On Thursday, Governor Greg Abbott promised the state would make changes to protect Texans as part of the recovery efforts from the deadly, catastrophic floods over the July 4th weekend.
Statewide, at least 135 people have died. In Kerr County alone, the number is at 116. While speaking at a news conference in San Angelo, which also saw deadly floods that left behind much damage, he said the July flooding will be a major focus of the special session, which starts on Monday, July 21.
Meanwhile, volunteers continue to help victims and their families.
In Fort Worth, both the police and fire departments held a donation drive last week. They collected items at 45 different fire and police stations. They stopped taking donations and are now sorting through them.
For the last two days, they’ve used box trucks and even ambulances to bring all the items to a central place, at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex.
“If there’s a need, we’re always ready to jump up and do whatever we can,” said Craig Trojacek, the public information officer for the Fort Worth Fire Department.
“It’s always overwhelming when you come and actually see the volume of all this stuff that was donated. It’s a daunting task. It’s a great problem to have when you got community members that are coming together and given everything, they can for a community that they know is in the need of help,” he said.
Trojacek said that while they asked for specific items from a list provided by the state and Salvation Army, but many generous people donated other items.
“We’re taking in a lot more of items that was originally on the list, or requested for,” Trojacek explained. “We know how labor intensive this can be, how time specific this can be, and just the fact if you have somebody who has to manage all resources on site, it’s taking away from their on site now, it’s taken away from their focus on what their true vision is and what their roles and responsibilities are in a crisis. So because we’ve been in that situation before, we know what it’s like. We’re really picking through all these bags, all these boxes, making sure that what we are sitting down there is stuff that was actually requested,” he said.
They plan to work with local charities to give away the extra items to people locally.
Trojacek said they have their pallets of items wrapped in plastic ready to go whenever they get the call from the flood ravaged areas.
How to help with Central Texas flood relief
Join NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 in our efforts to help those whose lives have been upended by recent storms and record flooding, as well as countless other crises. You can help by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your financial donation helps provide shelter, meals, relief supplies, emotional support, recovery planning and other assistance during disasters like the one in Texas.
In response to questions about what people can do to help the area recover from the deadly flood, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, a 501(c)(3) charity serving the Texas Hill Country, has established a relief fund to support vetted local response, relief and recovery efforts. Organizers said all donations go directly to organizations working on the front lines of the July 4 flooding emergency. All donations are tax-deductible, and you will receive a receipt for your gift. To learn more or donate, visit the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country here.