PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — As the city of Houston works to recover after Hurricane Beryl, Operation Blessing is stepping in to help.
It’s been two weeks since the Category 1 storm ripped through Houston, claiming the lives of 22 and leaving an estimated three million people without power. A city that took a major hit just south of it is Brazoria, where Operation Blessing is on the ground helping residents rebuild their lives.
In the days following Beryl, debris and devastation still cover much of the central Brazoria, with the Operation Blessing team of volunteers stationed nearby at First Baptist Church.
“Brazoria Prosper, Angleton, Lake Jackson in Freeport, those areas bore the brunt of it,” said Bob Burke, Operation Blessing deployment manager. “To my understanding from what people that were here during the hurricane, they said that between tropical storm force winds and hurricane force winds, they were under the gun for about nine hours.”
Burkes said the organization has drawn in volunteers from Colorado, Oklahoma, Florida and Virginia, with the majority being locals from the area. They’ve also received support from city’s mayor, Philip Ray.
“He facilitated our ability to operate, not just from our small mobile kitchen, but we actually got access to the cafeteria kitchen at the elementary school, which is directly next door to First Baptist,” Burke said. “Our biggest effort so far has been food distribution.”
So far, over 2,700 meals have been distributed by Operation Blessing to residents, along with dozens of relief items, such as garbage bags, paper towels and cleaners, with some donated through the Home Depot Foundation.
“The game plan is to continue to try and get as many volunteers as we can,” he said. “We do have overnight accommodations so people that would like to travel to come work with us, we have that that opportunity available. There’s a tremendous amount of work down here to do. The number of trees that are down, it’s a spectacular number.”
If you are interested in volunteering with Operation Blessing’s relief efforts in Texas or donating, you can find more information on www.ob.org.