Barbara and I arrived in Liberty, TX Sunday afternoon. Liberty is about an hour drive east of Houston. We joined a couple from Wisconsin and will serve as the cook team for the volunteer workers staying at First Baptist Church. They have transformed the church gym into sleeping quarters. We cook in the church kitchen. We took the place of a team from Iowa.
Current work teams are from Texas and Virginia. We expect a large team from Wisconsin next week. This site is run by Virginia Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. They have provided a shower/water purification trailer with 4 showers. In this situation we use city water that is safe. In addition they provided a Laundry trailer with 5 washers and 5 dryers. In addition to the cooking we keep the shower trailer clean and do laundry for the workers and community if needed.
Homes are evaluated (assessed) to make sure they are structurally sound. If so volunteer work teams–called “mudout teams” go into homes that request them and remove appliances, carpet and furniture that have been ruined and put them on the curb for later pickup. Then sheetrock, paneling, flooring and other material is removed to several feet above the waterline. Everything is then pressure washed. Later a treatment called “shockwave” is applied to prevent mold.
On some streets you feel as if you are driving down a tunnel formed by the debris stacked at the curb.
In the second phase, planned to begin in about a month, “rebuild crews” will come in and help people rebuild or repair their homes. They are also volunteers and in many cases provide the materials needed.
The number of crews working here changes daily. Some crews arrived last night, others left today. Most stay about a week. The average number of workers at this site seems to be around 30 at a time.
Essentially this is a free service to people whose homes have been damaged. The teams are formed by local churches or associations. They are then trained by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. Each person is given a background check. Then picture ID’s. The training is necessary as our cook team has to meet all local health department standards.
Right now it is hot, over 90 every day. The mudout crews which include men and women work very hard in areas flood waters have only recently receded from. When they removed flooring yesterday water ran out of the walls. I admire mudout crews a great deal. It is difficult, dirty and hot work. Right now mold is really starting to grow so it is also dangerous if you are affected by mold.
Many teams have a Chaplain attached to help the homeowners find spiritual resources to get them through these difficult situations.
People still come to the office daily to request teams.