Humanitarians mobilize to minimize Harvey’s misery
From the ‘Cajun Navy’ to pet lovers in Austin, help arrives
From good Samaritan Cajuns to pet lovers in Austin with pickups and motorized canoes, humanitarian efforts are underway in Houston and beyond to minimize the misery of flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez called upon anyone with a “high-water, safe boat or vehicle” to pitch in — and like clockwork, the boats arrived. Hundreds of boatsmen from around the region, as well as others from the “Cajun Navy,” have traversed the flooded streets of Houston for days.
Jon Bridgers, who founded the Cajun Navy’s Facebook page, told the Houston Chronicle that another squad of rescuers from Louisiana was en route Tuesday.
Aid groups, accustomed to widespread disaster declarations, expected the Harvey relief effort to be among their biggest ever.
The Salvation Army of Georgia said its Harvey intervention would be the “largest and longest emergency response” in the history of the organization. The group is deployed in nearby Victoria, Texas.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief said it began sending teams to Texas before Harvey made landfall Friday and will probably be in Houston “for months to come.” The group said it was assisting up to 60,000 people displaced by the flooding by providing hot meals, laundry services, hot showers and companionship. It will ease Houstonians’ return to their homes by helping to clear land, remove fallen trees and restore flooded homes.
Brad Kieserman of the American Red Cross said the group was at the beginning of “a massive relief effort” in Houston.
The Red Cross said more than
80 tractor-trailer loads of cots, blankets, ready-to-eat meals and other supplies were on the ground in Texas, and shelter supplies were in place for more than
34,000 people. Supplies for an additional 18,000 were en route.
Aid across the region flowed in unlikely ways.
Do-it-yourself fundraising efforts, facilitated by sites such as GoFundMe, sprouted. By late Tuesday afternoon, a crowdfunding effort begun Sunday to help replace the belongings of students at KIPP Houston High School had not only raised more than $12,000 of its $20,000 goal — it was also trending on the website.
Elsewhere, a YouCaring effort to raise $3 million for victims of Harvey had raised $2 million.
Austin Pets Alive, based in the Texas capital, said Tuesday that it saved about 430 animals from Harvey’s floodwaters with the help of other pet welfare organizations. The groups expect to rescue 1,000 pets by week’s end.
Mary Mattia, the Austin group’s communication director, said Tuesday she was leading a caravan with pet supplies and transport kennels headed back to Houston. One of her team pulled a motorized canoe, and another member stopped at Walmart to pick up a few rubber boats, she said. “We’re going to figure it out for the animals,” Mattia said.