Houston ‘open for business’
CITY OF CONTRASTS: As many residents return to life as normal, crisis continues for those displaced by Harvey
In west Houston late Sunday morning, first responders went doorto-door to ensure people had evacuated homes still flooded more than a week after Hurricane Harvey roared through Texas. At that moment, in a dry neighborhood across town, a few dozen residents were enjoying brunch at Pax Americana: Brisket hash, honey-butter chicken, cold mimosas.
More than a week after the worst disaster in state history, Houston officials and residents began confronting a city of contrasts: Between those spared by Harvey, and those still in crisis. Between aiding people in need, and returning to business as usual. Between starting the rebuilding process, and pausing to reconsider the cost of unmitigated development.
A day after issuing a mandatory evacuation order for 300 people in flooded parts of west Houston — one of several areas that are likely to remain inundated for weeks longer — Mayor Sylvester Turner went on national Sunday talk shows with a bullish message for those thinking about visiting his beleaguered city.
“The airport system is up and running. The transit system is up and running. We’ve started picking up heavy debris,” Turner said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“Let me be very, very clear,” he added. “The city of Houston is open for business.”
Those words ring true in swaths of the region, where residents unaffected by Harvey’s floodwaters have begun a gradual return to normalcy. A family shopped for a new TV in the Galleria area. A teenager mowed grass in Cypress. A line of vehicles waited at a self-serve car wash in Bellaire.
Meanwhile, Harvey’s body count continued to grow, up to nearly 60 by Sunday evening. Yet more are expected to be found as water recedes from flooded homes.
“It is kind of a surreal contrast,” said Martha DeLeon, the executive chef at Pax Americana, where the Sunday brunch crowd was vibrant, despite being about half its normal size. Earlier in the week, she’d been delivering free meals to displaced residents and rescuers.
“Overall, I feel like people are trying to get back to a sense of normalcy,” she said. “But that’s hard when you know so many of your neighbors have lost their homes.”
More than 1,000 people continued to shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center, down significantly from the 10,000person peak a week earlier. Another 2,600 or so remained at NRG Center. Those still there likely will be the hardest to relocate, officials said, either because their homes were damaged beyond repair, or because floodwaters still haven’t subsided.
“I’m just worried,” said Billy Cartwright, 47, at GRB. ”I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me.”
He arrived at the shelter nine days earlier after losing his Spring Branch apartment. A parade of celebrities — including Harry Connick Jr., who stopped by Sunday — have helped distract and entertain evacuees, but that’s little consolation for those who’ve lost everything they own.
“I’m going to have to stay here until they ask me to leave,” Cartwright said.
Rebuilding underway
The government effort to find longer-term solutions is underway. The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its first Disaster Recovery Center in Houston on Sunday, at the north end of the George R. Brown. The agency is working to identify locations for additional centers, where residents affected by Harvey will be able to apply for aid, ask questions or resolve problems in person, said agency spokesman Peter Herrick Jr.
Turner on Sunday also talked about the need to get displaced residents back in their houses as fast as possible. He said he asked President Donald Trump a day earlier to double federal funding for a program that helps residents rapidly repair and return to flooddamaged homes.
“We need rapid repair housing, because many, many people have elected to stay in their homes,” Turner said. “They are now dry, but they need to be repaired. In some cases, they may need to be rebuilt.”
In Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott seemed to pump the brakes on the rush to rebuild, calling for new development restrictions in order to prevent future flooding disasters. In the past, local plans to limit and control storm runoff have been sidetracked by high costs and opposition from business and development interests in a city without zoning controls.
“As we go through the buildout phase, and rebuilding Texas, part of our focus must be on rebuilding in a way that will prevent a disaster like this from happening again,” Abbott told reporters before speaking during Sunday services at the Hyde Park Baptist Church, on the official Day of Prayer he proclaimed last week in Harvey’s aftermath.
As part of his continuing message of collaboration with local officials, Abbott said he has pledged to work to guard against another Harvey-like flood disaster — which some officials speculate could top $200 billion in damages, more than Hurricanes Rita and Sandy combined. Many residents across huge swaths of Texas remain in crisis.
Waiting and watching
In Crosby, the Harris County Fire Marshal’s office set off the remaining six containers of volatile chemicals at Arkema’s plant Sunday afternoon, days after the plant flooded and lost a complex cooling system that kept the chemicals from exploding.
But it was unclear late Sunday when residents who live near the plant would be allowed to go home. Hundreds living within 1.5 miles had evacuated earlier in the week.
In Beaumont, where homes remain flooded and residents were cut off from city water late Sunday, the Coast Guard continued rescuing people, including four boaters earlier in the day who’d run out of fuel and were drifting aimlessly along the overwhelmed Neches River.
Across Texas, about 37,000 storm evacuees were staying at more than 270 shelters, where FEMA has so far dished out 4.7 million meals and 18 million cups of water. Many millions more will be needed in the coming months.
In a Sunday morning update, FEMA officials said Trump’s approval of disaster assistance cleared the way for the federal government to pick up 90 percent of the cost of debris removal, a gargantuan task that officials anticipate will strain area landfills and heavy haul trucking companies for months.
Residents who spent the week gutting their flooded homes were less worried about debris removal than finding a way to return to normal.
Lary Tillmon sat on a camping chair in the driveway of his flooddamaged home in Independence Heights, behind a mound of ruined possessions.
Music played through his speakerphone as he sat on hold, waiting for a FEMA representative to pick up.
He sighed, thinking about the loss of his home. About paperwork issues holding up his application for FEMA aid. He glanced back at his phone screen, still on hold. Waiting.
“It’s hurting me so bad,” he said.
Earlier that morning, during his interview on CBS, Turner said Houston is a “can-do” city, and although the recovery will likely take years, he’s already prepared to invite tourists.
“We’re not going to engage in a pity party, we are going to take care of each other,” he said. “But we are getting back on our feet and we are open for business, and we do want people to continue to come to this city.”