NEW ORLEANS – Instead of celebrating this holiday weekend, the state of Texas was reeling at the devastation caused by major flash floods and the rise of the Guadalupe River.
In the early hours of Friday morning, heavy rain caused the river to rise over 25 feet within 45 minutes – according to reports from NPR. The flood impacted several towns and two summer camps along the river, with many people not having time to escape the devastation. As of publishing of this article, over 90 lives have been lost and dozens are still missing in the aftermath of the catastrophic events.
In New Orleans, especially ahead of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we know what it feels like to lose everything. It’s times like this we want to come together and show the compassion and love the country needs.
Here are a list of ways you can help donate or give back to the communities in Texas.
The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has a Kerr County Relief Fund that will support the communities of Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point and Comfort.
The Salvation Army is taking donations to provide food and volunteering to the area.
The Red Cross is also accepting donations and is on location.
Good360 is a disaster response nonprofit that brings hygiene kits, diapers and more to shelters in the impacted area.
For search and recovery the Cajun Navy is on the ground, as well as TEXSAR, which is an all-volunteer search and rescue team with a home base in Austin. Both organizations take donations.
For food donation options, Operation BBQ Relief, Mercy Chefs and World Central Kitchen are all taking donations and have deployed first responders to the area.
And for the pets impacted by the floods, Kerrville City Alive, Austin City Alive and MuttNation are working to shelter pets, rescue abandoned or lost pets, provide supplies and more. All are taking donations.
There are also many GoFundMe pages that have been set up in the aftermath of this tragedy both for individuals, groups and organizations.
