Guadalupe County residents to pick up the pieces themselves
(Redwood) — At least one family continues to seek the aid of an American Red Cross shelter that was set up earlier this week in northern Guadalupe County. The shelter-in-place was put into operation following Thursday’s storm damage.
Carmen Davila, the public information officer for Guadalupe County, says the shelter is operating out of St. Joseph Mission Church in Redwood. The church is a sister congregation of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church here in Seguin.
Davila says the shelter has been providing 24-hour assistance — servicing the family with cots, food and water. She says the American Red Cross has also been actively working to find a more permanent solution for the area family.
Meanwhile, finding help for not only this family but all others in the county who sustained damage to homes, businesses or agricultural lands will be even more important That’s according to Davila who says unfortunately, Guadalupe County will not be receiving any FEMA assistance.
“Unfortunately, right now, what we are looking at — is that we are not meeting the level to get financial assistance but it is still important for people to report those numbers so that as we have other disasters throughout the year, those collectively add up. (That) is how emergency management was explaining it so if there are fires in the summer or more storms, those all add up to try to meet those disaster numbers,” said Davila.
Davila reports that of the required $794,000 threshold, only about $100,000 in storm damage has been reported. Those still needing to report their damage are asked to visit the iSTAT website at https://damage.tdem.texas.gov/.
Since there will be no assistance, Davila say any cleanup or restoration efforts will be left up to the residents.
“Right now, we are trying to get out the information that property owners are responsible for their own cleanup so we are pushing out safety measures for them to think about safety when they are picking up debris, trash, cutting limbs or trees. They can call their nearby landfill to see what the cost is and to see if the items that they are willing to take are accepted at that facility. Those are private companies so before hauling things over to the landfill, make sure they are going to accept those,” said Davila.
Residents are advised to check out the county’s website for detailed information regarding proper disposal of trash. It provides a quick reference for trash service and landfills in Guadalupe County including a discounted fee available for county residents at Post Oak Landfill in Luling due to the county’s current waste agreement with the company.
The Luling landfill is located at 7787 FM 1150.
The provided information can be found on the county’s website at https://www.co.guadalupe.tx.us/rb/trash_disposal.php.