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Red Cross Team Assesses Texas Flood Damages
Written by Mason Anderson, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Falls City,TX, July 12, 2002 — Renee Runningdeer is no stranger to dangerous situations. As a member of the air force auxiliary, she has participated in numerous rescues by air and land, is trained in repelling and dreams of one day attempting smoke jumping, a technique used by firefighters to parachute into areas of wildfires not easily accessible. So it’s not surprising that when her squadron commander asked if she’d be interesting in joining him as an American Red Cross disaster volunteer in 1997, the adventurous Runningdeer readily accepted.
Renee Runningdeer, left, maps out damage assessment routes through flooded counties with fellow Red Cross volunteers.
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One year later, Runningdeer, a resident of the San Antonio area whose name reveals her three-quarter Cherokee heritage, was called to assist flood victims in south-central Texas.
“I’d never been affected by a disaster before then. Luckily, it wasn’t my home,” recalled Runningdeer. “I was at the San Antonio chapter when we heard it was going to be flooded. The chapter and some cars were completely destroyed. Unfortunately, it turned out one of the cars was mine.”
Being a disaster volunteer is not an easy task anywhere, but particularly in Texas, which annually suffers more weather-related disasters than any other state. Hailstorms, ice storms, tornadoes, tropical storms, flooding and hurricanes all wreak annual havoc on the Lone Star state.
All south-central Texans who lived through it remember the “Great Floods of 1998” but since that time, no severe flooding has affected the region - until last week, when some 30 inches of rain pounded the state in just three days.
“At first, I thought the ’98 floods were going to be worse,” Runningdeer said, “but now that I’ve gone and seen the damage, I’d say they are about the same.”
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Runningdeer’s crew is just one of 40 Red Cross disaster assessment teams traveling through flooded south-central Texas. Already, more than 400 volunteers from across the country have served some 33,000 meals and distributed over 2,000 clean-up supplies to affected residents.
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On Tuesday (July 9), as rain in some areas ceased, Runningdeer and fellow volunteer Bill Freeman made their first attempt at damage assessment, a process by which the American Red Cross estimates the number of homes damaged or destroyed and the level of damages incurred.
“There are two types of damage assessment (d.a.),” explained Runningdeer. “There’s what we call windshield d.a., when you drive through cities and towns and eyeball what homes on what streets were flooded, and there’s damage assessment when you get out and examine the damages closely. In a flooding of this magnitude, when 29 different counties are flooded, you only have time for windshield d.a. Plus, it’s easy to do that in huge floods, because there are water lines on homes where the water rose.”
Despite their attempt, Runningdeer and fellow volunteer Bill Freeman did not get far on Tuesday. As floodwaters continued to rise, road closings and evacuations multiplied, forcing the duo to abandon their duty and flee before getting stranded.
One week later, the team continued to drive through parts of flooded Texas, this time accompanied by Shana Duffy, a new arrival from North Carolina. Together, the three climb into a van, mark out their destinations and head to places from which most everyone else is running.
Red Cross volunteers Shana Duffy and Bill Freeman return from examining houses devasted by the flooding.
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“It’s not an easy job,” Runningdeer explained. “Most of the time, especially if you are a volunteer from out of town, you’ve never been to the affected places because they are often remote. Even I’ve never been to many of the places we are going to, and I’m from San Antonio. The counties here are huge, so you’re not going to know every place. Plus, it’s not just one county, there are 29 counties.”
Despite the unfamiliarity of the territory, the damage assessment team weaves its way through towns, discovering previously unrecorded flooded regions and noting the level of water that rushed through homes. With many roads and bridges still impassable, the team often must find one alternate route after another to reach their destinations. No matter how many times it takes, though, they always make it there.
Upon discovering a particularly devastated region of Falls City, the team calls back to the Red Cross operations headquarters in San Antonio, requesting food, water and clean-up supplies for the residents whose homes are now caked in mud.
As the volunteers ride back to San Antonio to record their day’s work, they know their job has been done well. During the volunteers’ lunch break, a local Falls City resident stops by their table at to say thank you. Just a few minutes later as they get back on the road, the team passes the Emergency Response Vehicle on its way to deliver the requested supplies to Falls City flood victims.
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All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. The Red Cross also supplies nearly half of the nation's lifesaving blood. This, too, is made possible by generous voluntary donations. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. You can make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. To donate blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or contact your local Red Cross to find out about upcoming blood drives.
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