It gives hope to recall the Previous Rebbe's prophecy about disasters through water in the days of
Moshiach. (
Even animals were
well-treated in the storm. In Houston, one man found a 10 foot alligator in his
living room. He and helpers tried to lasso it. Then specialists arrived. One jumped on
his back, taped his jaws shut, and the men carried it out to be transported to
a wildlife sanctuary.
Here are snippets from news
stories:
Operation
BBQ Relief pulls into Houston to comfort, nourish with smoked meat (Greg
Morago, Houston Chronicle, Aug. 30, 2017)
 |
| Some OperationBBQRelief Volunteers with reporter. They served over 300,000 meals to first responders, military, and Houston residents. |
Operation BBQ Relief (is) a non-profit
organization comprised of competition barbecue enthusiasts who respond to
natural disasters by hauling in their smokers and churning out hot barbecue
meals. Members of the organization - coming from
Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana and
other regions of Texas - began making their way to Houston Sunday and Monday,…
On Wednesday morning they began turning a
large parking lot into a barbecue village with about 30 volunteers, which by
the end of the week organizers expected would grow to 100. Operation BBQ Relief
co-founder Stan Hays of Kansas City, Mo., said his crew will be in Houston for
two, possibly three weeks and
is prepared to serve more than half a million meals to police, first
responders, emergency volunteers and evacuees.
When
911 Is Overwhelmed, Americans Keep Each Other Afloat
 |
A rescue underway in a flooded area of Houston after Harvey
CBS NEWS
|
I told the man in the boat that
we were paramedics trying to reach a patient. ‘Get in,’ he said. Mark Yost, Wall St.
Journal, Aug. 30, 2017
During a typical day, my suburb’s 911 communications center
has maybe 14 calls outstanding at any one time. On this day there were more
than 700. To help out, the National Guard had deployed its rescue boats, but
they were kept busy shuttling into neighborhoods and evacuating as many
stranded families as they could.
So we hitched a ride with a civilian, one of the army of
volunteers who showed up to help. He drove us into knee-deep water in his Super
Duty pickup to a rendezvous with a 12-foot flat-bottomed boat that was bringing
a family of six to dry ground. The boat belonged to a guy in his 40s and his
dad. I asked if they would take us into the apartment complex. That’s when the
dad inquired whether I was carrying a gun.
“Do I need one?” I asked.
“You might,” he said. “Last time we went in there, we had
to fight off some guys who tried to take our boat.”
I told him we were trying to reach a 911 call.
“Get in,” he said.
Los Angeles Fire Department gets
some Texas hospitality
 |
Los Angeles Swift Water Rescue
Team was one of several dispatched from Southern
California to help Harvey victims.
|
Phoenix
O'Connor, NewsWest9, Midland, TX, Sept. 6, 2017
"At about 10 p.m., the Los Angeles
County Swift Water Team showed up in Midland, they were headed back home,"
said Captain Bryce Pruitt with the Midland Fire Department.
Well, we should say almost home.
"We were planning on spending the
night in El Paso, Texas, and when we got the call we were being re-deployed
into Hurricane Irma," said Assistant Chief Steve Hissong with the Los
Angeles Fire Department.
The Los Angeles crew has spent more than
12 days helping people be rescued from the flooded waters in
Houston. Without a doubt, the Midland Central station showed a little
Texas hospitality.
"We put their equipment up
for the night, and gave them rides back to the Doubletree where they slept in a
good bed. Then we invited them back to central this (Wednesday) morning to feed
them before they get back on the road to Alabama," said Hissong.
The 24 Los Angeles crew members, now
with their bellies full, are ready to take on their next challenge.
Seattle
Fire Department Facebook Page, Sept. 9, 2017
Twenty five Seattle Firefighters who are
members of Washington Task Force 1 are headed to Florida as part of a Type 1
Task Force deployment to help those impacted by Hurricane Irma. This task force
consists of 80 personnel from around the Puget Sound region. Mark Larsen is
leading the Task Force. We also have an additional firefighter who is helping
with assigning incoming resources to the most impacted areas.
Seattle has an agreement with the Miami
Fire Department where their firefighters can use Seattle’s Fire Alarm Center as
an out-of-area contact to communicate with their families should local
telephone lines stop working.
Florida is in our thoughts during these
devastating times.
