Community members evacuated to shelters, hotels
Updated Aug. 29, 2017, 7:15 p.m.
Dozens of Jewish community members have been evacuated to a makeshift shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston after Hurricane Harvey brought unprecedented flooding and devastation to the city and its environs.
Husband and wife Steve Wisch and Fern Bryan slept in cots on the floor of the GRB Sunday night, Aug. 27, after being forced to leave their Meyerland neighborhood, due to flooding.
“This is a real challenge and it’s horrible, but there are only two choices,” Wisch told the JHV on Monday afternoon, Aug. 28. “That’s to let it crush you, or survive.”
Wisch, 66, said he is choosing the latter.
The couple woke on Sunday morning to find floodwaters entering their Meyerland home, which is located on Wigton Drive near I-610. Brays Bayou crested earlier that morning.
“We began trying to salvage what we could as the water reached up to our knees or higher,” Wisch said.
During a brief lull in the rain, a neighbor across the street signaled for the couple to flee to their home, which was on higher ground. Wisch convinced his wife to cross in water deep enough to swim in, he noted. The neighbors offered them dinner and a dry bed to rest.
“They couldn’t have been kinder neighbors – like a gift from G-d,” Wisch said.
With rain threatening more flooding, the couple then decided it was necessary to evacuate the neighborhood altogether.
At around 7:30 p.m., Wisch and Bryan were transported by rescue boat to the Kroger parking lot on South Post Oak Road. From there, they boarded a large open-air truck, operated by the National Guard, which eventually delivered the couple and more than 40 other evacuees to the George R. Brown.
The truck ride, in particular, revealed that Hurricane Harvey has caused widespread devastation without discrimination, Wisch observed.
“It doesn’t matter how much or how little money you have, forces of nature are a great equalizer,” he said.
Wisch and Bryan registered at the shelter and received their cots. They were able to bring little else than the clothes on their backs. Upon arrival, they recognized many neighbors and other members of Houston’s Jewish community who also were evacuated to the GRB, they noted.
After a difficult night’s sleep, Wisch said they were served coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. Thereafter, they focused energy on trying to secure a hotel room and to plot their next moves.
The JHV spoke with Wisch again on Tuesday evening, Aug. 29. The couple did manage to find and move to a hotel, but a power-outage shortly after 8 p.m. displaced them once again. Currently, they are staying in a friend's garage apartment in West University Place.
While there have been reported complaints about food supplies at local shelters, Wisch, who still was at the GRB at the time, said he was grateful for their circumstances. Listening to those complaints made him think of what victims suffered during the Holocaust.
“I’m sure [Holocaust victims] would have gladly traded places with us, here, given what they endured,” he said.
Wisch added, “I feel like the study of Torah has prepared me well for crisis. It’s made me grateful for being alive. Life is most important. The highest priority is to be together and to be alive.
“Everything else can essentially be replaced,” he said.
Robin and Kevin Alter and two of their teenage children also were forced to evacuate from their Meyerland home on Sunday and were taken to a public shelter.
Fleeing rising water in their home on North Brasewood Boulevard, the Alters sought refuge in their garage and climbed atop vehicles in search of higher ground. They waited all afternoon to be picked up by a rescue boat.
The decision to call for help was difficult, the Alters noted. During the 2015 Memorial Day Flood, Kevin’s parents, Shirley and Jack Alter, of blessed memory, drowned in floodwaters along Brays Bayou after their rescue boat capsized.
Kevin and Robin and their children made it safely to I-610. Many families from Willow Meadows and United Orthodox Synagogues were taken to the same location after being rescued from flooded homes. After waiting there for about an hour, the Alters were loaded into the back of a city dump truck. Another Jewish family, the Wadlers, were on the same transport, Robin noted.
As the truck slowly carved its way to the GRB, passengers held onto each other.
“Some people held up tarps over our heads to protect everyone from the rain,” Robin said. “There were a lot of people with pets, dogs and cats, and away they took us.
“The conversations along the drive were interesting,” she said. “People were talking about having just gotten things back into place from the 2015 or 2016 floods. So, many of us were repeat flooders, including us, of course.
“In a way, that made me feel better, because we had a room in our house with things that we hadn’t unpacked yet. That seemed to be a predicament others had, too,” she said.
Robin added, “Those of us who’ve flooded have to take the perspective that it’s just stuff.”
Wisch, looking ahead, believes Hurricane Harvey will have a lasting impact, geographically, on Houston’s Jewish community. He and his wife agreed that they might not be able to live in their Meyerland house again. Other community members face similar questions, they’ve admitted. Nevertheless, Wisch said he remains optimistic.
“It’s going to be a challenge, and I think challenges can be opportunities,” he said.
“The challenge is not over. There’ve been great losses – but I can accept those losses,” he said. “The challenge before us [as a community] is how we figure it out.”
He added, “I believe the whole theme of our people – the whole history of the Jewish people – is that we cohere during crisis and all of our differences fall away.
“I hope this is one of those times,” he said.
The Alters suffered worse flooding in their home during Hurricane Harvey compared to Memorial Day in 2015. They lost both vehicles this round and even photo albums that Robin stashed on raised shelves likely are gone, she feared.
“But, not having lost life, now, we got off better,” she said.
The Alters currently are staying in a hotel near Discovery Green Park. Because they had a dog with them, they were turned away from the George R. Brown.
After checking into the hotel, they took a shuttle to a nearby gas station, which abruptly closed shortly after they arrived. The family had to leave empty handed. At the hotel, they managed to wash their clothes – their only clothes – that they were wearing when they were forced to leave home.
“It’s amazing how much time you can save in the morning when you sleep in your clothes,” Robin told the JHV on Monday morning.
Like Wisch and Bryan, the Alters are choosing to survive. They’re also trying to keep a sense of humor as they cope with challenging circumstances.
Read more from the JHV on Hurricane Harvey
Dozens of Jewish community members have been evacuated to a makeshift shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston after Hurricane Harvey brought unprecedented flooding and devastation to the city and its environs.
Husband and wife Steve Wisch and Fern Bryan slept in cots on the floor of the GRB Sunday night, Aug. 27, after being forced to leave their Meyerland neighborhood, due to flooding.
“This is a real challenge and it’s horrible, but there are only two choices,” Wisch told the JHV on Monday afternoon, Aug. 28. “That’s to let it crush you, or survive.”
Wisch, 66, said he is choosing the latter.
The couple woke on Sunday morning to find floodwaters entering their Meyerland home, which is located on Wigton Drive near I-610. Brays Bayou crested earlier that morning.
“We began trying to salvage what we could as the water reached up to our knees or higher,” Wisch said.
During a brief lull in the rain, a neighbor across the street signaled for the couple to flee to their home, which was on higher ground. Wisch convinced his wife to cross in water deep enough to swim in, he noted. The neighbors offered them dinner and a dry bed to rest.
“They couldn’t have been kinder neighbors – like a gift from G-d,” Wisch said.
With rain threatening more flooding, the couple then decided it was necessary to evacuate the neighborhood altogether.
At around 7:30 p.m., Wisch and Bryan were transported by rescue boat to the Kroger parking lot on South Post Oak Road. From there, they boarded a large open-air truck, operated by the National Guard, which eventually delivered the couple and more than 40 other evacuees to the George R. Brown.
The truck ride, in particular, revealed that Hurricane Harvey has caused widespread devastation without discrimination, Wisch observed.
“It doesn’t matter how much or how little money you have, forces of nature are a great equalizer,” he said.
Wisch and Bryan registered at the shelter and received their cots. They were able to bring little else than the clothes on their backs. Upon arrival, they recognized many neighbors and other members of Houston’s Jewish community who also were evacuated to the GRB, they noted.
After a difficult night’s sleep, Wisch said they were served coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. Thereafter, they focused energy on trying to secure a hotel room and to plot their next moves.
The JHV spoke with Wisch again on Tuesday evening, Aug. 29. The couple did manage to find and move to a hotel, but a power-outage shortly after 8 p.m. displaced them once again. Currently, they are staying in a friend's garage apartment in West University Place.
While there have been reported complaints about food supplies at local shelters, Wisch, who still was at the GRB at the time, said he was grateful for their circumstances. Listening to those complaints made him think of what victims suffered during the Holocaust.
“I’m sure [Holocaust victims] would have gladly traded places with us, here, given what they endured,” he said.
Wisch added, “I feel like the study of Torah has prepared me well for crisis. It’s made me grateful for being alive. Life is most important. The highest priority is to be together and to be alive.
“Everything else can essentially be replaced,” he said.
Robin and Kevin Alter and two of their teenage children also were forced to evacuate from their Meyerland home on Sunday and were taken to a public shelter.
Fleeing rising water in their home on North Brasewood Boulevard, the Alters sought refuge in their garage and climbed atop vehicles in search of higher ground. They waited all afternoon to be picked up by a rescue boat.
The decision to call for help was difficult, the Alters noted. During the 2015 Memorial Day Flood, Kevin’s parents, Shirley and Jack Alter, of blessed memory, drowned in floodwaters along Brays Bayou after their rescue boat capsized.
Kevin and Robin and their children made it safely to I-610. Many families from Willow Meadows and United Orthodox Synagogues were taken to the same location after being rescued from flooded homes. After waiting there for about an hour, the Alters were loaded into the back of a city dump truck. Another Jewish family, the Wadlers, were on the same transport, Robin noted.
As the truck slowly carved its way to the GRB, passengers held onto each other.
“Some people held up tarps over our heads to protect everyone from the rain,” Robin said. “There were a lot of people with pets, dogs and cats, and away they took us.
“The conversations along the drive were interesting,” she said. “People were talking about having just gotten things back into place from the 2015 or 2016 floods. So, many of us were repeat flooders, including us, of course.
“In a way, that made me feel better, because we had a room in our house with things that we hadn’t unpacked yet. That seemed to be a predicament others had, too,” she said.
Robin added, “Those of us who’ve flooded have to take the perspective that it’s just stuff.”
Wisch, looking ahead, believes Hurricane Harvey will have a lasting impact, geographically, on Houston’s Jewish community. He and his wife agreed that they might not be able to live in their Meyerland house again. Other community members face similar questions, they’ve admitted. Nevertheless, Wisch said he remains optimistic.
“It’s going to be a challenge, and I think challenges can be opportunities,” he said.
“The challenge is not over. There’ve been great losses – but I can accept those losses,” he said. “The challenge before us [as a community] is how we figure it out.”
He added, “I believe the whole theme of our people – the whole history of the Jewish people – is that we cohere during crisis and all of our differences fall away.
“I hope this is one of those times,” he said.
The Alters suffered worse flooding in their home during Hurricane Harvey compared to Memorial Day in 2015. They lost both vehicles this round and even photo albums that Robin stashed on raised shelves likely are gone, she feared.
“But, not having lost life, now, we got off better,” she said.
The Alters currently are staying in a hotel near Discovery Green Park. Because they had a dog with them, they were turned away from the George R. Brown.
After checking into the hotel, they took a shuttle to a nearby gas station, which abruptly closed shortly after they arrived. The family had to leave empty handed. At the hotel, they managed to wash their clothes – their only clothes – that they were wearing when they were forced to leave home.
“It’s amazing how much time you can save in the morning when you sleep in your clothes,” Robin told the JHV on Monday morning.
Like Wisch and Bryan, the Alters are choosing to survive. They’re also trying to keep a sense of humor as they cope with challenging circumstances.
Read more from the JHV on Hurricane Harvey