Got this from Facebook. Looks to be about 24 hours old and from my experience very accurate.
Joe's home now from another day working in flood relief here in the Hill Country. I took notes today so this post may be lengthier than the one last night.
Free coffee from a lil food truck was a great way to kick off the day.
There's like 60 miles of destruction, Joe's crew has been working on small sections in a 3 mile radius. Today he was focused on building land bridges to allow for search and rescue teams to cross water easily. They made temporary dams & roadways as well. They built 4 land bridges today.
At one point, they were marking cars alongside a cadaver dog team. They were heartbroken to end the night not finding a body where a dog strongly alerted. They tried for several hours. First thing in the morning they will go back and dig further.
Joe got a kick out of the cadaver dog lady. She is from New Mexico, has been working in this arena for 15 years and is extremely passionate about it, all with a big dip in her mouth. Her son is training in her footsteps. Today he was able to meet a friend from Austin, TX for the first time in person. Joe said it was fun to hear about their connection. Gamer buddies unite.
Today there were free socks for the workers whose socks keep getting soaked and free undies because many guys have had to poop where they can and use their undies when they are done to clean it up, then throw them away. Now there's toilet paper and a few porta potties (far from where he's working.). He didn't tell me if he was an undies abandoner.
He "hasn't seen anyone get hurt so that's good. "
Another shout out to Mercy Chefs.
Too many people donating rotten fruit.
He hauled out a nice Mercedes today.
News stations are annoying. One station asked them to move for their live because they were "in their shot" while they were clearing debris and building roads.
Locals in Kerrville are picking up laundry from aid workers and returning it to them the next day so that they don't have to go wash their clothes when they are done working at night. So thoughtful.
They lack pressure washers to clean the big machines that get bogged down with mud.
Helicopters overhead, more chainsaws than you can imagine, another IV on site to keep him rollin and hydrated.
Marshmallows, grills, water shoes, all the fixins to have a beautiful weekend with your family, washed away in an instant. The remnants remain.
He brought home three blankets today. I weep when I think about it. One is a kids camping themed sleeping bag. I need to process what to do with them, but he couldn't leave them behind and I am so grateful to have a man that SEES important things. These blankets once wrapped someone in warmth and love. They are tattered, but not worthless.
Accents galore. Canadian, southern, ALL of it. He met people from Maryland, Massachusetts, Arizona, New Mexico and beyond.
Joe has a HORRIBLE back. Debilitating. We prayed Sunday that he would have a supernatural back and he has. ZERO issues which is a miracle in itself.
A lot of people that are supposed to be working are wandering around taking photos.
He hasn't needed a single thing while working. He's been fed, hydrated, encouraged, thanked and someone has even provided him hundreds of dollars worth of fuel to keep going. Helpers doing ALL the things you wouldn't even think of. What a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ. Every person doing THEIR part.
Saddest things of the day....blankets, dead dogs, cats, deer, pigs, cow. Beloved family pets for sure. What hit him the hardest was the swarm of vultures lurking above, waiting for their chance at the aftermath.
Mad props to the chainsaw guys. SOOO much work.
He said someone should be out there looking up every license plate and seeing if those people are being reported missing. That's not his job, hopefully it's someone's.
HUGE shout out to T-Mobile -they are providing charging stations for aid workers and also giving out free mobile chargers for them as well.
It's meant a lot to him that a few of his friends have reached out to check on him.
Looters really mess with his heart. Disgusting.
We hear that there will be ice brought in tomorrow to provide cold drinks!!
Good ole boys with their heavy equipment, fuel trucks, all the things....he loves them. His friend that is there solely to fix broken machines to keep things running....what a gift.
Tomorrow he's thinking he will ask the pastor at the church that he's staged at to tell him about Jesus. Silly Joe. (For those of you that don't know us, Joe is a pastor and loves Jesus with everything in him.)
Earlier today I read that 161 people are still missing in Kerr County. More than 100 deaths. So many still need to be identified. Seeing the wreckage makes you sick to think about what the flood could have done to bodies. Pray for those seeing them, examining them, transporting them, identifying them, etc. What a crushing thing to have to do. Pray for the families still in wait. Pray for those who already know and their lives will never be the same. Pray for our communities. The Hill Country is heartbroken beyond words.
Tomorrow I am going with a dear friend & Sailor to deliver a meal to 65 camp staff members that are preparing their property for military and other relief workers. Grateful for those that stepped up to provide the meal. Afterward we are checking on a newborn baby born in the midst of this chaos. (My friend is a midwife here in the Hill Country.)
Joe will be back at it early in the am....gotta find that body they were searching for at the end of the day. I don't think he or the others on his crew will sleep well until they do.
I am exhausted, I didn't proofread this. Joe's birthday is Thursday and we just realized it. Looks like it'll be a bit different this year. If I was supposed to message you today and I haven't, please forgive me. It's not you. I am swamped. I'm going to catch up on messages in the morning. Maybe.
The Fourth of July will never be the same. rsus
