Oklahoma Baptist disaster relief heads to Texas to help with clean-up efforts

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief told News 9 on Monday that it is sending several crews to Kerr County, Texas, to help homeowners clean up and prepare to move back into their homes. 

The first group is leaving on Tuesday morning, said Jason Yarbrough, the State Director for Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief. 

"In light of the flooding in the Central Texas area, we got a call from the state director that's in my role there asking if we could come and help. We said, "yes" and began to put a call out to our volunteers across the state of Oklahoma to see who might be willing and able to go,” said Yarbrough. 

The group shared that it has roughly 2,500 volunteers across the state, although the groups going will be much smaller. 

"What we do is we ask our volunteers to give a week of their time, and so they'll leave tomorrow and come back the beginning of next week, and then we'll have another team ready to work next week." 

He said it will continue like that for about a month. 

The team of six will help people whose homes were damaged by the floodwaters. 

"So, if it got a foot or two foot deep in their house, we tear out the sheetrock, the insulation, the flooring. If it's cabinetry, furniture or whatever it is that's damaged that can't be salvaged, we'll take out of their home and pile it up on the curb for the city to do what they're going to do,” Yarbrough explained. 

The group said it also uses a chemical to mitigate mold. 

“It really gets the home ready so the homeowner can come back in and fix all those things and begin to live in it again,” he added. 

The State Director said it’s hard work, but worth it. 

"Our mission is to bring health, hope, and healing to people in crisis — to those that have been impacted by disaster. It's what drives us — to know that we can go and help people in a time when they are beyond able to help themselves." 

To learn more about the group, click here.

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