Chabad Movement Rushes to Help as Hurricane Beryl Cuts Power in Houston

Chabad Movement Rushes to Help as Hurricane Beryl Cuts Power in Houston

by Moshe New – chabad.org

Historic Hurricane Beryl hit Houston, Texas last week. After forming in the Atlantic between mainland Africa and the West Indies, the whirlwind quickly swept across much of the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula before making landfall in Texas, U.S., on Tuesday.

The hurricane, which has already traveled more than 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometers), has devastated Houston’s power grid and brought storms made worse by Texas’ summer heat. Winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) have wreaked havoc, leaving nearly 2 million Houston residents without access to power and water.

According to Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, who co-leads Chabad-Lubavitch Uptown in Houston with his wife Chanie, even though the storm winds have calmed, the crisis is only just beginning.

“As Shabbat approaches, the situation is becoming critical,” Lazaroff told Chabad.org. “Many members of our community have contacted us asking for Shabbat meals, and many Chabad centers in the area themselves do not have electricity at this time.”

To top it all off, the Chabad Lubavitch Center on Fondren Road, which serves as Chabad’s regional headquarters in Texas, is currently hosting a summer camp for more than 200 children and is without power. Chabad rabbis have been scrambling to organize alternate locations for the camp’s daily operations as temperatures reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

For one parent, the work Chabad did to keep their child entertained and safe amidst the chaos was invaluable.

“I really appreciate and admire what you are doing to keep the camp open,” she wrote to camp organizers. “It is so difficult to change all the plans so suddenly and with so few resources. It is unbelievable.”

Similarly, Chabad centers in Uptown, West Houston, Bellaire and Woodlands have experienced power and water outages. The community mikvah is in the dark. With Shabbat just hours away, the central synagogue is also still without power.

But that doesn’t stop the rabbis and their wives from helping where they can. Many families are without power, some homes are flooded, and the safety of neighborhoods is uncertain.

“We are sending Shabbat packages and hosting Shabbat dinners for affected residents and finding alternative housing for those without electricity,” Lazaroff said.

“One of our biggest concerns is the well-being of children whose homes are not safe or habitable right now,” Lazaroff said. “We are trying to protect these vulnerable youth by providing them with a safe haven in our day camps, which operate without on-site electricity in other locations.”

And costs are mounting. Organizing travel and alternate locations for camps, keeping mikvahs operational, replacing lost perishable goods, trying to recover damages not covered by insurance, providing community refreshment centers with hot kosher meals and snacks, procuring backup generators, and delivering Shabbat packages have become priorities.

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