An Unprecedented Event
 
"This event is unprecedented & all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced."
~ Tweet from the National Weather Service
 
A ShelterBox Response Team is on the ground in Texas to assess the need for emergency shelter in Houston and other impacted areas.
 
ShelterBox is positioning tents, school kits, blankets, groundsheets and solar lights near the hurricane-devastated region as it communicates with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state agencies to determine urgent shelter and aid needs.
 
Tropical Storm Harvey strengthened into a hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico last week and made landfall northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday. It was a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 miles per hour. It then moved offshore before making landfall again, this time as a Category 3 hurricane.
 
Harvey brought sustained rain to some of Texas’ most populated areas. At least five people have been killed and more than a dozen injured. Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States, has seen widespread destruction and devastation. The downpour has been torrential and relentless. Roads in Houston and elsewhere have been turned into raging rivers. The storm continues to saturate the region, dropping more than 50 inches of rain some areas.
 
ShelterBox Response Team in Texas
 
The Response Team includes: Bruce Heller of Allen, TX, the treasurer of the ShelterBox USA Board of Directors and a Rotary Club member; and Tim Osburn, based in Lakeway, TX, also a Rotarian and former member of the Board of Directors.
 
Since 2011, Heller has deployed as a Response Team member of disasters in Kenya, Peru, Iraq, Kurdistan, and the Philippines. Osburn has deployed to disaster sites in Ethiopia and Nepal and participated in the domestic deployment following the 2011 tornadoes in Arkansas.
 
A businessman, Heller said he’s devastated to see so much of Texas underwater. “As a Rotarian and a ShelterBox Response Team Member, I am proud to be able to respond in my home state of Texas, where so may are suffering as a result of this storm. As people of action, the best thing Rotarians can do to help in moments like these is to lend support to trusted partners, like ShelterBox, who are experienced in disaster response and who can make sure aid is being allocated appropriately, where need is greatest.”
 
Upon being deployed, Osburn said, “Texas is a proud state and as a native Texan it is a humble privilege to serve my fellow Texans and the countless others in 9 other countries that Shelterbox is currently conducting relief operations.”
 
 
ShelterBox USA President Kerri Murray arrived in Dallas to coordinate with the Response Team as well as local agencies. The Team has been in continuous contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to discuss potential shelter options, including the provision of tents, school kits, blankets, groundsheets and solar lights. A possible need is the delivery of privacy tents to area shelters where large numbers of families are being housed, allowing for medical treatment, childcare, and a host of other critical options.
 
“Houston has been inundated with unprecedented flooding after Hurricane Harvey, dumping torrential rain and displacing tens of thousands. ShelterBox is on the ground to help provide additional shelter options. We are conducting assessments to determine how best we can deliver aid in the effective and efficient ways. We continue to be in contact with FEMA on the coordination relief in the region and stand ready to provide what is most needed to bring comfort and warmth to those who have been displaced.”
~ ShelterBox USA President, Kerri Murray, now in Texas
 
ShelterBox USA has created a designated fund for the Texas disaster
 
100% of all donations received will support all associated deployment costs with the ShelterBox response to Harvey.
 
 
Should ShelterBox USA raise funds in excess of what’s needed to respond to this particular crisis, the funds will be allocated to our ‘Deployment Essentials’ fund, which provides support for all costs associated with ShelterBox worldwide deployments, including but not limited to: lifesaving equipment, response teams, transportation and collaboration with local or international partners.
 
Sarah Robinson
Director of Fundraising and Strategic Partnerships
 
1920 Indian School Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104
p: 941.907.6036 x112 | f:  941.907.6970 | c: 907.854.0901