HOUSTON HOLDS ON
Lodi woman concerned for relatives; Tokay grad at Rice University does his best to stay safe
While Cheryl Francis suffers through a heat wave in Lodi, she can’t help but worry about her family in her hometown of Houston, Texas, who are currently weathering Tropical Storm Harvey.
The founder of Grace and Mercy Charitable Foundation, Francis is used to providing help for underprivileged Lodi residents in the form of food, clothes and referrals, but she is powerless to help her family thousands of miles away.
Although her family is safe from the storm, she still worries for them and other families in the area, as she says that entering or leaving the city is almost impossible.
“There’s no maneuvering on the streets, they’re so flooded that people can’t drive anywhere to get out of the city. I was trying to go down there to help, but there’s just no way to get there,” said Francis.
Francis said that her brother, Chuck, was sent home from his job at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, which sparked her desire to go down and help. She also expressed concern for her friend, Jill Renick, who was reported missing on Sunday after the evacuation of the Omni Hotel where she worked, as well as other families who were not able to reach safety.
“Jill is a good friend and a great worker. I thank God that my family in Houston and Galveston are safe, and my prayers go out to those hit hardest by the floods,” said Francis.
T.J. Gotelli, who graduated from Tokay High School in 2015, studies history and sports management at Rice University in Houston. Although he lives on higher ground west of the downtown area, he still feels the effects of Harvey.
“There’s not a lot of flooding where I live, and I’m lucky in that aspect, but a lot of my friends who live near the bayou have lost their homes,” said Gotelli.
A local H.E.B. was one of the first grocery stores to open, but when Gotelli and his friends tried to go, they were greeted by the sight of between 200 and 300 people trying to buy food and water. Gotelli and friends were unable to shop at H.E.B., but he says that restaurants in the area have begun to open their doors, and on Tuesday they ate out for the first time since Friday.
Despite the lack of flooding in his area, Gotelli reports that road conditions are still congested.
“It was the worst on Saturday and Sunday, we had to take a lot of back roads to get to campus because the main roads were flooded. It’s fine where I live, but I can only get so far,” said Gotelli.
Gotelli and his friends have been staying indoors as much as possible, and making sure that they do not run out of food or water.