Warm Homes and Warm Hearts

How You Battled the Winter Storm that Ravaged Texas

When Winter Storm Uri hit the United States in February, 80% of Texas was covered in snow. The storm had broken nearly every snow and cold temperature record in the state. Thousands of pipes froze and broke, leaving millions without power and water, and eventually caused flash flooding once the ice began to melt. On top of that, due to the pandemic and Hurricane Laura, which hit in August of 2020, there was a severe shortage of plumbing supplies and labor to fix all the leaks.

But then you showed up to help. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to partner with Mercy Chefs, God’s Pit Crew, Elevate Life Church and Milestone Church to provide food, water and supplies for local individuals and families. We also got to do something we’d never done before: work with Water Mission to provide plumbing repairs in Austin, Texas, which had been devastated by the freezing temperatures.

“I almost didn’t have a home,” shared Isabel Caciano, a resident of Austin whose pipes burst from the freezing temperatures. “The water was strong; it just came out, and it was all over my floor, my room, and it was devastating. It was cold, [and] we couldn’t even go anywhere.” 

Isabel lives in Paisano Mobile Home Park, a mobile home community of about 150 houses. She and her neighbors were completely snowed in for days and without water for nearly two weeks before they finally received the plumbing repairs they needed.

“I had to go take a shower [at different] places; I was just desperate,” Isabel said. Food was also incredibly hard to come by during this time, so like many others, she had to survive on the canned food in her pantry until she could get her water back on. It would have taken months for her neighborhood to have water again if there had been no outside help.

When the volunteer team members showed up to help repair her plumbing—at no cost to her—she was deeply relieved and grateful. “I cannot express it—it’s just God. He’s doing everything. And thank you, because y’all are angels to me,” Isabel said with joy.

And Isabel wasn’t the only storm survivor whose life was changed by your love and support. Fidencia Jaimes and her family also live in Austin, so their situation was similar to Isabel’s—no water, power or finances for the repairs they needed. “We had to melt snow in order to be able to flush our toilet,” Fidencia told us. “We also didn’t have food for my kids, and we didn’t have bottled water. It was a really difficult situation for us.”

But thanks to you, our teams were able to repair the Jaimes’ water lines and take the time to encourage and pray with them. Hope came rushing back to Fidencia’s heart. “I would like to say thank you so much because a lot of us don’t have money to fix it,” she said. “It makes me feel really good to know that there are people who have such good hearts, that they’re willing to help in a situation like I am [in] right now.”

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for providing miracles of food, water and hope for so many hurting people all across Texas; for coming alongside the community that was devastated by a storm they had no idea how to prepare for; and for equipping and sending a team with practical, much-needed skills and supplies to help ensure that survivors had safety and water.

And most of all, thank you for showing God’s love in such a tangible way.

John Peays, the director of global partnerships for Water Mission, said it best, “What [we’re] doing and what [you’ve] done to help make this possible—that is actually the body of Christ working in perfect harmony.”

HELP AFTER DISASTER As repairs continue in Texas, Hand of Hope is also responding to disasters all over the world. You can give toward disaster relief efforts at joycemeyer.org/DisasterRelief