Israel-based humanitarian relief agency IsraAID has sent a team of volunteers to flood-ravaged Texas to help with relief efforts. This is not the first time the Israeli organization has sent disaster relief aid to the U.S.
The latest team of seven volunteers will help with removing debris from damaged houses in the town of Wimberley.
“IsraAID will be mobilizing its relief team from Israel to support the thousands of people impacted by these latest storms,” said Shachar Zahavi, IsraAID’s founding director.
“The goal is to provide immediate relief and guide local communities in their efforts to clean out destroyed homes, as well as lay the groundwork for future rehabilitation and reconstruction initiatives,” read an IsraAID fundraising statement. “This cleaning stage is crucial to avoid major health and hygiene issues from contaminated water, and open sewage. In addition, there is a psychological added value, as home owners are often so overwhelmed by the devastation and the loss of their entire lives’ valuables, that they are paralyzed by the situation. Coming in to clean up the mess and move them on to rebuilding helps create a positive momentum towards rehabilitation and recovery.”
IsraAID has also partnered up with U.S. disaster relief organization Team Rubicon to help homeowners connect with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and receive assistance.
IsraAID has sent disaster relief following floods in Denver and Detroit, hurricanes in Oklahoma, New York, and New Orleans, and wildfires in Washington, among other sites. It has also helped in numerous international disaster areas during the past year, including following an earthquake in Nepal, an Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, a cyclone in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, and a typhoon in the Philippines. It also sent assistance to aid the Yazidis in northern Iraq, who have been besieged by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
CNN reported that so much rain has fallen this month in Texas that it could cover the entire state with eight inches of water.
(via Israel21c)
[Photo: Associated Press / YouTube ]