RICHARDSON, Texas — More than 200,000 people remain without power after severe storms surged through North Texas early Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the non-profit, Texans on Mission, is on the ground helping communities cleanup and rebuild.
“Was helping drag limbs off this house and talking to my neighbor. I said 'Hey you got little kids? Are they all okay? Are you okay?' And his first words were ‘praise God we’re fine,’” said Texans on Mission’s John Hall who lives in the Dallas suburb of Richardson.
Destructive storms ripped through the Dallas area, toppling trees while damaging homes and businesses due to winds exceeding 70 miles per hour.
“You can see there was a giant limb that came out this way and actually fell on this house. It could have been a lot worse than it was,” Hall said.
Hall recalls waking up to the wailing of tornado sirens around 5:30 a.m.
“I remember hearing the transformer blow and when that happened, instantly we lost power,” Hall said.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, more than 230,000 Oncor customers were still without electricity.
“In this neighborhood we still have no power and we may not get it until Friday is what they’re telling us now,” Hall said.
Oncor authorities anticipate full restoration to most areas by Friday night while communities in harder hit areas may have to wait until Saturday.
Texans on Mission, formerly called Texas Baptist Men, has provided a variety of disaster relief across the U.S. and around the world since 1967.
Trained volunteers have been working around the clock in storm-affected cities of Houston and San Marcos, helping remove downed trees in residential areas and performing other duties as needed.
“Texans on Missions has teams out in the community now. We literally have every single chainsaw crew either committed to work today or scheduled out to work for the next six weeks and we’re bringing in teams from out of state,” Hall said.
With the help of neighbors and volunteers from non-profits like Texans on Mission, Hall is hopeful for a smooth future of rebuilding.
“Faith is running strong, the community is running strong and so we just keep plugging along here as best we can,” Hall said.
The Dallas-based non-profit is always looking for new volunteers. To learn more, go here.
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