Salvation Army plans for a multiyear Harvey response
WASHINGTON — The Salvation Army is gearing up for a multiyear mission in Harvey-stricken areas by activating disaster response teams from throughout the United States and Canada.
“We have our first team gathered, and then as needed — we will continue to send teams down until we’re no longer needed,” said Salvation Army Maryland/West Virginia Division General Secretary Major Gene A. Hogg.
Addressing the entire Salvation Army effort, Hogg said between 500 and 700 individuals are being deployed to areas between Saint Charles, Louisiana, and Corpus Christi, Texas, to create incident command centers structured for localized response.
The Salvation Army of Central Maryland has mobilized 12 officers to create one of those incident command teams. Where local relief workers will go to help has yet to be determined.
“The event is still happening. The rain is still falling. Flooding is still there,” Hogg said Tuesday afternoon.
Hogg said his counterpart in Houston was coordinating relief efforts by cellphone until he was rescued from the roof of his home by a friend with a bass boat on Monday.
While waiting for floodwaters to subside, planning and coordination of resources and activation of volunteers is underway. Hogg says over the next four to six months, teams will be rotated in and out of impacted areas every two weeks.
“The reason for that is because of the extremely long days, the emotional and physical exhaustion people experience during those times — you can’t really go beyond two weeks,” Hogg said.
Based on what happened with Hurricane Katrina, Hogg projects recovery efforts could last up to two years.
He believes entire communities will be wiped out and low-income residents will be left in dire need of support because even homes and apartment buildings left standing may need to be bulldozed to avoid issues of mold and mildew contamination.
“How do we care for them until the government or developers step back in to rebuild?” Hogg asked.
Other considerations include providing people with clothes, medicine and long-term provisions of hot and cold food.
“Schools are going to be closed down, so what do we do with the children? All of these questions have to be discussed in the response effort,” Hogg said.
Hogg says disaster work is just an extension of what the Salvation Army does daily to help with poverty, hunger and homelessness. Last year, he says more than 30 million Americans were assisted by the Salvation Army in some way.
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