Chabad Rushes to Aid as Hurricane Beryl Cuts Houston Power

by Moshe New – chabad.org

The brunt of the historic Hurricane Beryl slammed into Houston, Texas, over the past week. After forming in the Atlantic some way between continental Africa and the Antilles, the swirl swiftly swept through the greater part of the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, before making landfall in Texas in the United States on Tuesday.

The hurricane, which to this point has traveled more than 6,000 miles, ravaged the Houston power grid and brought with it storms compounded by the Texas summer heat. The 80 mph winds wrought havoc, leaving close to 2 million Houstonians without access to power and water.

According to Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, who co-directs Houston’s Chabad-Lubavitch of Uptown with his wife, Chanie, while the storm winds have receded, the crisis is just beginning.

“As Shabbat nears, it’s becoming a crisis,” Lazaroff told Chabad.org. “Many members of our community have reached out to us needing Shabbat meals, and many of the Chabad centers in the area themselves have no power at this time.”

To make matters more dire, the Chabad Lubavitch Center on Fondren Road, which serves as Chabad’s Texas regional headquarters, is currently hosting a summer camp for more than 200 children and is without power. Chabad rabbis have been scrambling to organize alternative locations for day-to-day camp operations as temperatures hit into the 90s.

For one parent, the work Chabad has been doing to keep her child distracted and safe amidst the chaos has been invaluable.

“I really really appreciate and admire what you are doing to keep the camp open,” she wrote to camp organizers. “It’s so hard to change all the plans so suddenly and with not many resources. It’s amazing.”

Similarly, the Chabad centers in Uptown, West Houston, Bellaire and the Woodlands have experienced a loss of power and water. The community mikvah is in the dark. With Shabbat a mere few hours away, the central synagogue is likewise still without power.

But that’s not stopping the rabbis and their wives from aiding where they are able. Many families are without electricity, some homes are flooded, and the safety of the neighborhoods are uncertain.

“We are sending out Shabbat packages and hosting Shabbat dinners for affected residents and finding replacement housing for those that don’t have power,” Lazaroff reports.

“One of our greatest concerns is the welfare of children whose homes are not safe or habitable at this time,” Lazaroff says. “We are trying to keep these vulnerable youngsters safe by offering them refuge at our day camps, operating without on-site power at alternative locations.”

And costs are mounting. Arranging alternative trips and locations for camps, keeping the mikvahs operational, replacing lost perishables, trying to recoup damages not covered by insurance, providing community cooling centers with hot kosher meals and snacks, procuring backup generators and delivering Shabbat packages have become a priority.

Donations to Chabad of Houston relief efforts can be made here.