On Friday, July 4, heavy rainfall caused extreme flash floods that swept through the Hill Country region of Central Texas, creating a state of emergency. The floods have resulted in extensive damage to infrastructure, including road washouts. The disaster claimed at least 135 lives, including 36 children, with more than 100 people still reported missing, making it one of the deadliest US floods in over a century.
International Medical Corps deployed an emergency response team at the request of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC) and local health center networks. Our team—comprising mental health clinicians and staff—continues to deliver critical mental health services to first responders, healthcare workers and community members across the affected Texas Hill Country. We have partnered with Frontera Healthcare Network, a local federally qualified health center, to augment mental health support and resources in affected communities, including the town of Hunt in Kerr County—near where nearly 30 campers and counselors lost their lives at Camp Mystic. Team members are conducting daily wellness checks and outreach visits and are connecting affected first responders and community members who have been involved in search-and-recovery operations—and are thus coping with the sudden loss and grief—with national, state and local mental health resources.
Beyond Kerr County, International Medical Corps and its partners identified urgent, unmet needs in Gillespie, Kimble, Mason, McCulloch and Menard counties—also severely impacted by the flooding. We delivered behavioral and mental health services at community hubs, including food pantries, schools, community events and local centers. In partnership with Frontera, International Medical Corps also supported the deployment of a mobile medical unit (MMU) to reach high risk and chronically ill patients in Brady and Menard. Operating daily, the MMU brought Frontera’s medical staff and our mental health clinicians directly to patients’ homes, which allowed for critical connections. Together, both teams worked to identify and address holistic needs and connect people to Frontera for ongoing care. An International Medical Corps staff member speaks with a community member who lost her home in the flooding. We provided her with cooling towels and extra materials for her temporary residence. Our teams distributed 2,515 critical supplies to schools, first responders and affected families, including 1,107 hygiene kits, 1,047 wound-care kits and 361 essential hygiene products and items such as baby wipes, deodorant, socks and t shirts. As students returned to school the week of August 11, these supplies proved timely and essential.
Though International Medical Corps’ teams left the region on August 15, our support to the impacted Texas Hill Country continues. We remain committed to partnering with Frontera in long-term recovery efforts, which include providing community health workers to expand outreach and care coordination, improving access to services and medication, and addressing sharp declines in clinic visits among low-income, uninsured and underinsured patients. Drawing from the successes of the activities conducted in our joint response, International Medical Corps will continue to work with Frontera to support MMU activities and active outreach efforts.
*Please note for recurring donations: Once we have determined that the community can continue to respond to the after-effects of this emergency without us, we will scale back our response efforts. At that time, we will redirect your future donations where they are needed most to help us respond to future outbreaks of conflict, disease or disaster.
