Richardson nonprofits help residents displaced by Tuesday's storms

RICHARDSON, Texas - More than 100,000 people across North Texas are still without power, many in the hard-hit city of Richardson.

Dozens of people who lived in the High Oak East Apartments are now in hotels and trying to figure out where to move with many of their belongings now gone.

Workers covered the roof of the apartment building with a tarp on Thursday, but much of the damage was already done early Tuesday morning when hurricane-force winds ripped off part of the roof, destroying people's belongings below.

"The first step is to make sure residents are housed. So we are very fortunate with our partnership with the city of Richardson. They are all stabley housed at this time," said Abbie Kauffman, President & CEO of the Network of Community Ministries. "For some, it is their mattresses and their cribs. It's not just about food, it's about all the items that have made it a home."

Kauffman says 62 people in 23 families were displaced by the storm.

"Including a pregnant woman who has 2 small kids already. They have lost everything," she said.

Many others in Richardson are on day three without power.

Operation BBQ Relief has cooked up meals to provide just that.

"We have a thing here that you never sit down to have a barbecue meal and have a bad memory. We want to make sure we can give them, if it's 5 minutes of comfort in the worst time of their life," said Chris Huggins, Operation BBQ Relief's senior director of logistics.

The nonprofit is ready to serve up 400 meals at the Network of Community Ministries for lunch and dinner through Saturday.

"We were set up all outdoors. With the weather that came in, the rain, the potential for severe weather, this organization opened up their doors to us to let us use their kitchen," said Huggins.

With rain making the powerless houses dark in the middle of the day, this was a nice escape for Shawnda Krajca, her daughter and a friend.

Krajca's daughter is deaf.

"If she is sitting on the other side of the living room I have to say wait, I have to put a flashlight so that way we can talk," she said.

It is not the start to summer that Ethan Florence expected. He's going into third grade.

"Where we live, the whole street doesn't have power, but the other side of the street has power," Florence explained.

READ MORE: North Texas lineman killed while working to restore power

The rain on Thursday took away one more form of entertainment as the wait for power continues.

"We can't play outside right now," Florence said.

Oncor says the remaining power outages are the most complex and time-consuming, requiring reconstruction of equipment.

The company says their crews from multiple states are working through the night.

You can sign up to help the Network of Community Ministries here: thenetwork.org