Texas Baptist Men sending aid to quake-stricken Turkey
Texas Baptist Men sending aid to quake-stricken Turkey
The earthquake is officially the deadliest earthquake in the country's 100-year history. More than 38,000 people in Turkey and Syria are dead, another 105,000 are injured. The Texas Baptist Men are headed to the area to help with recovery efforts and the thousands that are displaced.
DALLAS - The international community is stepping up to help Turkey and Syria after several cities were leveled by the earthquakes and aftershocks.
That includes aid from organizations here in North Texas.
As the search continues for survivors, there's a desperate need for basic essentials like clean drinking water.
A team from Texas Baptist Men is preparing to make the difficult journey there to help.
Watch: Security cameras record heroic nurses saving newborns during Turkey earthquake
Piles of rubble are all that's left of many cities and towns in southern Turkey and northwest Syria.
International aid is slowly making its way to the estimated five million survivors of last week's devastating earthquake.
On Tuesday, the United Nations said Syria has agreed to open new crossing points from Turkey to get aid and equipment in. The war-torn country is usually very reluctant to accept any outside help.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, a team from Texas Baptist Men is preparing to fly to Turkey to assist survivors left with nothing.
"This is among the biggest natural disasters we'll respond to," said John Hall with TBM.
More than 38,000 people have been found dead, and that number will likely keep rising. A few survivors were found alive in the rubble Monday.
Hall shared photographs of their international partners rescuing a grandmother who was trapped in a collapsed building. A young child was also found alive in the debris. Both had been trapped for nearly a week without food or water.
How to help earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria
Hall showed us one of two portable water filtration systems the team is taking to Turkey. Each machine can provide clean, drinking water to nearly 13,000 people daily.
"At the last point, you hit the UV light, and that's what's going to take out the bacteria," he explained. "At that point, you've got clean pure drinking water."
The water can also be used for cooking and bathing, but the scale of the displacement — with tens of thousands living in tent cities — makes the challenge almost incomprehensible.
Hall says his team is preparing the best they can for the difficult journey ahead.
"You are literally confronted by tragedy everywhere you turn," he said. "Iit is emotionally, physically and spiritually draining."
Hall says the teams will rotate out every 14 days. Once they return to Dallas, they'll be debriefed.
If they need some counseling, TBM has trained chaplains for them to talk to.
The group leaves on Sunday.