LERT Team Deploys for Two Weeks to Serve Texas Communities

Eight LERT team members from St. Peter – Hampshire, Illinois deployed to Texas on Saturday, November 4 to help the communities of Corpus Christi, Rockport and Port Aransas still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. Residential homes and property, businesses, hotels and restaurants still have massive damage that has yet to be cleared, leaving these communities with little hope for recovery until this LERT team arrived with hearts and hands ready to serve for two weeks.
 
LERT team members include: Bob & Jean Warfel, Rebecca & Mike Hemme, Jr., Mike Hemme, Sr., Ryan Anthenat, Chris Lewis from St. Peter – Hampshire, Illinois and Steve Black from St. John’s – Dillsboro, Indiana.

Day 1 Report (11/4): We have a crew of 8 heading to Corpus Christi, Texas for disaster relief. An early morning start yesterday from Chicago and ended the night in Arkansas. We're scheduled to reach our destination around 7pm tonight. Continued prayers for safe travels.
 
Day 2 Report (11/5): We made it!!!! Arrived safely at our destination at Trinity Lutheran Church in Corpus Christi, Texas. There are so many destroyed areas that have not made the news and have not been helped. We are anxious to begin our volunteer ministry tomorrow. Please continue to pray for us and follow our mission of serving Christ.
 
Work Day 1 (11/6): We tackled a lot today and have a lot of work ahead of us.
 
Work Day 2 (11/7): We were blessed to help Sandy all day on her 10 acre ranch. Picture this: all the trees on her property once stood straight, her horse was found alive on someone else's property, and she came home to her neighbor’s dead cows and horses on her property which were soon burned. We found quite a few bones, the head of a deer moose, and miscellaneous home items while digging through the debris. A full day of work and there is still a lot to be done. We were so happy to help Sandy today in her long road to recovery.
 
Work Day 3 (11/8): We took a ferry this morning to Port Aransas. Our team split into 2 groups and tackled a lot of tasks. Our first home we found a couple who lost the top two stories of their home. We removed household debris, materials, and salvaged a few precious memories. Across the street was a lady who lost several trees and had one leaning against the roof. She couldn't fix her damaged roof until the tree was gone. She was ecstatic to have our help today. Another block down the road we cut down 7 tall palm tree stumps. The homeowner shared pictures of her return home after the hurricane. The driveway was unrecognizable! Her garage was filled with 4 feet of water and 2 feet of seagrass from the bay. We ended our rainy work day with another ride on the ferry.
 
Work Day 4 (11/9): We had another productive day on Port Aransas. This area was hit by category 4 Hurricane Harvey at winds around 130 mph. Hotels, vacation homes, and restaurants were shredded, which devastated an economy almost fully reliant on tourism.
 
Work Day 5 (11/10): We were back in Rockport today clearing more trees. Spent half the day at a rental home clearing branches and cutting trees in the backyard. No rain and perfect temps made for the perfect workday.

Donate - Hurricane Harvey Disaster Response Fund