This deployment was in response to major flooding damage created by the Tropical Storm Hermine. Some of the agencies represented at the deployment were the American Red Cross, Health and Human Services, The Salvation Army, the local Buddhist Temple organization, 7th Day Adventists, emergency medical service, local churches, the mayor pro-tem of Nolanville, and the Houston Regional Community Chaplain Corps of The International Fellowship of Chaplains. I was asked to serve as the Chaplain Coordinator for the Deployment as well as Deputy Branch Director.
We had 10 chaplains and two local ministers who served to provide the emotional/spiritual comfort to these flood victims. By the time this deployment was activated these victims had already been dealing with the stress of these losses for 9 days. Yet, there were many who still exhibited hollow and lost looks on their faces as well as being openly distraught with some openly crying. Memorable Moment in the Deployment
There always seems to be one event that tends to stand out as the hallmark of each deployment. True to form, this one had one that will be hard for me to forget.
A 50 year old Hispanic female was sleeping in her mobile home late at night when she sensed movement in the structure. The quiet river that ran nearby suddenly raged lifting her mobile home off its block footing sending it cascading some 4000 feet downstream. Water and debris marking on the trees showed that the water had reached 30-40 feet high. As the mobile home was being swept away in the pitch of darkness, the woman somehow made it to the roof of the building and held on until it slammed into a sturdy tree and a car that had become lodged at its base. The mobile home descended on the car crushing it flat. The woman waited in the darkness on the roof of her mobile home as the waters receded for 5 more hours until she was found by emergency workers. Covered with mosquito bites, she expectedly suffered from Post Traumatic Stress and stated that she had not slept for 3 nights due to the fear and memories of that night. At daybreak they found that three other mobile homes had surged along with hers down that raging river. One of the homes had been thrust deep into a wooded area destroying the power to the entire area. With no home, no possessions and no money she now faces starting her life over.Chaplains Serving the Deployment
The 3 of the 10 Chaplains who served in this deployment were IFOC Chaplains. Chaplain Billy Paul Cain and Chaplain Gale Yandell were key leaders in the deployment and I depended on their strengths and experience to lead other Chaplains as assignments were made. 4 Houston Victim Relief Chaplains, 2 Central Methodist Chaplains, and one Salvation Army Chaplain were the other key players in the Chaplain Response.
As I observed our chaplains loving on each person, I could see that truly the Hand of God brought these chaplains together for this unique mission of mercy. It is a joy to serve with other Chaplains who know the love of God and are free to share it with people who have lost so much.
Lessons learned
Out of this deployment the various component groups gained a better understanding of the strengths in each organization. I came to better understand that Chaplaincy is expected to be a major component in each and every deployment.
The Incident Response Organization need us to be not only at the incident site, they need us: 1) to be mingling with the victims to identify those who have reached their stress saturation point. 2) to be within the facility where all of the agencies are providing aid and information to victims assessing the emotional status of the victim families; 3) to be the expeditor of the victim families through the process so that the victim family doesn't miss any of the service or financial opportunities assembled; 4) to go into other areas affected by the flood bringing news of the Agencies assembled so that these people can also find help. 5) While Chaplain Gale Yandell and I were in the field in a neighboring community of Belton, we discovered that families were dealing with disappointment of their local government. Multiple families approached Chaplain Gale and myself telling us that the local government had condemned their homes and had given them 30 days to tear down the home leaving them nowhere to go. In one incidence, a man had just required an amputation of one leg, Upon returning to his newly condemned home, the city contacted Adult Protective Services resulting in his removal from the home and charges begin brought against the family.
With these expectations of the Incident Response Organization, it is obvious that we, as leaders in Chaplaincy organizations, need to expand our trained membership so that we can provide a minimum of 15 to 20 Trained Chaplains, preferable with CISM training and experience, to meet the critical needs for each Incident Response. By participating in this deployment we, as chaplains, will be better prepared to serve the broad spectrum of needs as a "Chaplain team" when the next tragedy confronts Texas.
We are Blessed...to be a blessing!
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