County. The most severe flooding was in a lower income area of the city and most —if not all— of the residents are uninsured.

Grace Presbytery has formed a Presbytery Disaster Response team. The team is working with St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Denton, where they are currently organizing work groups to assist in the clean-up efforts in Cooke County. Approximately 300 homes in the county were impacted by the flooding — fifty homes were destroyed. First Gainesville Presbyterian Church is working with the Red Cross and United Way. They are also working with the Gainesville Ministerial Association.

Work teams from within the affected community are focused on removing the water-damaged furniture, floor covering and drywall. Currently 100 households have requested church assistance in cleaning up and restoring their homes.

Most of the flood-affected homes cannot be occupied at this time. The presbytery’s work groups are working with other Gainesville denominations to assist with the clean-out of the affected homes.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team (PDA-NRT) members Harvey Howell and Terry Coggins are in the area to serve as resources and to provide assistance as needed to Grace Presbytery and area churches active in the relief and recovery efforts.

PDA has provided One Great Hour of Sharing funds to help the presbytery in their recovery efforts. Funds will be used to replace drywall and to assist with furniture replacement. Funds will also help provide wheelbarrows, shovels, gloves, hammers and pry-bars to assist work teams with the removal of damaged materials.