First Hand Look at Flooding in Texas as Mercy Chefs Feeds Thousands

Over the weekend, Mercy Chefs served 3,000 meals to flood victims, first responders, and search and rescue teams in Southeast Texas. It partnered with the Salvation Army in Brazoria County, TX to deliver meals. 

Houston has already recorded its ninth wettest June on record, only six days into the month of June.

According to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, 35 trillion gallons of rain fell in Texas during the month of May. The graph shows just how much water that is in different concepts.

One month ago, many thought Houston entered into its recovery phase. However, with the amount of rainfall in the last month the situation in the Lone Star State has declined rapidly. 

There is a flood warning in place for areas near the Brazos River. People are urged to stay away from areas surrounding the river until water levels recede. Authorities are also telling residents to keep their livestock and equipment out of flood plains for the following days. 

Monday at 9:16 am the flood stage of the Brazos river was 52.3 ft. Well over its normal levels, the Brazos River running from North Texas to South Texas continues flooding everything in its path.

Highways are closed and air boats are deploying into areas where people are trapped by flood waters. Curfews are in place in all mandatory evacuation zones from dusk until dawn.

I traveled with Mercy Chefs to document their work and what is happening in this part of the country overwhelmed by water. I took this picture of a sheriff standing at the road closure of Highway-35 looking towards the flood waters as air boats rush into flood waters to find victims.

I saw farms turned into lakes. It is unrecognizable that houses used to be there. Farmers are loading up their livestock to save them from the flood waters.

Friday night on my plane from Virginia Beach to Houston, I met a man whose house is submerged under 30 feet of water. He was a Navy search and rescue diver after Hurricane Katrina and now works at the Pentagon.

As he showed me pictures of his flooded house and neighborhood, he repeated the phrase, "It's just stuff. Nobody died. It's just things."

As he pointed to where his house used to be it was completely invisible to me beneath the water. I could not even imagine where it used to be—it just looked like a giant lake. He and 1500 of his neighbors lost their homes.

As Mercy Chefs and the Salvation Army served first responders, I was only able to get so close to the flood zones because of safety concerns. 

The place I stood to take this photo is where the water was rising 2 inches every 30 minutes. I was on that same highway earlier that day, although there was flooding, it did not look like this. How much the water rose on this road and how quickly was unbelievable.

I watched the seriousness and diligence of all the rescue teams as they left on air boats and returned with victims. Texas Wildlife and Fisheries, Texas Search and Rescue teams, local volunteer departments, state police, sheriffs, National Guard, and others were on site responding to this disaster. Many were receiving their first meals of the day.

The spirit of these people amazed me. Even though their homes were gone or their loved ones were displaced, they were in it together. Everyone was willing to help by volunteering their boats or trucks to evacuate people in flood zones.

The rain is supposed to slow down later this week so that crews can begin work on recovery.

However, another area of concern arises once the rain stops and the water stops flowing. 

Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the mosquito population will have the chance to explode all over Texas. The larger area of concern this year in Texas is the Zika virus. The Zika virus poses a serious threat to pregnant women infected during pregnancy because their children can suffer from horrible birth defects. Experts say the best way to protect oneself from getting infected with the Zika virus is to avoid getting bitten by a mosquito. Wear bug spray, long sleeves and pants, and avoid large areas of standing water.

At this point, the rain has no where to go and it is overflowing into every part of Texas. Chef Gary LeBlanc of Mercy Chefs is calling for the nation to pray for Texans facing this natural disaster and for those helping them. As flood waters empty from the north to the south of Texas, emergency crews are doing all they can to evacuate people and keep their neighbors safe from the rising waters.