In January, recycling equipment manufacturer CASE Construction Equipment and Texas-based dealer Nueces Power Equipment threw their support behind an effort to help those still affected by Hurricane Harvey. The two companies provided supplies and support to Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization, which conducted a two-week relief operation in Victoria County, Texas.
Team Rubicon coordinated with Victoria County Long Term Recovery Group to demolish and clear sites of 10 properties as part of a program that built new houses in the Hope Meadows subdivision in Bloomington, Texas, for residents whose homes were rendered uninhabitable by the hurricane. The groups provided the homes free of charge.
“Collaboration has been the key to the success that we have had as an organization and as a community,” says Rick Villa, executive director of the Victoria County Long Term Recovery Group. “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.”
CASE and Team Rubicon worked together in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura hit last August, and they teamed up in the state again in October in the wake of Hurricane Delta. For those operations, CASE supplied skid steers and compact track loaders with grapple buckets to perform route clearance and debris removal, and to work alongside Team Rubicon sawyer teams to clear trees that fell on proprieties throughout the area.
Last fall, CASE also partnered with Team Rubicon and Sonsray Machinery on previous Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts in Texas through “Operation Hard Hustle.” CASE and Sonsray provided equipment and support for the operation. Team Rubicon deployed 768 volunteers to Texas to assist with debris removal, damage assessments, muck outs, expedient home repairs, and chainsaw operations. By mid-September, teams on the ground conducted over 5,000 damage assessments and serviced 135 homes.
While people living outside of Texas may not realize it, there are ongoing recovery efforts to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, says Leandro Lecheta, head of construction (North America) for CASE Construction Equipment. “Site demolition and clearing is heavy work. CASE and Nueces Power Equipment provided equipment for our very first Hurricane Harvey operation with Team Rubicon here in September 2017, and we’re still supporting the effort and their community today,” he says.
Image provided by CASE.
