Texas flood recovery volunteers find dignity in helping victims

Fox News

8 hours ago

Janice Riley took off her shoe, thinking a rock had gotten stuck inside while she was volunteering in flood-devastated Kerrville, Texas, but was surprised to find a bent nail lodged in the sole, just centimeters from her foot.
"It reminds me of the verse that says, 'How beautiful are the feet that bring good news', she said while laughing."
Riley was working along the Guadalupe River, but that nail didn't stop her from cleaning up mud-soaked houses and attempting to piece together devastated lives.
As she walked into each house, she saw the aftermath of the flood marked by water stains several feet high on the wall.
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While removing gunk, sweeping and prepping homes for installation, Riley ran into a homeowner in search of meaningful family heirlooms in a sea of debris and filth.
Amid the rubble, Riley stumbled upon a wooden box already beginning to mold, filled with gold and silver. As she and the homeowner opened it, a sigh of relief overcame them, since the survivor had prayed she would find it.
"You couldn't help but cry at her excitement of finding those treasures," said Riley. "It wouldn't mean anything to us, but it meant something to her."
To Riley, that's what matters, and she will remember that as the highlight of volunteering. But then she paused. The moment she reconciled the gravity of her community's situation, she began to cry.
"It's not going to be back to normal anytime soon," she said. "There's still water over the low water crossing, and just how much of the river is destroyed, and the area."
The tears started to flow. The once beautiful cypress trees, decades old, that stood beautifully, are now gone. She said she feels nothing's going to be the same.
"It just kind of sinks in, it's not like a week and a month will pass this, and we'll be back to normal," she said.
That new reality survivors face is something Michelle Annette saw as a volunteer for the Salvation Army, where flood victims are surviving out of warehouses and donation bins.
As she arrived, on her first day, she was assigned to organize clothing donations for victims. Sounds easy enough. Until Annette was given a direction that didn't sit right with her.
"If you come across any clothing items that you think could potentially be used for funerals for the victims, put 'em in bins over here," Michelle was told. "We're going to set those aside."
That's when it hit her.
"If I pull out a nice dress or something that was donated, I have to think, would this be something I would want my sister buried in, or my aunt buried in or something?" she pondered.
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To her, it's more than just a bin. It represents humanity. How can an outfit she picks begin to encapsulate the body of a stranger, once full of life?
Not too far away, Lisa Aguillen, a San Antonio resident, also had a moment with death she couldn't shake.
As she drove down to Kerrville with friends in their ministry's van, they came upon what seemed to be a horrific movie scene. Men clouded by smoke as they used chainsaws to cut through huge mounds of trees. The rhythmic whooping grew louder in the air as search helicopters made their way for the missing. Then came the moment that changed her.
"I saw a body lifted out of a river in a bag," she said. "I was very angry with God on that drive home. Why, God, did you allow those children to pass in such a horrific manner?" she asked.
As she contemplated that question, Annette remained at the Salvation Army, trying to stay present and focusing on the survivors piling into the warehouse. The more that flowed in, the more heartbreaking stories she would overhear.
One man whose house was washed away stood out.
"He had nothing but the clothes on his back and the shoes on his feet. He didn't have his ID, and he didn't have a car," said Annette.
She handed him underwear, a razor and a shirt. At that moment, Annette realized he would have to rebuild his life with those items.
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Seeing the wreckage in Kerrville, Aguillen understood that even with donations, survivors had little. As she reflected, she was more motivated to make a difference.
Aguillen knew she could rely on contacts from her insurance company, Texas United Insurance Services, LLC, for donations for a cause bigger than herself.
"I came to the office this week and started calling every business owner in my book," she said.
So far, she has raised $5,000 and plans to drive back down to Kerrville and hand it out to people in need. Although she feels it may not be a lot of money, she says every bit counts.
"I want to see these people go to the bank and cash and have cash in hand," she said. "I can bless several, several families with $500 a piece, and that's what I intend on doing."
Although the volunteers, Riley, Annette and Aguillen faced hardship while spending hours putting themselves through hard work, they realized their service had in their community and brought power to the lives of those they were serving.
Annette summed it up in one word.
"Time," she said. "It is our most valuable commodity, and what makes it so valuable is that we can't make more of it. So how we decide to spend it speaks so much more than just donating."