“Hurricane Harvey TX, DR397-18, hit Texas hard from Corpus
Christi all the way up the coast to the Louisiana state line, and inward as far
north as Austin in some areas. Flooding in some areas was as much as 8 feet,
and in the Corpus Christi area, more structural damage than flooding occurred. “
(Sarah Perkins, Pittsford, NY, Red Cross Disaster
Assessment Lead)
When Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 Storm in
Texas early in August, 2017, over one-half million residents were evacuated and
34,000 stayed in 240 Red Cross and partner shelters. On September 22, I deployed to Texas, joining
160 Red Cross volunteers from Western & Central New York.
I have been a Red Cross volunteer for over seven years,
during which time I have deployed to tornadoes in Alabama, storms in
Connecticut, wildfires in Northern California, Superstorm Sandy in NY,
Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina and “Snowvember” here at home. These
efforts literally fulfill the commandment of “Tikkun Olam”, repairing the
world.
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| A child's thank you letter to the Red Cross in Houston |
In Houston, I served as the Lead in Staff & Volunteer
Relations, helping to anticipate and resolve problems between and among
volunteers. With thousands of volunteers
traveling to a place most had never been, doing things they might not have
done, with people they didn’t know, and under difficult circumstances, the major
problems were relatively few. Volunteers
worked 12-14 hour days, 7-10 days in a row without a day off. Many lived in staff shelters. Despite these hardships and stresses, quality
services were delivered and local residents responded gratefully, both personally
and in cards and letters.
I had wanted to attend Yom Kippur services while in
Houston. I met Diane Levine, Red Cross Spiritual
Care Lead on the disaster, who referred me to Rabbi Steve Morgen from Congregation
Beth Yeshurun, the largest Conservative synagogue in the U.S. He explained that the synagogue had been
completely flooded, and although Torah scrolls and other books and materials
had been saved, the building was totally unusable. Joel Osteen had then offered his Lakewood
Church to Beth Yeshurun for their High Holiday services.
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| Jai Lev Dravich (l) and Steven Schwartz at Kol Nidre Services |
Jai Lev Dravich, from Santa Cruz, CA, with whom I had worked
during Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina, and I attended this remarkable Kol
Nidre service. The huge arena (formerly
a pro-hockey stadium) seated thousands of worshippers. Images of the synagogue’s beautiful
tapestries were projected on the sides and back of the bimah. This was also Rabbi David Rosen’s last Kol
Nidre service before his retirement after 22 years as Senior Rabbi. After his sermon, in an emotional tribute, he
was lauded for his wonderful work, and it was announced that the new entrance
to the rebuilt synagogue would be dedicated in his honor. His inspirational words engaged the entire
congregation in the efforts to reclaim the synagogue from the flood waters as a
physical act of Teshuva, the returning of Beth Yeshurun on Beechnut Street to
the congregation. (To view the devastation and to help, see the website: www.bethyeshurun.org ).
We returned to our duties knowing we had witnessed an historical event.
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| Tapestry Projection Congregation Beth Yeshurun |
As of mid-October, the Red Cross had provided over $200
million in direct cash assistance to a half million households in Texas alone. Millions
of meals, snacks and relief items were delivered and over 100,000 health and
mental health services were provided. Six weeks from landfall, only two Red
Cross shelters remained open, serving 700 residents. Over 1000 Red Cross disaster
volunteers remained in Texas at that time.
Additional efforts for Harvey extended into Louisiana.
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| Clean up supplies in a Houston warehouse to be distributed to help families recovering after Hurricane Harvey |
Overall, 16,000 Red Cross volunteers opened shelters ineight states, Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands in response to
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate.
They were joined by over 6,000 spontaneous volunteers. Your voluntary donations supported these
efforts. The average cost of deploying a
volunteer is $1650, and my friends and family raised nearly that amount.
To respond to local disasters, the Federation helped to
establish the Buffalo Jewish Service Corps (BJSC). Over 70 members of the Buffalo Jewish community
have received training in preparedness, psychological first aid and sheltering in
preparation of a local response. The
last training also included members of the local Muslim community. If you are interested in being a part of
BJSC, please contact Steven Schwartz (stevens@localnet.com), or for more
information about
