Spring Branch Explosion
At 0425 on January 24 a large explosion rocked Spring Branch at the corner of Clay rd and Gessner Rd. over 200 structures were impacted by the explosion and resulting a debris. A manufacturing facility with a propylene tank combusted leveling several warehouses and resulted in over 600 individuals be displaced from their home..
The Restoration Team’s office is less than 2 miles from the epicenter, and while it started our volunteers staying at our facility we were left unimpacted other than startled. Reaching out to our partner churches we learned that many people we were connected too had damage to their homes. The following message went out to the network.
Good Evening all!
A few things to update you all on. We have gotten a decent response from many of you so thank you for your willingness to serve.
I have had multiple conversations of over the last hours with multiple parties trying to get a good assessment on what tomorrow will look like.
The plan is to meet at our Campbell Rd campus in the morning at 8a.m. (3911 Campbell Rd, Houston, TX 77080) we will be organizing volunteers into teams based on skills and needs. If you have volunteers that are planning on showing up in the morning that is excellent please have them fill out this form to let us know they are coming! https://forms.gle/RRSwK6dGLmefYTF68
There are several main tasks that we are going to be tasked with:
Caring/loving on people in need and being a non-anxious presence in the midst of grief
Canvassing/assessing needs
3. Tarping a roof (Possibly a two story structure)
4. boarding up windows
5. Being the grace of Christ
PLEASE BE FLEXIBLE, in this situation things are changing every minute, a quick walk through of the neighborhood proved to be quite chaotic. We will be coordinating with Team Rubicon who will be taking up lead. We are also working in tandem with City of Houston Office of Emergency Management, and Houston Fire Department.
What can you bring?
A flexible attitude willing to serve
Sturdy pants
Closed toed shoes
gloves
A tool belt (you might be on a ladder)
A cordless drill
A cordless saw
A Hard Hat (we have a few)
A water bottle
What will be available to you?
Materials
Tarps
Screws
Plywood
2x4’s
Nails
Ladders
We are doing our best to be prepared but have no real idea how many folks are showing up tomorrow. We have a map and list of homes impacted and based on how many teams we have will dispatch to the ends of the streets closest to shadowdale and work our way down. Teams leads (assigned in the morning) will be responsible for getting a home owner waiver signed, and documented the house the work on (Name, address and contact) And the work accomplished.
Again please let us know who is coming https://forms.gle/RRSwK6dGLmefYTF68
See you in the morning.
Peace,
Trevor