Hurricane Harvey Recovery and Rebuilding Efforts Continue in Texas with Aid of Team Rubicon

Recovery from the effects of Hurricane Harvey is still ongoing more than three years after the storm hit the state of Texas. A recent operation in the community of Bloomington demolished 10 homes as part of a program that razes uninhabitable properties and builds new homes at no cost.

The demolition operation was conducted by Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization, in coordination with the Victoria County Long Term Recovery Group. The properties cleared were part of a program that supports residents whose homes were deemed uninhabitable after the hurricane hit in August 2017. The program receives the uninhabitable properties as trade-ins from the homeowner, then builds them a new home at no cost in the Hope Meadows subdivision in Bloomington.

Case Construction Equipment and Texas-based dealer Nueces Power Equipment provided equipment and support for the two-week operation. The two organizations also provided equipment for Team Rubicon’s first Hurricane Harvey recovery operation in September 2017.

“People outside of Texas may not realize the level of response and recovery still happening in the state more than three years after the hurricane hit,” says Leandro Lecheta, head of construction — North America, Case Construction Equipment. “Team Rubicon has had a constant presence in the state with ongoing relief and rebuilding efforts since the day the hurricane hit.”

While much of the work has shifted toward the rebuilding phase, programs like the one developed by the Victoria County Long Term Recovery Group reflect innovative thinking in how communities support residents in the wake of natural disaster.

“Throughout this project, we have seen homeowners, families and children regain their hope and faith — anchored in the foundation and fellowship of a new home and a new community,” says Rick Villa, executive director, Victoria County Long Term Recovery Group. “Collaboration has been the key to the success that we have had as an organization and as a community, and it’s because organizations like Team Rubicon, CASE and Nueces Power Equipment come together and commit to do the right thing for communities like Victoria in the wake of disaster.”

For more information on the Victoria Long Term Recovery Group, visit victorialtrg.org. To learn more about the partnership between CASE and Team Rubicon to support communities in response to natural disasters, visit CaseCE.com/TeamRubicon.

^{Information provided by Case Construction Equipment and edited by Becky Schultz.}