Americares Responds to Central Texas Flooding

Catastrophic flash floods struck Central Texas on July 4, destroying homes, sweeping away vehicles and leaving entire communities reeling. As of July 17, authorities have confirmed that 135 people lost their lives in the disaster. Hundreds of others were rescued from dangerous floodwaters, which also caused widespread power outages, road closures and damage to critical infrastructure, making the recovery even more difficult for survivors.

Americares is responding. Our emergency response team quickly mobilized and deployed to hard-hit Kerrville, Texas, to help address the most urgent health needs in affected communities, including support for mental health.

We’re prioritizing the mental health of survivors. The loss of loved ones, homes and livelihoods has caused intense stress, trauma and grief, which can lead to long-term mental health challenges like anxiety, depression and PTSD. These impacts are also felt by health workers and first responders, who are often coping with their own loss while caring for others.

In response, a team of Americares mental health professionals partnered with International Medical Corps (IMC) to provide mental health and psychosocial support services for La Frontera Health Clinic staff as well as survivors across multiple Central Texas communities, including Center Point, Hunt, London and Menard. At the same time, Americares and IMC worked together to staff a mobile medical unit that brought mental health and psychosocial support to people in hard-hit areas. Americares mental health professionals provided debriefing sessions as well as Psychological First Aid for flood survivors.

Together, Americares and IMC delivered critically needed mental health and psychosocial support services to a total of 420 individuals, including first responders, EMS personnel and community members impacted by the flooding.

Links:

• https://www.americares.org/crisis-alerts/central-texas-flooding/