Hurricane Dolly is being blamed for flooding in two different states that displaced hundreds, including several member families.
No members or missionaries were harmed in the deluged areas in southern Texas and New Mexico. Meanwhile, the Church provided assistance to victims in the form of relief supplies, provisions and scores of volunteer workers.
• In Texas, recent heavy rains caused flooding in communities of the Rio Grande Valley.
Low-lying towns in the region were inundated, forcing residents from homes. Church meetinghouses in Weslaco and Brownsville suffered storm-related damage.
In response, on July 28 some 100 members from the Harlingen Texas Stake and the McAllen Texas Stake took a day off work, donned bright yellow "Helping Hands" T-shirts and assisted in impacted communities, according to Elder Chad Richardson, an Area Seventy in Texas.
The volunteers spent the day involved in clean-up activities.
"Things are going quite well," Elder Richardson said. "Still, there are quite a few people with their homes or yards still under water."
The Church dispatched seven truckloads of relief supplies to the Rio Grande Valley. The shipment consisted of about 120,000 pounds of food, 16,800 hygiene kits and 8,064 cleaning kits.
• In Ruidoso, N.M., residents were impacted by historic flooding caused by remnants of Hurricane Dolly. At least 100 homes in the community were destroyed and 14 bridges were washed away, prompting a large-scale evacuation.
"This is very unusual — the most flooding they've ever had in that area," said Roswell New Mexico Stake President Ron Wiser.
Plans were underway, "to assist wherever we can," said President Wiser.
As in Texas, the Church has stepped forward and is eager to offer relief.
A Church-sponsored truck filled with shovels, quilts, blankets, cleaning kits and hygiene kits was sent to Ruidoso.
Ruidoso is located in southcentral New Mexico, west of Roswell. Members in the region belong to the Ruidoso Branch, Roswell New Mexico Stake.
E-mail to: jswensen@desnews.com