Northern New England volunteers deploy to Texas to assist those battered by back-to-back storms

By Jennifer Costa, regional communications director

Photo credit: Mark Bishop, Red Cross

The American Red Cross is working nonstop across Texas to help people affected by the recent storms and floods as dangerous record-breaking heat covers the same area, making the situation more critical.

Since the storms began, hundreds of trained Red Cross disaster volunteers have worked alongside local partners to make sure Texans have a safe place to stay, food to eat, relief supplies, as well as emotional and spiritual support. 

Seven Red Cross volunteers from the Northern New England Region are assisting with these ongoing efforts. Linda Shelley, of Laconia, New Hampshire, left home on May 6 to help with disaster assessment. The veteran disaster responder has spent the last two weeks surveying damage in the Livingston, Texas area.

“We’ve seen lots of great teamwork. There are still areas that are inaccessible due to river flooding, but the Red Cross is working to reach more and more communities each day to provide much needed relief to Texans,” said Shelley.

As Shelley’s two-week deployment comes to a close, Chris and Linda Luck, of Moultonborough, New Hampshire, are just getting started. The husband-and-wife duo travelled to Texas and will spend 14 days with the Red Cross conducting door-to-door residential damage assessments. These surveys help determine how many homes have been affected, the extent of the storm damage and the overall impact to the community. That information is used to plan what support families may need in the weeks and months ahead. 

“We kept seeing Houston on the news – and waiting for the call. That call came today, and we are ready to help,” said Linda Luck, who joined the Red Cross two years ago. 

Volunteer Raybo Frank, of Chelsea, Maine, is also on his way to Texas, though he'll be supporting another yet another disaster operation in the state.  Over Memorial Day weekend, several tornados ripped across Northern Texas, claiming lives and upending communities.

For Frank, who has family impacted by nearby tornadoes in Arkansas, this trip is personal.

"If the need is there, Red Cross is there and Raybo is there," he said. "My mission is to get out there and help people in need."

Frank will serve as a shelter supervisor. This is his 31st deployment in eight years with the Red Cross.

Deb Budney, another veteran volunteer disaster responder from Peterborough, New Hampshire, arrived in the Lone Star State earlier this week. She expects to serve in a shelter in Loveland, Texas -- and says she is bracing for another round of severe weather to batter the area this weekend.

Photo credit: Mark Bishop, Red Cross

Since these storms began in Texas, the Red Cross and our partners have provided:

• Nearly 3,000 overnight stays in 21 emergency shelters for almost 600 residents
• Almost 44,000 meals and snacks
• More than 57,600 relief items, including comfort kits, flood cleanup supplies, and other needed items to more than 2,600 households throughout the region.

Even as we are helping people in Texas, the Red Cross is also on the ground supporting dozens of additional communities across the country that have been impacted by devastating spring storms and floods. This work includes launching 70 disaster relief operations over the last two months and distributing tens of thousands of relief supplies and ready to eat meals in more than half of all U.S. states. As the climate crisis worsens, disasters are becoming more frequent and intense across the country. In response, the Red Cross is providing disaster relief on a nearly continuous basis. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP The need for volunteers has never been greater. The Red Cross is seeking new volunteers who are team-oriented and want to make an immediate difference. Visit redcross.org/volunteertoday to learn more about opportunities in your area and to sign up.

 Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. You can help people affected by disasters by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767), or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.