History

September 23, 2005 Hurricane Rita made landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas and Johnson Bayou, as a category 3 hurricane.  Rita was the 4^th most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico.  Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

With such intense damage from Rita; a group of clergymen and community members had a mission to help those most vulnerable members in the community who had been affected by this Hurricane.  Thus, SETIO was formed in the fall of 2005.  With SETIO now established, and funding in place, it could fulfill its mission.   SETIO had the capability to form partnerships with other Disaster Recovery Organizations; offering case management, unmet needs, and construction repairs; to the most vulnerable families in the communities. This is one way that they could help the victims return to normalcy in the aftermath of Rita.

September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike made its final land fall near Galveston, Texas, as a strong category 2 hurricane. With, Ike’s immense size, it caused devastation from the Louisiana coastline all the way to the region near Corpus Christi, Texas; flooding and significant damage along the Mississippi coastline and Florida panhandle.  Damage from Ike in U.S. coastal and inland areas is estimated at $29.6 billion.  This was the 3^rd most costly Atlantic Hurricane of all times.  Ike also resulted in the largest evacuation of Texans in the states History.  It became the largest search and rescue operations in History.

With the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, SETIO now had the opportunity to expand its mission.  SETIO increased coordination with community service providers, partnered with other long term disaster recovery organizations, sustained mobilization of outside and local volunteer resources, and utilized both commercial contractors and volunteer labor for the repair/rebuild program.

Today

SETIO continues to serve its mission by helping those most vulnerable members in communities following a natural disaster.  The organization consists of diverse local congregations, faith based community service organizations, business, state and local government agencies and national disaster recovery agencies.  We are capable of fulfilling our mission by working as a catalyst to expand the scale and pace of recovery.  We achieve this through our case management program, unmet needs program, repair/rebuild program and our rapid response program.