Message from Executive Director, Amy BeVille Elder:
A Tale From the Lower Rio Grande Valley
& An Update on Survivors of Hurricane Dolly
I am at the Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries, a ministry to Political Asylees, in Bayview, Texas. I am there to survey damages in the area and discover ways that TIDR can assist as we move into long-term recovery. The following relates some of my experiences only a couple of days post hurricane.
It is 10:47 p.m. on Tuesday, July 29, 2008, and the electricity that was just turned on yesterday afternoon went off again. I push aside the curtains and look out the window and see that the lights of a local bar (that calls itself a feed store) are still on. What happened to our electricity? (I learn later the bar has a generator; this is called "preparedness".)
I am the only person in a dormitory room that sleeps about 14 persons. The air conditioner that was turned on about one and a half hours ago is now off; the room never really got cool.
Mostly there is darkness, but underneath the darkness is a constant humming that seems to be growing- they know I am in here and alone. The buzz is louder and louder. The unmistakable roar of a posse of mosquitoes who know that they have won the battle. I must either stay in this dorm room and pretend that I am at a spa and enjoying the sauna, or I must open a window.
I have no car here. To walk out would be sure death by mosquito. The mosquitoes here are larger than horses and are more plentiful than breeding rabbits. If only I had a saddle and rope, I could probably saddle one and ride out.
I cave in. I am not a disaster survivor after all. I call the Reverend Feliberto Pereira, Executive Director of the Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries and beg him and his wife Mica for a bed in their home-with air conditioning and a shower.
I call and tell him there is no electricity here. I'm trying to think how to say: "it is very dark." I say, "Esta - it is - muy - very -" The only light is from my computer screen to document this moment, and Rev. Pereira answers, "oscuro." "Si, esta muy oscuro - Yes! It is very dark." Oscuro. Can't really see anything.
Feliberto says he will come pick me up; I wait to hear the sound of his car over the sound of the mosquitoes. I am black and blue from slapping myself in an attempt to reach just one more of these blood sucking insects. I now know that mosquitoes have more blood than I do. Yet, somehow, I feel a kinship with mosquitoes that borders on their being my blood brothers and sisters - Enough! Salvation comes in the form of a car and honking horn, and I run through the mosquito fog into the safety of an automobile; I am lucky.
Tonight I am remembering all the families here where Dolly wreaked havoc. Thank you to the American Red Cross for sheltering people who have lost their homes and are hiding from mosquitoes. Thank you to the Salvation Army working from their canteens and swiping at their own herd of mosquitoes. Thanks to the Texas Baptists that were providing showers, and to the Texas Baptist Men who were busy feeding families and more, to the men and women of the National Guard who were passing out ice and water. Thank you to the Texas Department of State Health Services who were on the ground and checking on the health of folks in shelters and in general. Thank you for local and state emergency management officials who are tired, for NCCC AmeriCorps members who came in from Denver, for UMCOR (United Methodists) and PDA (Presbyterians), for Seventh Day Adventists and Catholic Charities, and others who were out in the field finding ways to help and looking toward recovery. These are just a few of the folks I saw on the ground passing out needed food, water, ice, and even cleaning supplies.
As a result of Hurricane Dolly, three counties were declared as Federal Disasters and Public and Individual Assistance will be available to these communities and families. Some homes were completely destroyed; hundreds of homes will need significant repair-including roofing repair. And as in any disaster, these families will need the support of the great state of Texas. Right now TIDR is seeking financial support to help temporarily house a few families whose homes were destroyed. Gift cards from Wal-Mart (for food or clothes) are very helpful, as well as other types of cards from businesses local to the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Over the next few weeks, TIDR will update you on the recovery process in Camaron, Hildalgo, and Willacy Counties. If you have resources, work teams, or other ways to help, please contact us at TIDR and we will put you in touch with the appropriate agency or House of Worship so that you can provide support to these communities as they begin the long road to recovery.
In advance, I thank you for your care for these folks who are already proving to be incredibly resilient. Let's give them the tools they need to return to routine and pre-disaster status.
The Following Video will give a quick synopsis of the damage done in Cameron County by Hurricane Dolly.
Peace,
Amy BeVille Elder, M.Div.
Executive Director, TIDR
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