GiveDirectly is delivering cash to low-income families in the areas hardest-hit areas by the flash flooding in Central Texas. Families will each receive $2,400 in emergency cash to help cover their immediate needs, such as: Essentials like food, water, medicine, generators, and diapers, shelter and hotel stays while evacuated, and bills for their phone, healthcare, and utilities.
On July 5, flash floods struck Central Texas, damaging homes, taking lives, and forcing hundreds to evacuate. Some areas saw over 20 inches of rain in a matter of hours - more than what they typically get in a month - putting entire neighborhoods underwater and sweeping away critical infrastructure. In communities like Kerr County, Texas, floodwaters stranded families on rooftops and caused power and road outages that left entire regions inaccessible.
Your donations will reach those in greatest need quickly and remotely. We'll use disaster damage and poverty data to identify the highest-need communities. We will then target and enroll low-income survivors fully remotely through Propel, an app used to manage food stamp benefits.
This cash will help hundreds of families meet their own urgent needs and rebuild their lives. Cash aid allows survivors to meet their own needs rather than having others guess for them - which is why people impacted by a crisis say they prefer cash relief over donated goods. Achieving our current fundraising goal will enable us to reach hundreds of families in greatest need. We have the capacity to deliver much more, so with more funds, we could expand to reach hundreds of additional people.
