HOUSTON — Mr Jeremy Sparkman, a healthcare worker, cut short his vacation in the Ozark Mountains.
Mr Chris Pustejovksy, a horse wrangler, collected money and supplies and led a convoy down from
Fort Worth. Mr Rick Ngo, a surgeon, paddled over from a nearby sub-division.
On Wednesday (Aug 30), they joined dozens of other volunteers who piloted bass boats, jet skis and
aluminum dinghies through the caramel-colored floodwaters of west Houston to ferry hundreds of residents
to safety, part of an impromptu flotilla that has played a prominent role in the recovery from the worst storm
to hit Texas in more than 50 years.
“I usually just use this boat for drinking beer,” said Mr Sparkman as he steered his flat-bottomed boat
around submerged pickup trucks. “But we come together when we need to — that’s what Texans do.”
Volunteers from as far away as Canada have converged on southeast Texas over the past week to help
pull residents out of danger, giving a crucial boost to professional rescuers who have been at times
overwhelmed by a storm that paralyzed the United States’ fourth largest city and displaced more than
1 million people in Texas and Louisiana.
Authorities took down their phone numbers and locations and dispatched them over the next several days
to residents who called for help, pairing them up with professional rescue workers where possible.
“That got us over a crucial 24 hours when we were short,” Mr Sanchez said.
Harvey dumped a record 50 inches of rain over parts of Houston, putting much of the sprawling city under
water but leaving telecommunications networks largely intact. That has enabled rescuers to use cell phones, smartphone apps like Zello and social media to figure out where to go - either at the direction of professional responders or on their own.
Bruce Margolis, a retired Harris County emergency-services commissioner, put out an appeal on his Facebook team on Monday for boat owners to join his rescue effort and posted his cell phone number so flood
victims could request help.
By Wednesday, his so-called Caveman Rescue Team had grown to about 15 volunteers who were
camping out on his property and conducting rescue missions in Houston, Beaumont and Port Arthur.
He had also raised more than US$4,000 (through a GoFundMe page to cover fuel and other expenses.
Standing knee-deep in flood water in a west Houston neighborhood, Margolis fielded a steady stream of
phone calls as he helped residents clamber out of boats and onto a bridge that formed a rare spit of dry
land. At the end of the day he said he had received 225 text messages requesting help.
Nearby, Dallas resident Allie Boyter kept her eye on her iPhone in a waterproof bag, directing rescuers to
specific addresses where evacuees had said other residents were still at risk. “I’m about to get on a jet
ski and go save a cat for an 85-year-old lady,” she said.
Stranded residents have also turned to social media for help, posting their requests under the Twitter
hashtag #harveysos. As of Thursday evening, more than 4,000 of those residents had been rescued,
according to Harvey SOS Tracker, a Web site set up to map those requests.
Local officials initially discouraged residents from posting their rescue appeals on Twitter and urged them
to call 911 again. But emergency phone lines were jammed by Saturday afternoon and local officials tried
to monitor Twitter and Facebook as well to pinpoint those in need.
The work can be risky. Two volunteers died and two more were missing after their boat was swept into
a swollen river in northeast Houston on Monday, according to the Houston Chronicle. Another three
people on the boat, including two journalists, were hospitalised.
Mr Pustejovksy, the horse wrangler, said he had been bitten by fire ants and dodged alligators and snakes as he plunged through neck-deep water to carry people out of their homes.
“I told my boy if you don’t want to see stuff you ain’t never going to forget, don’t come,” he said. His
24-year-old son volunteered anyway, he said.
Despite the dangers, a sense of good cheer prevailed on Wednesday in a west Houston neighborhood
that flooded when authorities released water from two nearby reservoirs that were in danger of spilling
over.
“I used back muscles I didn’t know I had before,” said Mr Ngo, who said he and a friend had paddled
about 20 residents to safety in an inflatable raft. The surgeon said he heard about the need for help
through his neighborhood men’s group.
Mr Chris Manuel waded ashore with his five-year-old son, his wife and their miniature poodle — their
second water rescue in after they abandoned their house and their friends’ house. “We’re taking it day
by day. I’m a bit knackered,” he said.
As flood waters in Houston have receded and Harvey has wheeled east, officials say the demand for
water rescues has abated. That has at times led to tensions between the professional rescuers and the
citizen volunteers who lack their level of training.
With the wind picking up on Wednesday afternoon, FEMA officials ordered volunteers to pull back from
the flooded neighbourhood in west Houston.
Texas state trooper Brian Coleman, soaking wet after falling into a manhole, tried to break the news
gently. “You’re doing a hell of a job,” he told one rescuer.
But when another volunteer began shouting about “disorganisation,” Trooper Coleman put his foot
down.
“Where’s your car? Walk that way now. See you later, sir,” he said to Jason Kugler, who marched back
across the bridge.
“This is not my first hurricane!” Mr Kugler shouted in response.
As the Texas National Guard and other professional rescue teams moved in, civillian volunteers traded
tips about where to head next. Others opted to keep up the search. “You want to defy the law? I’m good
with that,” Mr Eric Soluri, a retired San Antonio policeman, told a friend as he quietly slipped his boat
back into the floodwaters. REUTERS