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Before I share the unique experience I had during and after Hurricane Harvey, I first have to say that I am very thankful that I fared so well. We saw lots of flooding in our neighborhood in the heart of Pearland, TX, thankfully no water was able to get in the house. My significant other and I were very fortunate to have no damage the home or cars. As soon as the flood waters receded enough to drive slowly, we decided to volunteer our help to anyone who may need it.
We put up a post on Facebook asking if anyone we know needed any help after the hurricane damage. An old friend of my boyfriend was the first to reach out. He said that his brother’s home was under 3 feet of water. Of course we got up early the very next morning and drove to Friendswood, TX. The entire neighborhood was in devastation – huge trash piles the size of a large truck were at the end of EVERY drive way, furniture stacked on top of furniture, sheet rock and dust everywhere. It was a total shock. We spent the first day ripping out walls of sheet rock and bringing out damaged items – chairs, TV sets, old files, children’s toys, tables, couches, desks, large monitors and computers. The following day was more of the same – gutting the entire garage, pulling up wood floors, throwing out the destroyed appliances.
The sad thing was that the homeowner clearly ran a business out of his home and over $100K in electronics, equipment and props. It turns out the homeowner was the owner of a company that captures the memories of weddings and other special events. Right before we headed out the first day, I noted that I had seen some large signage with a company name and font type that I knew I recognized from the signature that I see every couple of weeks during regular email correspondence.
We show up the next day and continue to grueling process of tearing out this home. A church stopped by with food and 3 flats of bottled water. Another volunteer group showed up to help for a few hours before going to the next home to help another family. Two Pasadena Firefighters were there helping us both days. Over a lunch break, we all are talking and trying to lighten the situation. I am talking to a man in his early 70’s about his son, who is the homeowner. He is explaining to me how his son and daughter-in-law were stuck out at sea on a cruise ship with most of the company workers, their children staying with a family friend in a nearby neighborhood that had no power. He says “poor Jud”.
Instantly I realize that he is talking about one of our local Foundation Room members. This is his home, his family, his company and way of life – all in ruin. That really surprised everyone once I shared the connection that I actually have with them, small world.
He had the most heartbreaking out of office message set up the first time I corresponded with him after the storm (attached). The very next day I received a call from him, thanking me for everything I was able to do. His brother and father told him everything about me and he really was extremely grateful that so many people (including his Foundation Room Concierge!) came together to help him, especially when he could not be there for the first, most crucial days after the flood waters finally went down. I have already submitted his name to our Team for any assistance HOB & Foundation Room are able to contribute.
Please, feel free to use what you need.
We put up a post on Facebook asking if anyone we know needed any help after the hurricane damage. An old friend of my boyfriend was the first to reach out. He said that his brother’s home was under 3 feet of water. Of course we got up early the very next morning and drove to Friendswood, TX. The entire neighborhood was in devastation – huge trash piles the size of a large truck were at the end of EVERY drive way, furniture stacked on top of furniture, sheet rock and dust everywhere. It was a total shock. We spent the first day ripping out walls of sheet rock and bringing out damaged items – chairs, TV sets, old files, children’s toys, tables, couches, desks, large monitors and computers. The following day was more of the same – gutting the entire garage, pulling up wood floors, throwing out the destroyed appliances.
The sad thing was that the homeowner clearly ran a business out of his home and over $100K in electronics, equipment and props. It turns out the homeowner was the owner of a company that captures the memories of weddings and other special events. Right before we headed out the first day, I noted that I had seen some large signage with a company name and font type that I knew I recognized from the signature that I see every couple of weeks during regular email correspondence.
We show up the next day and continue to grueling process of tearing out this home. A church stopped by with food and 3 flats of bottled water. Another volunteer group showed up to help for a few hours before going to the next home to help another family. Two Pasadena Firefighters were there helping us both days. Over a lunch break, we all are talking and trying to lighten the situation. I am talking to a man in his early 70’s about his son, who is the homeowner. He is explaining to me how his son and daughter-in-law were stuck out at sea on a cruise ship with most of the company workers, their children staying with a family friend in a nearby neighborhood that had no power. He says “poor Jud”.
Instantly I realize that he is talking about one of our local Foundation Room members. This is his home, his family, his company and way of life – all in ruin. That really surprised everyone once I shared the connection that I actually have with them, small world.
He had the most heartbreaking out of office message set up the first time I corresponded with him after the storm (attached). The very next day I received a call from him, thanking me for everything I was able to do. His brother and father told him everything about me and he really was extremely grateful that so many people (including his Foundation Room Concierge!) came together to help him, especially when he could not be there for the first, most crucial days after the flood waters finally went down. I have already submitted his name to our Team for any assistance HOB & Foundation Room are able to contribute.
Please, feel free to use what you need.
Creator
Brittney "Yen" Malveaux
Title
Hurricane Harvey - Bringing People Together Unexpectedly
Type
personal narratives
Language
en
Rights
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Source
This item was contributed via the Harvey Memories Project "Contribute an Item" form.
Date Created
2017-09-16
Date Submitted
2018-08-10
Date Available
2018-08-10
Spatial Coverage
+29.563567-095.286047/
pearland
Temporal Coverage
start=2017-09-04; end=2017-09-07; scheme=ISO 8601;