Devastation in Texas
Harvey was a catastrophic flood disaster in southeast Texas making landfall as a Category 4 Hurricane with winds of 130mph. Harvey meandered around southern Texas for days as a weakening hurricane and tropical storm. As a tropical storm, 40-65 inches of rainfall was dropped in southeast Teaxas and southwest Louisiana.
For those that don't know, Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief teams were mobilizing all over the state in prepartion for being called up to go and help. The Hermitage Hills team was no different. Led by Don Kohanski, the task of putting a team together began. "We started putting a team together to answer the call that we knew would be coming", said Don. The team of 10 consisted of 7 men and 3 women. While the Hermitage Hills Disaster Relief team in the past has been mainly a chainsaw team, this time would be a little different. "We were asked to help with actual storm recovery activities in Texas", recalls Don. "The work consisted mainly of cleaning out all flood soaked items which included appliances, furniture, flooring, and sheetrock."
As you can see by the pictures, this wasn't an easy task. It required the appropriate safety equipment and lots of manual labor. "While we went there to help with storm recovery, we also went to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the homeowners. We want them to know that God loves them and we are there to be His hands and feet", said Don. "As always, being a blessing to others often results in volunteers being blessed themselves. This trip was no different. We are honored to represent Hermitage Hills Baptist Church in supporting the efforts of Tennessee Baptists."
Team Members: Don Kohanski, Jack Bolton, Don Thompson, Tim Hamilton, Bob Brown, Dianne Shell, Jose Castello, Chris Chitwood, Jean Canida, and Donna Reese.
A BIG thank you to those that serve on the Hermitage Hills Disaster Relief Teams.
For information about how to serve with Disaster Relief, visit Hermitage Hills Disaster Relief. There you can sign up and someone from the team will contact you.