Baton Rouge, LA (August 31, 2021) – An Incident Management Team from The Salvation Army in Texas arrived in Baton Rouge on Monday afternoon after staging over the weekend in Beaumont, TX. As damage and needs assessment continues in the area, 11 Salvation Army mobile kitchens will commence service on Tuesday.
The Salvation Army Command Post is set up in Gonzales, LA, and will serve surrounding communities impacted by Hurricane Ida. In addition to mobile kitchens, Rapid Response Units, staff housing, and required support equipment, a Southern Baptist Texas Convention Field Kitchen is on site, with the capacity to prepare 20,000 meals each day. Meals prepared by the Field Kitchen will be loaded onto Salvation Army mobile kitchens and sent out for delivery.
Service locations have been established in Baton Rouge (1 unit), Houma (2 units), Thibodaux (1 unit), La Place (1 unit), Kenner (1 unit), Raceland (1 unit), Albany (1 unit), Hammond (1 unit), and Napoleanville (1 unit). Each unit will serve hot meals, shelf stable meals and water. Specific service locations will be made available as soon as available.
Alvin Migues, Emergency Disaster Services Director for The Salvation Army in Texas, said, “We moved all units from Texas into Baton Rouge once it was safe to do so after Hurricane Ida moved through the area. The Incident Command Post is now set up and functional and we anticipate meal service beginning in surrounding communities on Tuesday. Power outages present the most significant challenge at this time, but we continue to assess damage and the needs of each community.”
Trained Salvation Army disaster volunteers from throughout Texas answered the call to serve in Louisiana. “Our volunteers are quick to respond, and we have a terrific team in place that includes units, staff, and volunteers from San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Lubbock, Granbury, Lewisville, Plano, Lufkin, Texarkana, and Freeport. Volunteers and staff deploy for 14 days at a time which represents a significant dedication of time, not to mention the physical demands of any disaster deployment. Their commitment to serve the needs of others in crisis is a true representation of The Salvation Army’s mission to meet human need, without discrimination.”
An additional seven response units will arrive on Wednesday from The Salvation Army Arkansas Oklahoma Division.
To make a financial donation to support ongoing Hurricane Ida relief efforts go to helpsalvationarmy.org or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY. For the latest disaster response information go to www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org and watch for regular updates on our social media pages at www.facebook.com/salvationarmytexas/ and www.twitter.com/salarmytx.
