A Houston-area volunteer with the United Cajun Navy is spending his days in Venezuela right now, helping recover bodies and feed survivors after twin earthquakes killed more than 4,800 people and left thousands homeless.
Josh Gill is the incident commander for the United Cajun Navy, and he’s currently on the ground in Venezuela working alongside other volunteers and grieving family members searching for loved ones still buried in the rubble.
Gill gave KHOU 11 a tour of the devastation by video call, driving down a road lined with one collapsed building after another. He shared a story from one recovery site that he says stuck with him.
Gill said the family had been searching for days.
“This location right here, this spot, we got called to come over for a recovery there and in this spot, there was this young boy, part of a family of 7. He had been digging for 17 days to find his family. And he found his sister, his sister was 12, 13 years old, he came running to us and said ‘gringo, gringo, come help.’ So we go and help.”
The boy recovered one of his family members, but he’s still missing five others.
The Venezuelan government says nearly 18,000 people have been left homeless by the earthquakes, with many families now living on the street after losing their homes.
Gill says he’s never seen devastation like this, and he says countless families across Venezuela are living through the same nightmare.
His time in Venezuela is coming to an end, but his work with the Cajun Navy isn’t finished. Gill will be heading back to Texas next to help flood victims in the Hill Country, where the Cajun Navy has already taken part in numerous rescues.
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