Day One: June 30, 2010
As we land, bands of rain are coming ashore, pounding on the hood like an angry mob. We’re making the drive to Brownsville, the extreme southern tip of Texas. Some people have pulled over to the shoulder, while a car that passed us earlier has spun out so that it’s facing the wrong way.
We can appreciate how it feels to be a firefighter – heading into something when everyone else is heading out.
We learn that the winds are not the only danger to a hurricane. Streets are quickly filling up with water, and a town we just passed is experiencing a tornado.
The only place with power is a Pizza Hut where we meet up with reporters, locals, and other refugees of the storm. Everyone is watching this fury of nature while eating pepperoni pizza.
Alex’s landfall is an hour away, and we’re told to hunker down for the storm. Our GPS is telling us to take a road that it doesn’t know is flooded.
Already, over 500 people are staying in Red Cross-supported shelters. Families come and go in clusters. There is a great sense of family, responsibility, and caring in the shelters. Families are staying in high school gyms were many of them went to school.
Mi casa es su casa
Day 2 July 1, 2010
Daybreak is not as bad as feared. The big threat today is flooding. We’re expected to get another 4-6 inches on top of the half-foot that we got yesterday. The ground is saturated and the rivers are swollen, and there is nowhere for the rain to go.
We head to the first Red Cross shelter, and we catch the shelter manager taking down the sign. It’s closed, and that’s a good thing. When people don’t need our services that usually means their homes and loved ones are safe and sound. We move to the next shelter, and it’s the same story.
The shelter manager is a Catholic nun, and her motherly instincts make sure I get a nutritious lunch before I leave.
On to HQ, where a deserted building has been converted to a buzzing hub of activity. A line of emergency vehicles line the parking lot where volunteers across Texas have gathered. Many are retired senior citizens who have decades of hurricane experience. They’re eager to tell you stories of how this hurricane compared to ‘the big one’ in 1966.
Mass care workers are coordinating with Catholic Charities to reach out to an immigrant population who might not feel comfortable asking for social services outright.
All in a day’s work for the Red Cross.
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