Texas: Deadly Floods Displace Thousands of Families; World Vision Responds With Desperately Needed Aid

Heavy, unrelenting rainfall batters the state; displaced residents supplied with basic necessities, including hygiene products and clothing.

July 10, 2007

By Janet Root, Assistant Web Editor, and James Addis, Advocacy and Communications

Thousands of children and families have been forced to flee their homes in the wake of heavy rains and subsequent flooding across Texas. At least 11 people have died.

Reports from the ground indicate that many survivors are in shock.

World Vision Responding

World Vision is sending shipments of supplies to flood survivors, including clothing, diapers, personal hygiene and sanitation products, as well as other emergency items. Generous American corporations have donated these much-needed supplies by way of our Gifts-in-Kind Program.

Recent rains were heaviest about 40 miles northwest of Austin, CNN reported, where almost 18 inches fell on June 27. Thirty-two people were rescued from floodwaters in that area.

At the Skyline Mobile Home Estates in Haltom City, Texas, approximately 125 families received clothing, hygiene products, detergent and cleaning supplies from World Vision's North Texas Storehouse, distributed by 50 volunteers from Riverwalk Fellowship, a local church based in Fort Worth. Another 500 people in Kaufman County were also recipients of aid.

The church's outreach director, Beverly Johnson, said the families were forced to evacuate in the early hours of the morning after a creek running through the park burst its banks. One 4-year-old girl drowned in the melee as her mother desperately tried to evacuate several of her children to safety. A mobile home exploded due to a gas leak, putting a mother and her child in hospital with severe burns.

"It's only by the grace of God that more people were not killed or injured," says Johnson, adding that recipients of the aid were especially grateful for the clothing items they received.

'They've Been Very Helpful...'

Among those to benefit was Alice Rossetter, mother of two children, who thanked Riverwalk and World Vision for their support.

"They've been very helpful," she says. "That's all you can ask for in a case like this."

Karin Lazarin, another resident affected by the flood, described how she and five other members of her family clambered onto the roof of their mobile home, fearing the water was too deep and the current too strong to risk an escape.

After two hours, with no rescuers in sight, the family feared the roof of their home would collapse and decided they would have to swim their way out. Their children, Marco, 5, and Kevin, 12, were tied to adults to ensure they would not be swept away.

Lazarin said the family lost everything in the flood.

"We can't keep looking back," she says. "We've got to keep moving forward. But it's kind of hard to see everything you own washed away in 20 minutes."

The Aftermath

Johnson says many of those affected were compelled to remain in the park for more than a week after the initial flooding, as they had nowhere else to go.
They lacked water and electricity, and the flooring inside their homes resembled the bottom of a filthy creek.

It is unlikely that people will be able to continue to live in the affected part of the mobile home park, or that services would be restored, because of the risk of repeated flooding. At least 50 housing units will need to be demolished and removed.

Reports indicate that severe flooding has spread north into Oklahoma. In Bartlesville, Okla., more than 200 houses were affected, including 20 destroyed. In Miami, Okla., 600 houses were damaged, including at least 240 destroyed. World Vision will be on the scene to provide aid to these regions as well.