Texas Gulf Coast Region VOAD

Conference Call 10-6-05

George Betz moderated this call while driving to Jasper, Texas. Several organizations reported on their activities:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• The Church is sending 1130 volunteers to affected areas this coming Saturday.
• Volunteers will be removing debris and fallen trees in Port Arthur, Mid-County, Beaumont, Vidor, Silsbee, Jasper, Lake Charles, Buna, and Fred.
• Volunteers will be helping at points of distribution (PODs) at the La Belle Volunteer Fire Department, Gateway Shopping Center in Beaumont, the Central Mall in Port Arthur, and the Parkdale Mall on the Eastex Freeway.

Volunteer Houston

• Volunteer Houston is staying alert to volunteer needs as they develop. There are a fair number of projects that are open to community volunteers.
• Volunteers are needed to man the day care center at the regional job fair.
• Gratitude was expressed to Walter Black for maintaining the VOAD Web site.

Lutheran Disaster Response

• Assessments are currently being done for families in the Lutheran Church. Families are beginning to return.
• Later LDR will do work rehabilitation, repairs, and case management.
• Private funds will be available, but there are no specifics yet.

US Dept. of Health and Human Services (Administration for Children and Families)

• A team has been deployed locally and is currently doing assessments.
• Goal is to reestablish social services and ensure that needs are being met so that families can be restored to normal.
• Particularly focused on reestablishing child care programs.

Red Cross

• A Red Cross service center will open either tomorrow or Saturday. The address is not being publicized yet because the center is not open.
• There will be fixed service center sites serving Chambers, Liberty, and Polk Counties.
• The Red Cross is also looking into establishing one or two large shelters for the area, which will be run either by the Red Cross or FEMA and could house up to 3,000 evacuees each.

Joint Field Office, Liaison for Voluntary Agencies

• A state plan is being formulated related to sheltering and debris removal, but it has not been finalized.

Debris Removal

• Dick Cooley (Red Cross, 936-327-6867) is looking for organizations that can help with debris removal in Polk County. Some roads remain inaccessible to emergency vehicles because they are blocked by debris.
• George Betz asked about a plan for releases so that county and/or city workers can go on private property to remove debris. In the past, city and county governments have been reimbursed for this service. There is nothing like this currently. Follow-up is needed.
• Some trees are so large that the voluntary agencies can’t remove them. Big equipment, such as that operated by county and city governments, is needed.
• Texas Baptist Men have done some debris removal in Port Arthur.
• Anyone having information on resources for debris removal, please call 512-908-8712.

Blue Roof Program

• Volunteers are being sought to help with this program, which involves installing large sheeting on top of houses (more involved than tarping).
• Clients need to apply for this service at a disaster recovery center and fill out appropriate paperwork.
• Citizens Corps volunteers may be available to help with this project, or an organization similar to Citizen Corps in the affected areas might be able to provide volunteers.
• More information will be made available soon.

Disaster Recovery Centers

• A list of locations for disaster recovery centers will be e-mailed to VOAD members when it becomes available.
• FEMA has received 255,612 registration applications from the affected areas.

TXGCRVOAD Conference Calls

• Scheduled twice weekly at 12 noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• Since the next VOAD meeting occurs on a Tuesday (Oct. 11), the conference call will be canceled that day.

Next TXGCRVOAD Meeting

• Tuesday, Oct. 11, 10-11:30 a.m.
• Location: Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston
• Carolyn Shell will e-mail directions for locating the Bauer College on the campus.

State VOAD Conference Calls

• There will be a state VOAD conference call this evening at 6 p.m.
• The stake VOAD conference calls will continue two days a week, but at this point the days have not been determined.
• When the days are selected, VOAD members will be notified by e-mail.