As the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey intensifies in Texas and spreads to Louisiana, local residents continue to give and fill up trucks with needed supplies for victims along the Gulf Coast.
In addition to local people who are gathering and taking supplies to the coast, several businesses are sending crews to help with rescue, recovery and restoration efforts.
The El Dorado Entergy Office sent two linemen and three management personnel to Conroe, Texas – a town that falls within Houston-The Woodlands metropolitan area – said Bill Luther, customer service manager for the El Dorado area. He said the crew left El Dorado at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.
“We have storm teams packed for two weeks and after that time we will rotate the crews,” he said, explaining that the two-week rotation plan will continue as long as they are needed to help restore power to Gulf Coast cities hard-hit by Hurricane Harvey. Statewide, Entergy sent 90 of its Arkansas employees to the coast Tuesday, including linemen, servicemen, safety specialists, crew leads and logistics support.
Evers Electric of El Dorado also sent crews to Texas to help with restoration of electricity. Tee Raynes, service manager at Evers, said 30 employees left El Dorado on Monday morning and drove eight trucks. He said because of flooded conditions and heavy traffic, crews first traveled to Waco, Texas, and then to Aransas Pass, outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, one of the first cities in the path of Hurricane Harvey.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission answered the call from Texas and 28 agents arrived in The Lone Star State to assist in hurricane search and rescue. They left Little Rock on Tuesday, bound for San Antonio, Texas. Officers have been trained in swift water rescue and expect to spend 10 days in the hurricane-ravaged areas before returning home. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management received a request for the agents from the state of Texas.
The United Way of Union County in El Dorado is working with Noalmark Broadcasting to raise funds for the United Way of Greater Houston, said Alexis Alexander, executive director of the UWUC. She said plans to raise money by the United Way and Noalmark will be announced in the near future.
United Steelworkers 13-434 sent an email Wednesday to let local residents know they are collecting cleaning supplies, water, shampoo/conditioner, canned goods, diapers and blankets for those affected by Harvey at Clean Harbors Environmental Services in El Dorado. For more information, contact Arlette Allen, one of the coordinators of the drive, by email at [email protected].
Samaritan’s Purse, headquartered in Boone, North Carolina, mobilized staff, equipment and volunteers to provide emergency aid to the victims of Harvey.
“We often stay behind after our initial response to rebuild or restore houses for needy families,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. Many local churches, businesses, school and civic groups and individuals, are familiar with Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child project, which provides millions of shoebox Christmas gifts to needy children throughout the world.
Earlier this week, Graham approved the deployment of five U.S. disaster relief units to southeastern Texas. The tractor trailers were stocked with emergency relief equipment and supplies.
Though now downgraded to a tropical storm, Harvey continues to make history. It made a second landfall Wednesday morning near the Texas/Louisiana border, deluging the region with excessive amounts of rainfall. Beaumont and Port Arthur, both in Texas, about 90 miles east of Houston, were pelted with 26 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, according to Samaritan’s Purse website.
Samaritan’s Purse is accepting donations, as well as volunteers for Harvey disaster relief at samaritanspurse.org/disaster/hurricane-harvey.
According to The Weather Channel website, rainfall in El Dorado is expected to continue today with a high temperature of 77 degrees. Temperatures are expected to rise Friday, as sunny weather returns, and range from 87 to 65 degrees.
Janice McIntyre can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].
