Locals jump to help with Harvey response
The word “apathy” shouldn’t be in anyone’s vocabulary when describing Southwest Louisiana’s response to Hurricane Harvey last week.
Those who witnessed the bustling temporary shelter at the Civic Center will agree. Volunteers manned tables stacked with clothes, books and care items. A stream of pickup trucks and SUVs deposited food and supplies on the front steps, and local chefs worked with volunteers to cook meals throughout the day.
About 350 residents took shelter there Wednesday before being joined by evacuees from Southeast Texas.
Out in the field, too, residents partnered with emergency responders to rescue hundreds from their homes as heavy rains flooded the Terrace and other neighborhoods. At least 300 Lake Charles homes flooded in Harvey and hundreds more in east Calcasieu Parish.
In Vinton and Starks, people like Mark Nichols, caretaker of Niblett’s Bluff Park, stuck around to help rescue their neighbors even though their homes had flooded.
On Saturday, representatives from United Way, Catholic Charities, the Calcasieu Council on Aging, the Community Foundation and other volunteers made sure people leaving the Civic Center shelter had a safe place to go.
Then came the rebuilding. A group of churches led by pastor Braylon Harris of Mount Olive Baptist Church went to flood-affected areas in Lake Charles and signed 250 people up to receive help through Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster.
VOAD organizations and others are busy repairing people’s homes, like the Gen. Patch Street home of Virginia Matthis, that aren’t in a flood zone and weren’t insured.
Southwest Louisiana has yet to hear from the federal government about what funding, if any, will be available to uninsured homeowners who flooded.
But as Mayor Nic Hunter, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and others have noted this week, and as last week’s example has shown, the local community isn’t waiting around. With VOAD, local churches and Good Samaritans like Nichols around, people shouldn’t worry about having to tackle repairs alone.
To all those who were damaged, the community is behind you. To sign up for help, call United Way of Southwest Louisiana at 211.