The Israeli humanitarian organization IsraAID is sending a team to Houston, Texas to provide emergency relief in the wake of the hurricane floods that have battled the city.
IsrAID announced that it would "deploy a team to implement a multi-focused, two-stage response in Texas, focused on (1) Emergency Relief and Psychosocial Trauma Support, and (2) Debris Removal.”
The organization, which also took part in the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, explained in an online post that an "immediate response is a crucial part of preventing long-term devastation among the affected communities.”
"Beyond the initial tragedy and destruction, long-term trauma can have a debilitating effect for a population. In addition to the immediate response IsraAID will also aim to build the resilience of the local community and if necessary provide capacity-building.”
According to the Times of Israel, seven IsraAID members have flown to Houston, joining three members of their team already on the ground.
The city’s residents are contending with mass displacement, property damages, and shortages, with much of the city underwater. For the Jewish community of Houston, this also means a shortage of kosher food.
According to Chabad.org, all of the local supermarkets stocking kosher certified products are either flooded or otherwise shut down (one was turned into a shelter) and it is unsure how soon more comestibles can be brought in.
"We have placed an order for kosher meat in Miami, and it’s leaving there on a refrigerated truck Tuesday morning, heading this way,” Rabbi Dovid Goldstein, the local emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement said. His plans to establish a kosher food pantry for the local community may be compromised by the impassability of waterlogged roads, many of which are currently transformed into streams.
“Even for those who were fortunate not to lose electricity, like us, it’s a matter of days until we have no milk and other basics,” Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky, another emissary, told Chabad.org. “And when the stores do reopen, it is open question as to what they’ll actually have that’s salvageable.”
“We’re working on getting a truck of perishables and another of nonperishables,” another Jewish resident said, adding that he was having trouble finding a refrigerated truck.
With the high holidays approaching, it is unclear how much food will be available for the traditional festive meals, Zaklikofsky added.
“Are we surviving? Yes, for now."
The local Jewish Community Center, which was supposed to serve as a center for the donation and distribution of relief supplies was damaged by the rising waters, forcing community leaders to consider alternative locations, the Jewish Herald-Voice reported on Monday.
“We need to explore Plan B for supply coordination,” he local Jewish paper quoted JCC executive vice president Joel Dinkin as saying. We’re ready to roll as soon as we have access to facilities."
Several other Jewish institutions, including synagogues, have likewise experienced flood damage. The Robert M. Beren Academy, a local day school, is currently serving as a relief area for displaced families, the Jewish Daily Forward reported.
