Force of volunteers cleans out flood-damaged homes along Lake Marble Falls
Removing all these items would be unfathomable for one person. But a crew of almost 10 people from local churches made the task a quick one as homeowners clean up after flooding along Lake Marble Falls. Staff photo by Jared Fields
STAFF WRITER JARED FIELDS
Jake Jacobsen and Jennifer Jackson planned to return Oct. 15 to Marble Falls from Corpus Christi but decided to visit with friends an extra day.
After returning to Marble Falls on Oct. 16, they realized they wouldn’t be going home that day either.
Their phone began ringing before sunrise. They couldn’t access their home on Lakeshore Drive, but they could still see the damage.
“We saw the place from (RR) 2147 over there and realized it hadn’t gotten into the second floor, so we thought we were ahead of the game,” Jacobsen said Oct. 19. “(The water) was 49 inches inside for most of the day. The mud was maybe four inches deep in the house.”
Jacobsen is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of people whose homes have been damaged by flooding along the Llano and Colorado rivers this past week. And for every home like his, it seems a crew of locals have come to help.
“It’s incredible, the outpouring all up and down the street,” Jacobsen said of the volunteer response he has seen.
He then pointed to thick, goopy mud on the grass that had been pushed off the concrete walkway to the door.
“It was like that pretty much all the way out to the road. The house was pretty much like that all the way through,” he said.
Volunteers rallied to sweep out the mud and have done so in houses across the Highland Lakes.
“We’re doing what we can do,” said Steve Taylor, a volunteer who’s coordinating cleanup efforts through First Baptist Church of Marble Falls.
Taylor said three crews of eight to 10 people each were working on Lakeshore Drive on Oct. 19, while another couple of crews were on Live Oak in Pecan Valley.
“We’ve probably got about five to six total crews that basically got people from First Baptist Church,” Taylor said. “Other churches came over and said, ‘Hey, let us help volunteer.’”
First Baptist Church and First United Methodist Church of Marble Falls are coordinating volunteers and donations. Read more about what’s needed and how to help here.
“The thing to do is call up to First Baptist Church and see where they’re needed,” Taylor said.
The number for the church is (830) 693-4381.