WE HAVE DEPLOYED TO HOUSTON. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS ARE WITHOUT POWER. FIRST HOT MEALS THIS EVENING. GO HERE TO HELP AND SEE BELOW. --GARY

Houston and southeast Texas were just hit with a powerful storm. Winds reached 100 MPH and up to six inches of rain fell -- leaving hundreds of thousands without power and in need of help.

As of last check, nearly 700,000 utility "customers" are without power in the Houston area. That means 1.5 million or more PEOPLE are currently without power  -- and officials are concerned that many will be without power for TWO WEEKS!

To make matters worse, high heat and humidity is hitting the region, creating the potential for a health crisis.

+ + We have deployed to Houston. First meals TODAY!

Mercy Chefs has deployed to Houston and are partnering with Hope City Church to provide hot meals to Houston families in need.

We are expecting that this will be a major deployment with distributions from multiple locations. We have been mobilizing our chefs and equipment in transit, and will be serving our first hot meals this evening!

Can I count on you right now to help Mercy Chefs provide hot meals to Houston storm victims while we continue other vital efforts? Go here to help sponsor meals:

We need help in an urgent way this weekend. This is our FOURTH domestic disaster deployment in less than a month. We also have a Mercy Chefs team in Brazil responding to that nation's historic flooding (see link below for more on that).

This is why Mercy Chefs exists -- to feed body and soul in the form of a hot, chef-prepared meal to those facing disaster and hardship.

We go wherever the disaster strikes, thanks to friends like you!

God bless,

Gary LeBlanc, Mercy Chefs