MCKINNEY, Tex. — September 28, 2017 — McKinney-based disaster relief organization Minuteman Disaster Response continues to serve on the ground in South Texas four weeks after the landfall of Hurricane Harvey, which brought catastrophic damage and flooding to the Texas Coast from Houston to Corpus Christi.
The initial response team traveled from McKinney to Refugio, Texas—40 miles north of Corpus Christi—immediately following Harvey’s landfall to scout out a location to establish their base camp. Their equipment, a command trailer, mobile restroom/shower unit, and several vehicles arrived a few days later. Minuteman then began deploying teams of volunteers from Dallas/Fort Worth to the Refugio area in waves. The organization had boots on the ground for 20 consecutive days, with 71 individuals volunteering their time. These volunteers served over 3,500 hours in Refugio County, cleaning up debris at 35 homes and meeting the practical needs of those affected by the storm.
After completing their work in Refugio County, the Minuteman team moved their base camp to Brazoria County, located 60 miles south of Houston. “Brazoria experienced flooding from upstream after the hurricane,” said Matt Payne, executive director of Minuteman Disaster Response. “Our team is taking four trips with volunteers to Brazoria to help muck out houses that flooded. Our equipment will be on the ground there until mid-October, and our teams will have served in Refugio and Brazoria counties for a total of six weeks since Harvey made landfall.”
Many businesses, churches, and non-profit groups from the DFW Metroplex and across the nation have supported Minuteman with both manpower and finances to make this response effort possible. To learn more about how your organization can get involved and support Minuteman Disaster Response, you may visit www.minutemanresponse.org.
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