Truro based disaster relief agency, ShelterBox, has offered their support to residents of Houston after America saw its largest natural disaster in 10 years, resulting in much of Texas being engulfed by water. 500 tents were dispatched from Helston this week and are due to arrive in Texas later today.
Tropical storm Harvey has caused unprecedented flooding throughout Texas and is heading towards Louisiana. With 20 people reported dead so far and thousands having fled their homes, this looks to be the largest and most costly natural disaster to hit America since hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Shelterbox has jumped into action to help those in need.
ShelterBox is shipping 500 tents to Houston for use as private spaces. Photo: ShelterBox
This is an unusual situation for the relief agency, which primarily deals with natural disasters in third world countries. Mark Nicholson, Media Relations Officer for Shelterbox, told Truthfal that the organisation focus on providing aid in all humanitarian crisis, whether that be in lesser developed countries or in wealthier countries such as the United States. Shelterbox aims to provide comfort and relief to those in need, independent of the political situation of the country.
ShelterBox Chief Executive, Chris Warham, said: ‘ShelterBox works hard to understand the needs of families affected by all sorts of different and complex emergency situations, and we are prepared to respond quickly across the world. This year’s hurricane season is predicted by meteorologists to be severe, so we are prepared to respond whenever we are needed.
‘In Texas we are offering a unique shelter within shelters solution which is appropriate to those specific conditions.’
“This year’s hurricane season is predicted by meteorologists to be severe, so we are prepared to respond whenever we are needed”
The shelter within shelters solution consists of tents provided by ShelterBox which will be used to create privacy areas within the vast evacuation centres.The tents will provide families with a their own private sections, as well as being utilised for counselling, medical facilities, and rest areas for aid workers and emergency services.
ShelterBox Operations Special Deployment Lead, James Luxton, said: ‘Our normal ShelterKits and tents are not appropriate for the conditions families are experiencing in Texas. The flooding is covering large swathes of land, and is set to rise even further in the coming days, making indoor shelter the best option.’