The Mass Care Task Force was proud to serve Gulf Coast evacuees as they arrived in North Texas due to Hurricane Harvey. After opening multiple shelters across the region, including utilizing the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, evacuees are finally headed home and shelters have closed.

From the Red Cross DFW:

The City of Dallas and the American Red Cross DFW have closed the final shelter following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall on Aug. 25. Working with government and community partners, the Red Cross DFW supported eight emergency shelters in Dallas, Fort Worth and Irving, serving 3,900 people over five weeks.

Read more on their website >>

Trusted World is no longer accepting in-kind items at its previously announced new drop-off sites, due to the overwhelming response from the public.

All MCTF partners, the City of Dallas and local nonprofits are encouraging monetary donations to support the ongoing relief effort.

At the end of the long holiday weekend, there are about 2,300 evacuees being sheltered at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Two of the smaller Dallas shelters were consolidated into that shelter, in addition to guests arriving each night. Shelters in Tarrant County remain open.

On Thursday, August 31, 450 guests from South Texas and the Gulf Coast arrived at the Hurricane Harvey Relief Shelter in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. This brings the total number of guests registered at that shelter to 1,200.

Three additional shelters remain open in Dallas. Two shelters are open in Tarrant County and will continue to open as needed.

The Salvation Army continues to serve hot meals at each shelter, in addition to handing out snacks and sandwiches as guests arrive. The North Texas Food Bank is also making daily deliveries to shelters to provide light snacks.

Volunteers are needed immediately inside the convention center. Background checks are required to serve in that capacity, and we continue to process them as more guests arrive and more volunteers are needed. Please register at www.VOLY.org/disaster.

Additional volunteer opportunities that do not require a background check will also be available at www.VOLY.org/disaster. Mass Care Task Force partners, the City of Dallas and other local nonprofits will post their needs as they arise.

Trusted World - the official donations management site - opened a new donation drop-off location at Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center (5150 Mark Trail Way, Dallas, TX 75232). They will no longer accept donations at their site at 15660 N. Dallas Pkwy., Dallas, TX 75248.

Thank you to the community for your support of Hurricane Harvey evacuees.

There are currently 1,100 displaced persons in five shelters across the metroplex, with 316 housed in the mega-shelter at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

The Salvation Army is serving three meals a day at the mega-shelter and will start overnight service tonight with 150 sandwich bags, as well as 24/7 free, hot coffee.

The North Texas Food Bank has delivered snacks and ready-to-eat meals to individual shelters and Dallas Love Field Airport to greet Corpus Christi evacuees, in addition to being on call at the request of the Red Cross.

Clothing donations, organized by the City of Dallas, will be directed to the shelters through Trusted World. At this time, donations are not needed. The City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management is also overseeing the daily volunteer management response inside the mega-shelter, with support from the Red Cross.

There are about 100 volunteers currently serving the mega-shelter. Opportunities to volunteer with OEM, Red Cross or Salvation Army will be posted at www.VOLY.org/disaster. This platform will also show available opportunities for local nonprofits that are responding to the disaster beyond sheltering and feeding evacuees.

Other notes: Verizon and AT&T have kindly donated cell phone chargers and stations inside the mega-shelter for evacuees to use. The SPCA has also setup a shelter outside the convention center for pets of evacuees.

We are still assessing needs hour-by-hour, as we continue to learn how many evacuees will be coming to Dallas. The Mass Care Task Force encourages individuals to donate money and register to volunteer.

UPDATE
8/29/17 at 8:45 a.m.
Volunteer and donation needs are met, per the Mass Care Task Force partners. The mega-shelter at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center will open today, Tuesday, August 29, and is currently being prepped for volunteer reception.

We ask that you visit www.VOLY.org/disaster to register as a volunteer and complete the background check for when additional volunteers will be needed. This situation continues to unfold hour-by-hour, and our partners are working together to determine needs as such. Thank you for your compassion for our Houston neighbors.

DALLAS, 8/28/17 — The Mass Care Task Force, a coalition of four leading nonprofits, activated Sunday, August 27 in response to catastrophic flooding in Houston and its surrounding areas. Comprised of the American Red Cross North Texas Region, the North Texas Food Bank, the Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Command and VolunteerNow, the Mass Care Task Force is working together to leverage the strengths of each partner agency in support of the immediate needs for food, shelter and volunteers.
 
On Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26, the first three shelters opened and housed about 500 evacuees. The Mass Care Task Force is anticipating the arrival of thousands of displaced persons to Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in the coming days.

The American Red Cross North Texas Region is coordinating the shelter response with the City of Dallas while the Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Command will provide hot meals. The North Texas Food Bank will also provide ready-to-eat foods, snacks and fluids.
 
Volunteer opportunities to assist in shelters and with feeding will be available on VOLY.org (powered by VolunteerNow).  Volunteers will check-in at the convention center after responding to opportunities posted at www.VOLY.org/disaster. Background checks will be required to volunteer in the shelter.  

Shelters are open in the following locations:

• Walnut Hill Recreation Center (10011 Midway Rd., Dallas, TX 75229)
• Tommie Allen Recreation Center (7071 Bonnie View Rd., Dallas, TX 75241)
• Samuell Grand Recreation Center (6200 E. Grand Ave., 75223)

 
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center will be open and accepting evacuees on Tuesday, August 29.
 
 
How to GIVE Help:

• Financial contributions are needed by all four partner agencies.
• Food, water, blood, medical supplies and other donated goods are not needed at this time. If you wish to donate items, please take them to Trusted World (15660 N. Dallas Pkwy., Dallas, TX 75248).
• Volunteers are needed at this time.
• Visit www.VOLY.org/disaster to volunteer

 
How to GET Help:

• Shelters have been set up by the American Red Cross North Texas Region.
• Food is being provided by the North Texas Food Bank, and hot meals are being served by the Salvation Army.
• For assistance locating loved ones within the disaster area, visit safeandwell.org.
• For crisis counselling and support, call the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, August 27, there are currently three shelters open in the DFW area (locations below) and more may be opened soon. All Mass Care Task Force partners are on standby to provide meals and volunteers for these shelters as they are needed.

At this time, donated goods are not needed. Currently, monetary donations are the most effective way that you can support our efforts. Please click here to donate.

The evacuee count from Saturday, August 26 into Sunday hovered around 600, with about 300 at each previously opened shelter.

DFW-area Shelters:
• Walnut Hill Recreation Center, 10011 Midway Road, Dallas, Texas
• Tommie Allen Recreation Center, 7071 Bonnie View Rd., Dallas, Texas
• Samuell Grand Recreation Center, 6200 E. Grand Ave., Dallas, TX 75223 (opened Sunday)

On Friday, August 25, the American Red Cross North Texas Region and the City of Dallas opened an evacuation shelter at Walnut Hill Recreation Center, 10011 Midway Road in Dallas. On Friday night, 297 evacuees stayed in the shelter.

At 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 26, a second shelter opened at the Tommie Allen Recreation Center, 7071 Bonnie View Road in Dallas. There are currently no evacuees staying in that shelter.

Additional shelter facilities are on standby, and the Red Cross is securing staff to open and run those shelters if needed.

The Salvation Army has 42 mobile kitchens – each with the capacity to serve an average of 1,500 meals per day – that are heading to forward-staging-areas in Dallas and San Antonio in preparation for deployment. Ten of those units are from The Salvation Army in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Disaster response leadership teams will be positioned in San Antonio, Galveston/Texas City, Houston and Corpus Christi to coordinate the ongoing disaster response.

In Corpus Christi, The Salvation Army provided 164 heater meals on Friday, and have distributed 2,000 snacks and 1,200 bottles of water since Thursday at the FEMA dome and to evacuees boarding buses to San Antonio.

Additionally, we would like to thank the community for the outpouring of support for #HurricaneHarvey evacuees. At this time, the MCTF and our partners do not need any specific items donated to the disaster relief efforts. For those looking to donate goods - please do NOT bring these to shelter sites; Trusted World (15660 N. Dallas Pkwy. Dallas, TX 75248) will coordinate the donation of goods.

Pamela Stowell had seen the water beside her Longmont, Colo., home rise before, but never with the speed and intensity as it did this time.

Knowing that the family had only a few minutes to evacuate, she quickly hustled her two young daughters into action.

By the time Crystal, 9, and JoAnn, 5, grabbed some clothing and headed out the door, the water was two feet high – and rising.

The family now faced a dilemma – how to evacuate Pamela’s elderly bedridden mother. A neighbor quickly found an air mattress, and they managed to float the family to safety.

The entire family spent a few nights at an American Red Cross shelter in nearby Mead. After returning back home to face the daunting task of cleaning up, Pamela praised the staff and volunteers of the Red Cross.

“Red Cross is great – they gave us a place to stay,” she said.

She said her family had been impressed by everyone at the shelter – so much so, that she is already planning a “thank-you” picnic for some time next year – as well as making a financial donation once the family is back on their feet.

As far as the disaster that affected her home, she keeps a positive attitude.

“Hey – a disaster is certainly one way to get to know your neighbors better!” she said.

More than 860 Red Cross disaster workers, including several from North Texas, have been deployed to support the massive relief operation in Colorado. So far, they have served more than 58,000 meals and snacks, handed out more than 74,000 relief items and provided more than 6,600 health and mental health consultations. 

The operation in Colorado is just one of more than 70,000 disasters the Red Cross responds to each year. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Red Cross works closely with its Mass Care Task Force partners at the Salvation Army, North Texas Food Bank and Volunteer Center of North Texas to prepare in case of a disaster the size of the Colorado floods. 

To follow more updates about the Red Cross relief effort in Colorado, visit our disaster newsroom or follow @RedCrossDenver on Twitter.