Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,
While it’s true there are a lot of stories about division and heartlessness, there are many stories coming out of storm-torn Texas that will give you hope for humanity again.
Kindness and love for our neighbors isn’t dead, despite a politically divided country. This is proof that we can work together and give selflessly.
This isn’t to underplay the death and destruction, but to highlight our humanity in the face of disaster.
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Below, you can find 10 of my favorite heart-warming stories so far.
1. Four teenage boys rescued more than 50 people in Houston. After waking up to discover his beloved truck was under water, a 17-year-old Texas boy enlisted his younger brother and two other teens to get on a fishing boat and rescue more than 50 people – and their pets – and bring them to the safety of a local shelter. (source)
2. Members of the Cajun Navy resuscitated an elderly woman found floating face-down in the flood water. As they were guiding their boat down a waterway that was formerly a road, three volunteers realized that what they initially thought was debris was an elderly woman. They jumped in and began resuscitating her in the water, saving her life. They were able to reunite her with her family and say she is doing well. This isn’t the first time that the Cajun Navy has thrown themselves wholeheartedly into a rescue effort, and Houston is welcoming their contributions. (source)
3. When a stranded woman went into labor, a human chain, a fire department, and a dump truck got her to the hospital. Luckily for a woman who went into labor early, the neighborhood worked together to get her to the hospital in time to give birth. As her new baby girl required intensive care immediately after she was born, it was a good thing that she was not born at home. (source)
4. Some employees who were stranded at a bakery by the flood made bread for hungry survivors. The bakers were stuck at the bakery for two days, but instead of being idle, they worked all night long to make hundreds of loaves of pan dulce bread to help nourish fellow flood victims. (source)
5. Bass Pro provided 80 boats for search and rescue efforts. When Houston officials ran out of boats, they asked for volunteers with boats to come and help out. Bass Pro answered the call with the use of 80 of their boats and $40,000 in emergency supplies. (source)
6. Two furniture stores turned their locations into pet-friendly shelters. Mattress Mac welcomed displaced residents, their children, and their pets into their stores to provide them with a comfortable place to stay. (source)
7. A storm chaser rescued a lost dog. A storm chaser stopping for gas on his way home was surprised when a bedraggled dog hopped into his Jeep. After he posted a photo on social media, he was able to connect with the dog’s owner and return him. (source)
8. A reporter and camera crew in a boat rescued a stranded family shouting for help. As the crew went past a home, they heard people calling for a help. The family’s home was being flooded with waist-high water. Their elderly mother suffered from Alzheimer’s. They were helped onto the boat and taken to shelter. (source)
9. Not one to let a disaster get him down, this man caught a fish in his living room. Watch these three videos…
10. Anheiser Busch stopped producing beer to can water. The Georgia brewery stopped production to provide 155,000 cans of safe drinking water for flood victims.
We're sending more than 155,000 cans of emergency drinking water to those affected by #HurricaneHarvey. Stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/Wc1YzQQA9M
— Anheuser-Busch (@AnheuserBusch) August 29, 2017
These stories go to show you that we can all look past race, politics, and religious disagreements to help our neighbors, keep our spirits up, and perform acts of kindness. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could continue acting like neighbors after the disaster has passed?
Stories like that choke me up. To hear the girl laughing in the last video, even with her house underwater, is a reminder to never take hard times too seriously. Laughter really is the best medicine.
Someday, when the stormtroopers come to put me on the rack – after thinking about all of my best memories with family, friends, etc – I will remember stuff like this with a smile and in tribute to mankind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmNWjAeyvwU
Until then, though, whenever I go through “Houston” times, I just listen to a little Boston:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSR6ZzjDZ94
This is Texas after all. Some of those guns and religion clingers.
The guy diving for the fish in his living room was too funny.
When Hurricane Hugo kicked our ass in ’89 Anheuser Busch gave away canned water. I still have one or two cans kicking around somewhere.
Neighbors helping neighbors is what it always comes down to in events like this. All first hand accounts I’ve read of natural disasters on TBP bear this out. Even our dear departed AWD was helping tornado victims when his little corner of paradise got hammered. I’ve helped neighbors during a hurricane, two ice storms, a snowmageddon event and a hellacious wind storm we just had a few years back. I don’t ever recall the police or any other alphabet agency showing up to help in the immediate aftermath of those events. They did show up during the wind storm we had to declare people’s homes *condemned* and threatened to punish the owners if they attempted to stay in them.
Indent Service ,I would help you ?
The Final 1600 update from Houston
Posted on 08/30/2017 by Wirecutter
Partly sunny and 80s here now. The water on our highways is receding more quickly than I would have imagined. Roads are opening by the minute. Don’t get me wrong, entire sections of this city are balls deep and worse. There are still freeway underpasses that could float a fast attack submarine. Maybe 100 miles east of here in Beaumont, they are in the midst of high water rescues and evacuating retirement homes. I-10 is underwater between Houston and Beaumont.
What we haven’t heard about recently are areas to the west like Corpus Christi, Victoria and others that took the first landfall in the teeth. I’ve seen pictures from there of major hospital damage and the expected hurricane devastation. But that was several days ago. Since then, all local and national news coverage shifted east to Houston. There are dozens upon dozens of small towns between here and there. I’m sure they’re all dealing with their own horrors.
I’m going to head into the office tomorrow. It took a little damage but we’re operational. It was just the luck of the draw that spared our home and the path into the office. Twenty miles in any direction leads us to scene of destruction that one can’t truly appreciate until you see it in person.
At lunch today, we talked about just how well Houston has handled itself so far. The city, county and state agencies have been johnny-on-the-spot and making intelligent decisions. The people of Houston, SE Texas and the Cajun Navy crew have been remarkable. Neighbors expended their own time and resources to help neighbors. You’ve never seen more boats and lifted 4x4s in your entire life. If it could get through flood waters, those boys used it. While it can never be calculated, I guarantee they saved countless lives. The final hat tip goes to the federales. Almost immediately, we had Coast Guard, Navy, FEMA and DHS assets here and working. Following that was the National Guard. Not a few units, but the entire fuggin’ Texas National Guard!
I am not a native Texican. But I’m damn proud to live here now. The spirit of Texas is beyond amazing. We’ve all seen other disasters with people standing around, bemoaning the ‘government’ for not helping them. Not here. Not by a damn sight. Here, Texans helped Texans. Nobody worried about politics, race, religion or anything else. It has been awe inspiring to watch.
Thanks to all for tuning in for my ramblings. It has been cathartic. Special thanks to KL for publishing them.
It will take a while, but we will be ok. This is Texas.
Thanks, loaded4bear
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How all kinds of companies are helping out in Texas so far:
http://mashable.com/2017/08/28/harvey-corporate-relief/