Hurricane Harvey brings Houston community together, just like home
The impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma has been unprecedented. But in the midst of record-breaking winds, flooding and displacement, one thing has remained constant throughout — the sense of community created amid the storm.
I recently returned from a week in Houston — a trip I’d planned long before Hurricane Harvey did its damage. It wasn’t until I was on the ground and got a first-hand look at the devastation that I realized it was my friend’s neighborhood I had been watching on national television.
Reporters were floating down streets, interviewing people whose houses were submerged in water. A week after the water receded, I passed the same houses, saw the same people, and felt the same melancholy. Every possession was sitting out in the front yard wet and rotting. But amongst the heat, humidity, stench of mildewing wood, and the sound of power tools cutting out the inner walls of the homes, I felt hope.
It all seemed OK because neighbors were talking, hugging each other — even laughing. I saw a man who was proudly introducing his new dog — a mutt who had been abandoned in the storm. One family had fresh coffee, cold water, and sweet treats stocked every day in their front yard with a sign welcoming first-responders and clean-up crews. Another neighbor had a garage full of cleaning products and safety gear he was handing out to anyone who asked. These are the visions I brought back with me.
What I felt in Houston was the same sense of community I know and love in Yuma.
When the chips are down, we need people around us that we can depend on. Remember when the Stewart Vincent Wolfe Creative Playground was burned to the ground? Our community immediately took action to raise money and have the park returned to its former glory. Even with money left over to make additional improvements. How about when the Yuma Territorial Prison was being threatened with closure? The community rallied to make sure nothing happened to our town’s crown jewel. I see this over and over again.
I certainly hope we never see anything as catastrophic as what Texas did, but I do feel comforted to know that if a need ever did arise, I’m in a community that cares.
Anna Chaulk is the community affairs manager for APS. She can be reached at anna.chaulk@aps.com.