HOUSTON – Hurricane Ida has made landfall Sunday on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, and several emergency agencies are ready to jump into action.
Here is how national and local agencies, organizations and businesses are lending a helping hand.
Kroger
Kroger has launched a relief drive in more than 100 Greater Houston and Louisiana stores to support the communities and families affected by Hurricane Ida. Customers can donate a bag of non-perishable, ready-to-eat foods for $6 at checkout. The bags will contain staples such as tuna, peanut butter, oatmeal, and apple juice. The bags will go directly to NOLA to support families in need.
Wharton Police Department
Wharton Police Department is collecting items for people in Louisiana in need. They are accepting items Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the department’s parking lot at 1407 N Richmond Road.
The items will then be taken to Louisiana for distribution.
Here’s a list of items Louisiana include: bottled water, gallon water, Pedialyte, Gatorade/Powerade, crackers, snack foods, canned/box foods, non-perishable food, deodorant, body Cleansing wipes, toothpaste and brushes, body soap, detergents, shampoo, conditioner, paper plates and bowls, paper towels, toilet paper, paper utensils, women products, baby wipes, baby soap, diapers, formula, juice, children’s medication, depends, adult diapers, first-aid supplies, bandages, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, flashlights, batteries, lighters, mosquito spray and garbage bags.
Officials ask people not to bring clothing.
Mattress Mack at Galleria Furniture
Volunteers will be at his Gallery Furniture store in north Houston collecting donations Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
“We’re gonna have a giant drive looking for people to bring nonperishable foods, diapers, all the normal things for hurricanes,” Mattress Mack said.
For those who want to contribute, Mattress Mack has set up a GoFundMe account.
Lakewood Church
Lakewood Church is collecting supplies. The church has a two-day collection drive planned for Monday and Tuesday at the 3700 Southwest Freeway.
Officials advised using the entrance near Circle Drive and Timmons Street from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days, weather permitting.
“And then at the same time the city will be partnering with the National Association of Christian churches, they can accommodate anywhere between 500 to 1,000 people,” Mayor Turner said.
Local nonprofits
Two nonprofits, The Outreach Program and the Christian Community Youth Prevention, are sending supplies to residents in Louisiana.
Here is a list of the items requested: water, flashlights, food storage bags or containers, paper towels, paper plates, cups and utensils, nonperishable food items, pet food and supplies, and baby items, such as diapers, wipes, formula or baby food.
The drop-off location is available until Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 9605 Mesa Drive, Houston.
Space Cowboy
Space Cowboy at the Heights House Hotel will host a Hurricane Ida relief drive on Thursday, Sept. 2.
Participants are asked to drop off relief supplies including non-perishable food items, bottled water, toiletries, feminine hygiene products, cleaning supplies, socks and underwear.
Chef Lyle Bento, whose mother is from Louisiana, will provide free red beans and rice to anyone who donates supplies.
Space Cowboy also is seeking volunteer drivers to help deliver the supplies to Baton Rouge on Friday, Sept. 3. To sign up, email info@spacecowboyhou.com.
Heights House Hotel has had an influx of guests who were displaced from Louisiana. Some of the relief supplies collected on Wednesday will be donated directly to them. Space Cowboy also is providing a free meal to hurricane refugees who stay at the hotel.
Space Cowboy and Trash Panda Drinking Club, both owned by Night Moves Hospitality, will offer a special charity cocktail through the month of September, with $1 from the sale of each charity cocktail used to buy additional donations supplies.
Houston Food Bank
The Houston Food Bank urgently needs volunteers to help them build more disaster boxes! Individuals or groups can register online and find shifts that work for them: www.houstonfoodbank.org/volunteer. There are morning, afternoon and evenings shifts with openings this week.
The Houston Food Bank is in communication with food banks in Louisiana. They are still assessing needs. The Houston Food Bank is prepared to assist with direct distribution in areas that need extra help as soon they get the OK to deliver. “We’ve got a large fleet. We accumulate a lot of products to be ready for a disaster here. So we have several hundred pallets of MREs, hundreds of pallets of water, hundreds of pallets of disaster boxes,” said Brian Greene, the president of the Houston Food Bank.
Houston Firefighters
The Houston Fire Department deployed members to assist in recovery efforts.
Four firefighters were deployed, as part of a Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System deployment to Louisiana to relieve the strain on an already taxed emergency service. In addition to these members, eight Houston firefighters were deployed a few days ago as part of Texas Task Force One.
Montgomery County
Six departments from Montgomery County are also lending a helping hand by bringing equipment to our neighbors to the east to assist with the recovery.
“I think that it’s awesome. I think that it’s necessary. I think that it’s our responsibility. we are part of a system where we have agreed that when the time arises where we need to help others, other people, even in other states that Montgomery county will be there to help,” said Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough.
Around noon Monday, Porter, South Montgomery County, Needham, North Montgomery County and Conroe left the Houston area for a deployment that will last about two weeks.
Coast Guard
“The Coast Guard is ready to respond to Hurricane Ida. We have a repossession and preposition coast guard assets on either side of the counter potential impact. Those assets include helicopters, planes, shallow water boats, cutters and boats in the area,” said Lt. Kyndall Scheffey, the Public Information Officer for the Sector of New Orleans Incident Command Post.
The Coast Guards in New Orleans set up its Incident Command Post in Houston to help mitigate any potential issues.
“We want to be able to get a response out there as soon as possible and being five hours away it’s what’s going to allow us to do that and be out that impacted area,” Scheffey said.
CrowdSource
CrowdSource Rescue, a local non-profit, that focuses on natural disaster rescues helped people during Hurricane Laura last year. Now, they are back in Southeast Louisiana ready to help people who got left behind and their families may be worried.
They’ve already gotten some requests to help rescue people.
“Stuff is starting to come in Hurricane Ida is hugging right now,” said Matthew Marchetti, the Executive Director of CrowdSource Rescue.
Marchetti said they use boats and lifted trucks to help rescue people trapped in homes.
“We try and take them to the nearest shelter and most of them are the Red Cross shelters,” Marchetti said.
If you know someone in Louisiana who needs help, click here.