Red Cross supporting Texas Gulf coast with food, supplies, access to aid 

By Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross 

Rockport Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios was blunt as Hurricane Harvey headed for this coastal community: Get out now, or write your name and Social Security number on your forearm so we can identify your body

Rockport Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios was blunt as Hurricane Harvey headed for this coastal community: Get out now, or write your name and Social Security number on your forearm so we can identify your body afterwards.

His warning probably saved many lives in this town of 10,600.

But a month after the devastating storm, residents face monumental recovery challenges. Damage estimates say 15 percent of homes here were destroyed, with another 21 percent sustaining major damage and 33 percent minor damage. Power to the poles has been restored to about 98 percent of customers by Sept. 23, but many structures will have to be rewired before service is turned back on. Businesses are slowly recovering, with around 250 reopening, according to the Chamber of Commerce website.

Into this community clawing its way back to normal, the American Red Cross is sending daily deliveries of food and cleanup supplies.

On Monday, Red Cross volunteer Brenda Riley from Denver, Colo., was manning the food truck at the Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC). “My heart is joyous,” she said, “because everyone is networking and partnered up here.”

The MARC, in the old H-E-B Grocery parking lot, is a one-stop site where the Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Small Business Administration, Aransas County Health Department, housing assistance and insurance adjusters meet with local residents.

One of the popular features at the MARC since Saturday is a bank of laptops with internet access so residents can apply for Red Cross financial help through the Immediate Assistance Program.

Meanwhile, one of the regular Red Cross food stops is at the Templo La Fe church, at the corner of Market Street and Kelly Lane in the southeastern part of the city. The church has been providing food and supplies for their congregation and local residents.

One hot Saturday, a Red Cross food truck driver spotted Pastor Ismael Alfaro and members of his mostly poor, Hispanic congregation pulling soggy carpet from the church. Driver Jim Denison of Brownsville found the pastor’s wife, Hermelinda Alfaro, cooking in the hot kitchen of the church’s damaged hall, trying hard to feed the workers and neighbors.

The very next day, the Red Cross began dropping off containers of 100 meals twice a day. Food truck drivers Dick Ditore of San Diego, Calif., and Diana Zaldivar of Brownsville, heard many comments, saying their deliveries were making a real difference in people’s lives here.

Fifty miles north, in Bloomington, some 3,200 people waited out the storm in the town’s hurricane dome as winds clocked at 140 mph roared outside. After the wind and rain subsided, most of those evacuees returned home.

Many of those homes are two-bedroom apartments housing extended families of six, eight, 10 people. With a 98 percent free and reduced lunch population in the Bloomington Independent School District of about 1,000 students, it’s a community of need, even in the best of times.

The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is anything but the best of times.

A drive through the town reveals surprisingly limited damage to homes and businesses, although the school district sustained an estimated $16 million in damages to four campuses. However, many residents are struggling with the loss of income because their places of employment are still closed.

Yet, life is trying to return to normal. Electric power has been largely restored. The Dairy Queen on the main drag has reopened. FEMA has been in the community to assess damage to homes.

On Sunday, a Red Cross food truck made its way through particularly needy neighborhoods. Pulling up outside an apartment complex, driver John Ellsworth honked the horn and announced over the loud speaker, “Red Cross. Free lunch. Come out and get it.”
As president of the Bloomington school board, Ellsworth knows his town. He said 129 children board buses at this one stop.  One such student, an eight-year-old with her dog Minnie, asked for seven meals for her family. She said she doesn’t like the weekend because she can’t be in school.

A light rain doesn’t deter people from slipping out of their apartments, one from here, another from over there, to gratefully accept lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches, chips and cookies. Dinner will be a hot meal brought from Corpus Christi, some 90 minutes away.

At a 103-year-old home that weathered the storm well, eight members of an extended family were happy to get even a simple meal.

Hurricane Harvey clearly changed the landscape of communities across southeast Texas, but as residents come to grips with their new reality, the familiar Red Cross symbol and its generous volunteers will be part of the scene.

The word that now goes out from Rockport – where it once was “get out or else” – is now a resounding, “One Message. One Voice. We Are Strong. We Will Rebuild.”
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Rockport/Bloomington Damage Captions

Rockport Damage 01:  This is typical of damage to homes and businesses from Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas. The town of 10,600 is the county seat of Aransas County, the smallest county in the state. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 02:  Red Cross workers help residents of Rockport, Texas, apply online for Red Cross financial assistance. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 03:  Hurricane winds tore away nearly all the roof over the one-story part of this home while the roof on the two-story portion in the foreground is covered with a blue tarp. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 04:  The roof may be covered with a blue tarp due to damage from Hurricane Harvey, but this Rockport, Texas, home still proudly flies the U.S. flag. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 05: Almost as much of this building is piled on the ground as is left standing in Rockport, Texas, following Hurricane Harvey. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 06: This pile of sheet metal and other debris sits just a block from the Rockport (Texas) Volunteer Fire Department, which is flying an American flag from atop one of its aerial ladder trucks. Hundreds of similar piles dot this city of 10,000 in Aransas County, Texas. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 07: The American flag and Texas flag fly next to a home damaged by Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas. The pile of debris in the foreground has come from several sites. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 08: Two cars sit in a garage even though it has no roof in Rockport, Texas.  (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 10: Roofs are missing from both garages here, and a large pile of debris fills a vacant lot in this Rockport, Texas, neighborhood. Yet, American and Texas flags continue to fly. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 12: Furniture and appliances sit on a concrete slab next to what’s left of a home in Rockport, Texas, following Hurricane Harvey. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 14 and 16: Its roof – mostly intact – sits atop the concrete foundation of this gazebo in Rockport, Texas. Winds from Hurricane Harvey, clocked at 141 mph, devastated this seaside community of 10,645. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 17: Tree damage was extensive in Rockport, Texas, where live oaks are popular residential plantings because they resist decay and recover from damage better than many species.  (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 18: Renowned for their hardiness, these oleander bushes are blooming just weeks after Hurricane Harvey pummeled Rockport, Texas, with 141 mph winds. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 19: Mail delivery continues in Rockport, Texas, several weeks following Hurricane Harvey. A mail carrier said that if they cannot deliver mail to a damaged and unoccupied residence, it is returned to the post office for later delivery. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 21: All businesses in Downtown Rockport, Texas, suffered significant damage from Hurricane Harvey. On its website, the local Chamber of Commerce lists about 250 businesses that have reopened following the storm. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 28: This American flag has been attached to a palm tree next to a business in Port Aransas, Texas, which was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 50: American Red Cross food trucks deliver 100 meals twice each day to Templo La Fe church, located along busy Market Street in the southeast part of Rockport, Texas. These meals help to supplement the recovery efforts that this 75-member Hispanic church. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 51: This American Red Cross food truck, driven by volunteer Brenda Riley of Denver, Colorado, is delivering lunch and dinner at the old HEB grocery lot in Rockport, Texas. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 54: An elderly Rockport, Texas, woman searches for clothing and shoes the parking lot of a local business destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. Various groups and private agencies delivered truckloads of donated clothing following the storm. However, the city had no place to store the donations, and they have been rained on several times. According to one resident, used clothing agencies have been asked to come and gather the donations. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 60: Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rockport, Texas, sustained limited damage from Hurricane Harvey. However, workers have already made repairs, and mass is being held. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Rockport Damage 61, 62, and 63: The steeple of Sacred Heart Catholic Church is visible behind damaged homes in this Rockport, Texas,  neighborhood. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Bloomington Damage 01: This Dairy Queen in Bloomington, Texas, sustained some damage from Hurricane Harvey, but was able to reopen five days after the storm. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Bloomington Damage 02: The mobile home in the foreground in Bloomington, Texas, saw little damage from Hurricane Harvey, but the mobile home in the background sustained heavy damage, making it unlivable now. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Bloomington Damage 03: Two Bloomington, Texas, girls wait for lunches being prepared by John Ellsworth of Bloomington, Texas, and Valerie Bell of Vancouver, Washington. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Bloomington Damage 04: The Red Cross food truck parks outside one of the several apartment blocks in this low-income complex located in Bloomington, Texas. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)
Bloomington Damage 05: A boy in Bloomington, Texas, waits for six lunches outside the American Red Cross food truck driven by John Ellsworth, a Red Cross volunteer from Bloomington. His helper was Valerie Bell of Vancouver, Washington. (Photo by Ken Rosenauer, American Red Cross)