So many people showed up to volunteer in the Big Sandy Creek neighborhood last week, the community had to turn people away. Now, as residents shift their focus to clearing debris and restoring the neighborhood, they’re begging for volunteers to come back.
The community in northwestern Travis County was hit hard by flooding over the Fourth of July weekend. At least nine people have been killed, and many more lost their homes.
Travis County officials don’t know how long it will take to restore the neighborhood back to normal. Residents in the area who’ve taken off work to clean up the heaps of debris strewn throughout Big Sandy Creek expect it to take months.
“It’s a slow and painful process,” resident Timothy Joubert said. “We’ve had propane tanks leaking. … There’s a lot of scrap metal, things that you can really hurt yourself on. People’s lives uprooted is what we’re seeing here. … It’s just a disaster, plain and simple.”
Some volunteers are taking chainsaws to the fully grown trees that were uprooted and knocked down in the storm, cutting them into neat logs for pickup. Others are carefully sorting debris — twisted sheets of scrap metal, broken furniture, electronics — into organized piles to be hauled to the appropriate landfill.
Hundreds of personal items have also surfaced through the wreckage and are being taken to a makeshift lost and found in the back of Round Mountain Baptist Church. The room is filled with toys, books and hundreds of old family photos.
Heaps of debris are being sorted through — painstakingly — by hand. Volunteers start at the top of a pile and slowly make their way to the bottom so they don’t destroy any sentimental items or bodies found in the wreckage. Three people in the area are still missing.
“We don’t want to run into anything that’s going to hurt any lost souls,” Joubert said.
Joubert said what the community needs most right now is volunteers.
“We will take every able body we can get,” he said. “Anything we can get.”
Vivian Lipuma drove all the way from Bastrop to Big Sandy Creek to help out. She said she doesn’t have much experience doing manual labor, but she’s good at logistics.
“I felt compelled to make sure these people get back into their homes and are comfortable again,” she said. “Support is definitely needed. More volunteers. More hands-on.”
Richard Joubert, Timothy Joubert’s father, has also been volunteering his time, providing hydration and medical supplies to those doing heavy lifting.
“We’re a solid community here in Sandy Creek,” he said. “Through it, we’ve gotten to know each other a lot better, which is a good thing. Rough circumstances, but it's a good thing.”
Travis County officials have set up a volunteer reception center at Plain Elementary School in Leander for anyone interested in helping out. Prior registration isn’t required, but the county is encouraging folks to check out the Austin Disaster Relief Network website to see what volunteer opportunities are available.
