Austin, Texas, April 28, 2023 – This weekend, Austin Disaster Relief Network volunteers will fan out into the community surrounding Little Walnut Creek in North Austin after receiving reports of flood-damaged homes. On April 20, a line of severe thunderstorms swept through Central Texas, causing many area creeks to overrun their banks. City of Austin officials reached out to ADRN on Wednesday and asked for help in serving the residents impacted by water from Little Walnut Creek. This morning, an ADRN Disaster Assessment Team verified about thirty homes have damage after taking on several inches of standing water, and more homes may still be identified in the coming days.
“We’ve been told that many of these residents can’t stay in their homes right now because their carpets are soaked and furniture is damaged, that they’ve taken shelter at local hotels and other places,” said ADRN Executive Director Dwight Bailey. “Together, with the support of the Greater Austin community, we want to help every individual and family get back into a safe and clean home as soon as possible.”
ADRN plans to send an Emotional and Spiritual Care Unit into the affected area on Sunday afternoon between 2 pm and 6 pm. Trained volunteers will go door-to-door to find out what homeowners need, hand out Clean-Up Buckets, provide emergency funds in the form of gift cards, and offer short and long-term support from the network of churches. They will also distribute information on behalf of Austin Public Health. ADRN leaders will evaluate information gathered from this volunteer unit to determine what additional future actions could be taken.
The storm on April 20 that flooded Little Walnut Creek represents the kind of severe weather that’s typical for Central Texas this time of year. ADRN invites the Greater Austin Community to support efforts to help our neighbors through this disaster and others by donating to the General Disaster Fund at ADRN.org.
