Hurricane Harvey: Church prays, organizes help for hurricane victims

Gloria Noland hangs on every text message and photograph documenting flood waters around her son’s family home in Houston.

Her son, Bapteese Noland, 45, moved to Texas to find a job after graduation, she said. Now he owns his own computer company.

“So far they are hanging in there,” Noland said. “They haven’t had to do any evacuation or anything. Food is getting low, and they aren’t allowed to leave home. They have two children, ages 12 and three years old.

“I’ve got grandbabies,” Noland said as other volunteers arrived at Friendship Baptist Church at 2160 Reeves Ave. in Lorain to organize a donation campaign. “I’m watching ‘round the clock and calling and checking. It’s still raining.”

Georgia Smith, the financial secretary at Friendship Baptist, also prays for a son in Houston, Kenneth Smith, who serves as chief engineer at Plaza America, a mall.

“He’s at his home,” Smith said. “That was the thing. That was a relief. We knew there was a lot of water, but he was okay.”

Even so, news of devastation with family members in harm’s way is tough for a mother to take, she said.

“It’s horrible,” Smith said. “I

found myself sitting there the other day, just screaming. It was just me at home. But I had to get a grip.

“We went through it with Katrina,” Smith said. “When Katrina hit, I had 27 family members that were displaced. You just keep it going.”

Many people in the Lorain area wait for word from loved ones in Hurricane Harvey’s path.

“Some of them we have heard from,” said Smith, “some of them we have not.”

Knowing needs are great, volunteers at Friendship Baptist Church are collecting items, such as bottled water, diapers, baby wipes, non-perishable food, and financial donations to send a truck Monday to Texas.

The church is open from noon to 4 p.m. August 31 through Sept. 3 as a drop off site. The items will be transferred Sunday to a truck organized by Lorain City Councilman Rev. Angel Arroyo and supported by local business owners.

Donations also are accepted 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31 through Sept. 1 at the transportation building at Black River Landing in Lorain, Arroyo said, and at a Lorain High School Band Boosters tailgate party 4:30-6 p.m. Sept. 1 at George Daniel Field.

In addition, concert attendees of Rockin’ on the River can drop off donations at the transportation building, Arroyo said.

If Noland had left a week earlier for a planned family gathering in Houston, she would have been there during the hurricane.

“I had to cancel the flight to Houston, which they allowed me to do,” Noland said. “They were giving me a birthday celebration for the grandchildren. The whole family was going to Houston.”

Instead, she leaves today for her daughter’s home in New York City to watch and wait for the storm to abate and flood waters to subside.

She worries over her son’s family, and shows a text message saying, “Still flooded on our street, but we are safe,” and fights tears.

“They don’t perceive they are in danger at this time,” Noland said. “But it’s getting close. They live in the Southwest part of Houston. The water is at the door. They’re trying to keep the kids occupied to keep their minds off of it. They have cousins they can’t get in touch with.”