From August 26-30, Hurricane Harvey pounded the south Texas coast, leading to unprecedented flooding.
The storm affected several OBU students. Alex Holder, a senior accounting major from Sour Lake, Texas, had four feet and nine inches of water inside her house.
“All the flooring is destroyed, all appliances are destroyed, and kitchen cabinets are destroyed,” Holder said. “Everything that was left downstairs.”
Winston Gentry, a senior music major from Houston, managed to escape damage. According to Gentry, his parents “are helping out as much as they can, and they’ve taken in another family.”
Both students were at OBU when the hurricane hit.
“I was glad to be up here so I didn’t have to evacuate in a boat,” Holder said. “It was good not to be there while the waters were rising, but after it was all said and done, it was hard not to be with my parents.”
“The hardest part for me was not being able to do anything about it, having to push it all aside so I can stay on top of school,” Gentry added.
Mike Pritchard, a facilities management worker, made the trek to the Houston area shortly after the storm passed. Pritchard is a Tech 1 team leader for the National Association Search and Rescue, an Advanced Swift Water technician, an Advanced High-angle Rope tech, a medical first responder and a firefighter.
“My original orders were to deploy in Lumberton, Texas, with Arkansas Taskforce 1 and Arkansas Game and Fish to engage in swift water rescues,” Pritchard said. “Because of continuous flooding, before we arrived we were redirected to Kountze, Texas. There we transported about 40 people and supplies south of Kountze to Kountze, where there was a relief shelter.”
OBU students can get just as involved, but in other ways. The Elrod Center is organizing a variety of ways for students to help hurricane victims.
“The best way to help is to make donations. We are recommending that students send them to Arkansas Baptist Relief efforts as we have a high confidence that the donations will be used in a responsible manner to provide direct relief,” said Ian Cosh, vice president for community and international engagement. As an extension of Tiger Serve Day, the Elrod Center is organizing a disaster relief team to travel to Houston on Friday, September 22 through Sunday, September 24. The Elrod Center is equipped to take up to 50 volunteers and the team will focus on doing clean-up work in homes that were damaged in the Houston area.
Cosh believes that although these efforts will take time, they will help unite OBU as a whole.
“Common experiences, both positive and negative, always pull people together,” Cosh said. “In a major disaster, good people have the chance to show their compassion and practical caring, and that is always inspiring and uniting. The key is to make sure that we understand we are involved in a marathon and not a sprint. The recovery efforts are going to take months and even years.”
Pritchard and his team experienced the same sense of camaraderie in their cause. “My local team is all volunteers who love helping people in their hours of need,” he said. “I’m proud of what I do, but self-recognition is not why I do it. I do it to help others, with God’s help.”
Both Holder and Gentry are managing to stay positive throughout the ordeal.
“People aren’t worrying about political stuff, and are just helping people because we’re all in the same boat. Harvey didn’t care who it targeted, so we shouldn’t care who we help,” Gentry said. “From what I’ve heard from friends and family, the morale is pretty strong.”
“There’s no point sitting there mourning what you’ve lost. You take what happened and you make the best out of it and move forward,” said Holder. “Just continue to pray for the area. A lot of people lost everything and it’s very devastating. Going and helping is good, but the best thing you can do is pray.”
To sign up for the Elrod Center’s disaster relief team, go by the Elrod Center by today, September 15, between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon or 1 and 5 p.m.
By Morgan Howard, Staff Writer
