Major Quinn and Western Territory team return home
A Golden Triangle resident surveys the damage left from Hurricane Harvey. ( Nicole Kanne/The Salvation Army)
Major John Quinn returned from a two-week deployment to Beaumont, Texas after serving as incident commander for Hurricane Harvey cleanup efforts. Maj. Quinn, along with a team comprised of volunteers from the Western Territory worked recovery for two weeks before returning home.
Hurricane Harvey dropped 51.9 inches of rain and caused an estimated $190 billion in damage. As Harvey made landfall winds pushed the hurricane to a Category 4 level with 132 MPH winds. Maj. Quinn along with the team arrived a couple weeks after Harvey to an area that was still in survival mode and just starting recovery.
“There were some areas where the water had just finally receded four days before I got there. So, they were still in the initial phase,” said Maj. Quinn. “We were a week into it when some of the families were returning for the first time from Dallas where they had been evacuated to.”
According to reports more than 3,000 evacuees were sheltered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For Beaumont, which is home to 120,000 people, the cleanup effort is just starting. The fact that the water is just now receding gave The Salvation Army team a better picture of the damage.
“Everything from 18 inches above the water line down has to be stripped to the studs and treated to keep it from molding,” said Maj. Quinn. “All of the drywall, carpet, flooring, subflooring, and every possession that was in those houses were just piled on the curbs.”
A resident in Beaumont, Texas talks with Salvation Army volunteers. ( Nicole Kanne/The Salvation Army)
According to Maj. Quinn Port Arthur was still having issues getting the debris hauled away. “Some of the issues that just the communities were having was getting that stuff hauled off." Maj. Quinn said Port Arthur had neighborhoods that had not had an initial pass for cleanup. “So, the debris was just as high as you could pile it on the curbside down the street just as far as the eye could see.”
According to a news release from Planning Chief Richard Pease The Salvation Army’s Fixed Feeding Units continue to operate out of four locations. One in Beaumont, two in Orange and one in Port Arthur. Nine mobile teams have visited numerous areas reported by Corps as in need of assistance, but are finding many of them to be past the muck out stage and into the rebuild stage. Field reports indicate that the majority of those served snacks and hydration by roving units are contractors and their employees. The communities of Deweyville, Pine Forest and Lakeview seem to be the slowest in moving into recovery.
According to statistics compiled by The Salvation Army, there have been 177,645 meals, 270,842 snacks and 181,406 drinks provide in Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur since September 2. Cadets serving emotional and spiritual care are continuing to frequent all three communities. As of Oct. 2, more than 17,372 people have been contacted though out the area and more than 2,304 have been prayed with.
For residents along the coast and throughout the Golden Triangle recovery will be a lengthy process, but according to Maj. Quinn they are resilient and tough. “The residents were Texas strong. It was not their first rodeo,” he said.
Maj. Quinn said the Western Territory team was amazing. “They were totally awesome. The team did an excellent job down there. The Western Territory can be proud of what the command team did in the Golden Triangle.”
Major John Quinn talks to the team during a briefing in Beaumont, Texas. ( Nicole Kanne/The Salvation Army)