Volunteers muster at Wimberley church
More rain arrived here about 1 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church, where about 200 to 250 volunteers have gathered to search for survivors of the Memorial Day floods.
As they have for decades, the Disaster Relief wing of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention assigned people to groups with specific tasks, mobilizing foot searches and sweeps on horseback, all-terrain vehicles and helicopters.
Spokeswoman Brooke Garrison said volunteers arrive at the church, near RM 12 and Winters Mill Parkway, to check in at the chapel to receive their assignments. A handful have been here since the river became a weapon of mass destruction last weekend; others come and go to take care of work and family commitments.
“It’s been kind of amazing to watch out here,” Garrison said. “Safety is the top priority. We’re supposed to get more rain today. Conditions are really, really rough out here. When you get here we can see what the right job is for you.”
Minutes after Garrison said those words, a helicopter from Veracity Aviation in Seguin arrived on the church lawn to avoid storm cells carrying 26-knot winds.
“There’s lots of debris, cars, kayaks, everything,” said pilot Eric Herr, who’s based in Georgetown. “You’re looking for something that might catch your eye, anything out of the ordinary. The river’s a lot lower than it was yesterday. It’s amazing the destruction that water can cause.”
“My boss just asked me to come out here and fly a helicopter,” said Herr, who flies with a spotter and also shuttles volunteers to and from the affected areas. “My boss has a lot of connections. (The) helicopter nation is very small, and if somebody needs something the phone starts ringing.”
Austinite Stephanie Duncan and her husband, Clayton, were at the church Sunday. She said she had been going to the Carey family’s home for about 20 years.
“In fact, we were planning to be there this weekend,” Duncan said. “There’s debris everywhere, pictures, things you’d expect to see in a house.”