by Emily Miller, Austin Stake Communication Director
AUSTIN, Texas — In the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri, hundreds of homes were left with structural damage, broken pipes that required mucking out of homes, and felled tree branches and other debris that needed to be hauled away. Members of the Austin, Texas, chapter of the BYU Alumni Association wanted to do something to help.
David and Debbie Talbot, co-chairs of the Austin BYU Alumni Association, turned to the Crisis Cleanup website to coordinate the efforts. Crisis Cleanup is a digital platform that was developed and launched by a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help coordinate cleanup efforts around the world, including after Hurricane Harvey wreaked its devastation in 2017.
Multiple crews of BYU alumni worked together over the course of two weeks and ultimately closed more than 30 cases on Crisis Cleanup, helping more than 20 families in the Round Rock area who requested assistance. David Talbot reflected on his experience, “The neighborhood that we were in today was in very rough shape. There were so many broken trees with branches still hanging or yards full of broken limbs. It seemed like house after house. The residents we helped were so thankful.”
There are still more than 1,100 unclaimed cases on the Crisis Cleanup dashboard. If you would like to get involved, information about how to join an interfaith deployment team can be found here: https://adrn.org/disaster-relief/winter-storm-clean-up/