Arron Daniels, who traveled from Sierra Vista, Ariz., to Eagle Pass, Texas, to help with the relief efforts, points out the high-water mark in a house that had filled with water during the mid-June flooding.

(July 23, 2013 - by Ralph Kurtenbach) The water mark that Arron Daniels gazed at clearly demonstrated the situation-just days earlier heavy rains had inundated the living room to a depth of six feet in the Eagle Pass, Texas, home where he stood.

Daniels toured a number of such soggy residences. Helping coordinate and carry out relief efforts in southern Texas, he got acquainted with flood victims, pastors and volunteers in Eagle Pass, Texas, and in the neighboring community of Piedras Negras in Mexico's Coahuila state.

The Texans know the river as the Rio Grande, demarcating not only Eagle Pass from Piedras Negras but also the U.S. from Mexico. People on the Mexican side know it as El Río Bravo.

When rains hammered the area, however, the language difference mattered little. Both terms aptly characterized the bravo (wild) and grande (large) river that wrought so much destruction in such a short time. In less than 18 hours, residents were inundated with more than 17 inches of rain.

Some 10,000 homes were flooded, according to Daniels. He talked via phone with Angel Williams, his radio morning show co-host in a live interview that aired on The Spark FM 90.9 in Sierra Vista, Ariz. The station's programming blends music with a positive message with Christian preaching and teaching, and its staff is involved in community building efforts.

Daniels said that working alongside Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras residents, he encountered those who asked why he had flown in from a neighboring state of Arizona to help out. He replied that faith in Christ had prompted him to help where he could. Daniels told them, "We love the Lord and we just want to show you His love."

Arron Daniels with a truckload of supplies destined for flood victims.

The Spark FM is an affiliate in a network of Christian radio station along the U.S.-Mexico border called Inspiracom (formerly World Radio Network), a partner ministry of HCJB Global. Two years ago, during the station's relief work in Arizona, Daniels used social media, the Internet and the radio broadcasts to rally support for evacuees and also the firefighters battling a huge conflagration. Known as the Monument Fire, the fire started in the Coronado National Monument near the Mexican border.

After the Texas floodwaters receded, Daniels described one neighborhood with clean-up under way where he saw "piles and piles and piles of couches and dishwashers and clothes." Amid high humidity, mosquitoes and the odor that follows flooding, he told Williams, "It smells like a garbage dump, honestly."

Flood-damaged home furnishings litter the streets of Piedras Negras following the flood. Photo courtesy of Rubén Moreira.

Of some 45,000 to 50,000 evacuees from flooded homes, many were in Piedras Negras. With both border cities in a low-lying area, even some evacuation centers had been flooded, Daniels said. June showers normally amount to a little more than three inches of precipitation. But the rains that caused the flooding represent more than half of the Eagle Pass area's average yearly rainfall, according to Daniels. While the river running between the cities usually crests its banks at 18 feet of water, this year the Rio Grande rose to 32 feet, he said.

While Inspiracom affiliates KEPI and KEPX were not damaged, staff and radio station volunteers hustled about to organize and carrying out a relief effort in conjunction with local churches. "The stations have a tremendous relationship with pastors on both sides of the border," said Daniels.

"These people are really suffering," he told Williams, adding that in Piedras Negras, government assistance was apparently arriving more slowly. The Mexican city is home to more than 150,000 people. The state's health department said that nearly 300 health workers were dispatched in 10 mobile medical caravans to help meet people's needs.

"Vaccines are being given and medicines dispensed," the health department reported, "and home-visit psychological help is being offered, especially to the children and the aged."

To support those efforts, the Mexican government's Health Secretary sent brigades from two departments (Epidemiology and National Contingencies) to Piedras Negras to help strengthen the disease prevention efforts. Fumigations also played a part in the government's control of mosquito breeding.

The Mexican state of Coahuila declared Piedras Negras a disaster area, facilitating a flow of funds from the Fondo Nacional de Desastres Naturales (National Fund for Natural Disasters) into the city, according to Gov. Rubén Moreira.

To view a live interview regarding the flooding with Daniels of The Spark FM, visit https://soundcloud.com/arronsparkfm.

Sources: HCJB Global, Inspiracom, aquilaguna.com, Government of Coahuila, Sound Cloud, Telesurtv