Rescuers search block by block
Communities struggle for normalcy even as new obstacles mount
“All we can do is quickly get our life back together. Get a new job, get a new place and get something going again.” Survivor Max Gonzales
Floodwaters knocked out the water system in Beaumont and prompted a chemical fire in Crosby as weary Southeast Texas struggled Thursday to regain some form of normalcy almost a week after Hurricane Harvey roared into the region.
In Houston, firefighters began a block-by-block search for survivors in some of the most devastated areas. In Port Arthur, officials tapped dump trucks to help.
In Beaumont, 100 miles east of Houston, flooding knocked out the main and secondary sources providing water to the city of more than 100,000.
City Manager Kyle Hayes scrambled to procure enough bottled water to head off an emergency.
In Crosby, 25 miles northeast of Houston, chemicals sparked flames that spewed black smoke from the Arkema plant.
In north Houston, Max Gonzales, 33, and his family were picked up by a Good Samaritan who contacted him after seeing him interviewed on local TV. Flooding had left them homeless.
“It’s really unbelievable that somebody would do this for us,” Gonzales said. “All we can do is quickly get our life back together. Get a new job, get a new place and get something going again.”