Community hard hit by Hurricane Harvey flooding
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Residents in Willow Meadows rescued their neighbors in boats early Sunday morning as Hurricane Harvey floodwaters devastated Southwest Houston.
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Several rescues were performed in the Willow Meadows subdivision during the early hours of Sunday, Aug. 27, as Houston suffered catastrophic flooding a day after Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the Texas Gulf Coast.
According to early reports, unprecedented levels of flooding are widespread throughout the city and county. Local residents have become first responders.
Jenelle Garner, who helps leads a volunteer emergency response team in Willow Meadows, said her sons, Yari and Akiva, and another student from Robert M. Beren Academy, Noah Diner, performed a home rescue during the night. The teens were in the process of rescuing another neighbor on Sunday morning at around 8 a.m.
Another volunteer, Michael Gross, also performed several rescues as homes in Willow Meadow took in several feet of water, Garner noted.
“People who have never flooded before are flooding now,” Garner told the JHV early Sunday morning.
Dozens of homes in the area that flooded during the 2016 Tax Day Flood and the 2015 Memorial Day Flood have flooded once again, according to residents.
“It’s really bad here,” Garner said. “We might be forced to leave also. This is the first time I would ever think about leaving.
“The problem is, I don’t know where we’d go, because even the homes that have been built up are now taking in water,” she said. “This is going to be so widespread, worse than we’ve ever seen.”
The emergency response team spent the latter part of last week scrambling to prepare for the incoming Category 4 hurricane. The initial impact on Houston was mild compared to local flooding events on Sunday night.
Amy Goldstein is another leader from the emergency response team. She lives a few miles west of Willow Meadows in the Meyerland-area near Beth Israel synagogue.
Much of the Meyerland-area also was under water after Brays Bayou crested.
“I’m on the kitchen counter right now with my daughter and our cats,” Goldstein told the JHV by phone shortly after 8 a.m. “We’re stuck.”
With several inches of floodwater in her home, Goldstein was forced to turn attention to her own rescue.
“Right now, I need a boat,” she said. “It’s ironic being on a team doing all this rescue, yet I didn’t have everything together for myself.”
Goldstein and her 14-year-old daughter have elderly neighbors who also are trapped in their homes. Goldstein was calling the city’s non-emergency help line, 3-1-1, to try to organize a group rescue for their block.
A few blocks east along Brays Bayou, the JHV spoke with Robin and Kevin Alter, whose home on North Braeswood Boulevard now has flooded three times in three years.
“We’re home, slowly watching the water come in,” said Alter at around 6:30 a.m. “At first it was one room, then the next. We tried to find where it was coming from, and it was coming in from all the doors – the front, the back, the sides.
“And, it was coming up from the foundation,” she said.
Within a few minutes, the water level inside the home reached nearly 2 feet.
“I thought we did a good job lifting things up and using every available upper shelf,” Alter said. “But, I was worried about the playroom, because we still had boxes from the last time we flooded, and we also have things in there from Kevin’s parents. And, of course, the water has now come into the playroom.”
Kevin’s parents, Shirley and Jack Alter, both of blessed memory, drowned during the 2015 Memorial Day Flood after their fire department rescue boat capsized near Brays Bayou shortly after the couple had been picked up from Kevin and Robin’s home.
Kevin and Robin spent Sunday morning preparing for their own evacuation, if needed. When they woke their two children later that morning, the water had reached bed-level.
Linda Burger, CEO of Jewish Family Service of Houston, lives on the other side of Brays Bayou. The Burgers also re-flooded this weekend. By 7 a.m. on Sunday, the first floor of their home had taken in water.
“We are safe, but we have more water than last time,” Burger told the JHV.
With roads impassable, offices closed and rain still falling on Sunday morning, Burger said that JFS is working remotely to return phone calls to those in need.
“We’re trying to help people manage anxiety and calm nerves while we get through this initial phases,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC is prepared to serve as an emergency supplies donation and distribution site as soon as the storm lifts. Burger said JFS will have case workers on site at the J to help expedite the recovery process.
Jewish community leaders planned to hold a conference call at noon on Sunday to assess the situation and needs.
Back in Willow Meadows, homes on high ground were taking in displaced neighbors. “I’ve never seen the water level reach our driveway before, but our car is gone,” said Adam Hoffman, a student from Beren Academy, whose family by 9 a.m. had already taken in 10 neighbors who were flooded out.
“If I open our door right now, water will come in,” he said.
According to early reports, unprecedented levels of flooding are widespread throughout the city and county. Local residents have become first responders.
Jenelle Garner, who helps leads a volunteer emergency response team in Willow Meadows, said her sons, Yari and Akiva, and another student from Robert M. Beren Academy, Noah Diner, performed a home rescue during the night. The teens were in the process of rescuing another neighbor on Sunday morning at around 8 a.m.
Another volunteer, Michael Gross, also performed several rescues as homes in Willow Meadow took in several feet of water, Garner noted.
“People who have never flooded before are flooding now,” Garner told the JHV early Sunday morning.
Dozens of homes in the area that flooded during the 2016 Tax Day Flood and the 2015 Memorial Day Flood have flooded once again, according to residents.
“It’s really bad here,” Garner said. “We might be forced to leave also. This is the first time I would ever think about leaving.
“The problem is, I don’t know where we’d go, because even the homes that have been built up are now taking in water,” she said. “This is going to be so widespread, worse than we’ve ever seen.”
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| For the JHV: WENDY WATERMAN Michael Gross performed several boat rescues in Willow Meadows early Sunday morning, Aug. 27. |
The emergency response team spent the latter part of last week scrambling to prepare for the incoming Category 4 hurricane. The initial impact on Houston was mild compared to local flooding events on Sunday night.
Amy Goldstein is another leader from the emergency response team. She lives a few miles west of Willow Meadows in the Meyerland-area near Beth Israel synagogue.
Much of the Meyerland-area also was under water after Brays Bayou crested.
“I’m on the kitchen counter right now with my daughter and our cats,” Goldstein told the JHV by phone shortly after 8 a.m. “We’re stuck.”
With several inches of floodwater in her home, Goldstein was forced to turn attention to her own rescue.
“Right now, I need a boat,” she said. “It’s ironic being on a team doing all this rescue, yet I didn’t have everything together for myself.”
Goldstein and her 14-year-old daughter have elderly neighbors who also are trapped in their homes. Goldstein was calling the city’s non-emergency help line, 3-1-1, to try to organize a group rescue for their block.
A few blocks east along Brays Bayou, the JHV spoke with Robin and Kevin Alter, whose home on North Braeswood Boulevard now has flooded three times in three years.
“We’re home, slowly watching the water come in,” said Alter at around 6:30 a.m. “At first it was one room, then the next. We tried to find where it was coming from, and it was coming in from all the doors – the front, the back, the sides.
“And, it was coming up from the foundation,” she said.
Within a few minutes, the water level inside the home reached nearly 2 feet.
“I thought we did a good job lifting things up and using every available upper shelf,” Alter said. “But, I was worried about the playroom, because we still had boxes from the last time we flooded, and we also have things in there from Kevin’s parents. And, of course, the water has now come into the playroom.”
Kevin’s parents, Shirley and Jack Alter, both of blessed memory, drowned during the 2015 Memorial Day Flood after their fire department rescue boat capsized near Brays Bayou shortly after the couple had been picked up from Kevin and Robin’s home.
Kevin and Robin spent Sunday morning preparing for their own evacuation, if needed. When they woke their two children later that morning, the water had reached bed-level.
Linda Burger, CEO of Jewish Family Service of Houston, lives on the other side of Brays Bayou. The Burgers also re-flooded this weekend. By 7 a.m. on Sunday, the first floor of their home had taken in water.
“We are safe, but we have more water than last time,” Burger told the JHV.
With roads impassable, offices closed and rain still falling on Sunday morning, Burger said that JFS is working remotely to return phone calls to those in need.
“We’re trying to help people manage anxiety and calm nerves while we get through this initial phases,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC is prepared to serve as an emergency supplies donation and distribution site as soon as the storm lifts. Burger said JFS will have case workers on site at the J to help expedite the recovery process.
Jewish community leaders planned to hold a conference call at noon on Sunday to assess the situation and needs.
Back in Willow Meadows, homes on high ground were taking in displaced neighbors. “I’ve never seen the water level reach our driveway before, but our car is gone,” said Adam Hoffman, a student from Beren Academy, whose family by 9 a.m. had already taken in 10 neighbors who were flooded out.
“If I open our door right now, water will come in,” he said.
Reader Comments
Miranda martinez • Mam7210@gmail.comAUG 30, 2017 • Do you know the condition of the house in the middle of Sarong Drive. Specifically house 4406. We are concerened family. Please help
Esther Lashak • Elashak@gmail.com
AUG 27, 2017 • Meyerland is terribly flooded, our house is raised 7 feet and we are dry. We already took 12 people and waiting for more if they can get here safely. An helicopter was over S. Braeswood and rescued 4 people. We are praying for all to be safe.