When tragedy happens in Texas, all Texans want to pitch in and help. The United Way and the American Red Cross are the principal agencies kicking into gear to help with the initial response and to help build communities back to normal. On this week’s Houston Newsmakers John Rollins, the Director of Public Relations and Community Impact for the United Way of Beaumont and North Jefferson County, talks about the collaboration among the United Ways agencies of the Golden Triangle and Louisiana to help people get back on their feet.

The American Red Cross is often on the scene before a storm moves in and stays long after its gone. Henry Van de Putte is the CEO of the American Red Cross, Texas Gulf Coast and gives the many options we have for helping the Red Cross help others.

For those wanting to donate to the United Way agencies in that impacted area, they can text Laura to 40403

And for those wanting to donate to the Red Cross, text Laura to 90999.

All of the contact information for their agencies is in the “More Information” section below.

Laura: A Near miss…this time

KPRC Chief Meteorologist Frank Billingsley is joined by Jeff Lindner, meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District to talk about why Laura missed the Houston Metro and what to expect the rest of this hurricane season. “The weather has no recollection that we had three storms here toward the northwest Gulf this year,” said Lindner. “So whatever happens when the next storm comes, it’s up to that steering pattern.” Billingsley reminds us that while the official hurricane season runs to the end of November, the typical Texas time of concern is shorter, but peaks in September. “We have about five weeks left and the steering patterns have not been favorable for the Gulf of Mexico,” he said. See a full Newsmakers EXTRA with our weather experts here this week.

Galveston Bay Park: Can a Five Billion Dollar plan work?

Rice engineering professor Dr. Philip Bedient is the director of the SSPEED Center (Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters).He is a guest this week and talks about the proposal to build a series of islands in Galveston Bay that would work to mitigate a higher than normal storm surge that might come with a hurricane. See a full video of the Galveston Bay Park Proposal here.

Watch Houston Newsmakers Sunday mornings at 10:30am

More Information:

Henry Van de Putte, CEO, American Red Cross, Texas Gulf Coast

• Website: https://www.redcross.org/local/texas/gulf-coast/about-us/leadership.html
• Website For Hurricane Laura: https://rdcrss.org/2EOhQE8
• Contact Information: https://rdcrss.org/31FlI3v

John Rollins, Director of Public Relations and Community Impact, United Way-Beaumont & North Jefferson County

• Contact Information: https://www.uwbmt.org/
• United Way of Beaumont and North Jefferson County: https://www.uwbmt.org/
• United Way of Mid and South Jefferson County Hurricane Laura Fund: https://bit.ly/3js47SF
• United Way of SW Louisiana Hurricane Laura Disaster Fund: https://bit.ly/3gHCXFE
• United Way of Orange County Laura fund: https://bit.ly/3hK2W0y

Frank Billingsley, KPRC Chief Meteorologist

• Website: https://bit.ly/34HhwSN
• Phone: 713-222-2222
• Twitter: @KPRC@Frank
• Email: fbillingsley@kprc.com

Jeff Lindner, Meteorologist & Director, Hydrologic Operations Division, Harris County Flood Control District

• Website: https://www.hcfcd.org/
• Phone: 346-286-4165
• Twitter: @JeffLindner1
• Email: jeff.linder@hcfcd.hctx.net

Philip Bedient, Ph.D., Professor of Engineering at Rice University and Director of the SSPEED Center

• Website: https://www.bedient.rice.edu/about
• Website: https://www.sspeed.rice.edu/?lightbox=dataItem-ke1k2ry6
• Phone: 713-348-4951
• Twitter: @RiceUniversity
• Email: sspeed@rice.edu