Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Moments of Hope and Inspiration Rise Above the Chaos of Harvey

Alexendre Jorge evacuated Ethan Colman, 4, from a Houston neighborhood inundated by floodwaters on Monday.Credit...Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Considering the scale of the destruction Hurricane Harvey has brought to Texas, individual stories of the people affected could easily be overlooked.

There have been desperate pleas for help, selfless displays of courage and moments of humanity amid unfathomable disaster.

At times heartbreaking, at times inspiring, these are some of the moments that stand out.

Video
Video player loading
Harvey, now a tropical storm, pummeled Houston and the surrounding region, bringing catastrophic flooding and killing at least five people.CreditCredit...David J. Phillip/Associated Press

More than any hurricane before it, Harvey struck at a time when almost anyone can document their own experiences through social media.

The world has been able to see some of the dramatic rescues and acts of altruism that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

The Sheriff’s Office in Harris County, Tex., has tweeted photos of its rescue efforts.

Journalists often found themselves in situations that required them to switch gears from covering the story to participating in rescue efforts. David Lohr, a HuffPost reporter, lent his boat to firefighters for a rescue, while reporters from KTRK helped people trapped on a roof.

Ed Lavandera, a CNN reporter who was with rescuers, put his microphone down to help an older man into a boat from stomach-high waters in Dickinson, Tex.

On Wednesday, CNN employees, including the reporter Drew Griffin, rescued a man on live television.

Brandi Smith, a reporter for KHOU-TV in Houston, interrupted her live broadcast from a highway to alert rescuers to a truck driver stuck in floodwaters. Sheriff’s deputies rescued the man.

The Coast Guard offered a look inside one of its helicopters as it lifted people and pets to safety.

It didn’t take a boat or a position of authority to help others. A woman in Houston posted a video of neighbors forming a human chain through floodwater so a woman who went into labor could make it to a fire department truck.

And a chain of mattress stores in Houston was widely praised on social media for opening up its locations as makeshift shelters.

Video
Video player loading
Houston businessman Jim McIngvale opened his mattress store to flood victims, giving hundreds of men, women, children and pets a place to rest.
Video
Video player loading
Video from Houston before and after Harvey shows devastating flooding, with water concealing some of the surrounding area and deluging highways.CreditCredit...Richard Carson/Reuters

The New York Times has assembled some of the most striking images from photographers, while journalists gave voice to people in dire situations.

One woman who lacked food and water spoke to “Good Morning America” from the roof of a two-story building, where she waited for help.

An image of older women in waist-high water at an assisted-living center in Dickinson was shared thousands of times. They were rescued.

A Times reporter, Clifford Krauss, told the story of how his family in Houston had to flee to the second floor of their home. “All of our lives are going to be different for a while,” he wrote. “Probably a long while.”

To grasp the extent of the flooding, Gizmodo assembled drone footage from several YouTube videos.

Many animals were in just as much danger as humans, like these cows that police officers herded to higher ground.

Chance Ward of Cleveland, Tex., has been posting videos of efforts by him and his son to save livestock. One video of a horse rescue has been viewed more than 10 million times on Facebook.

An image of a dog lugging its own bag of food in Sinton, Tex., was widely shared. The dog had gotten loose but made it back home, The Houston Chronicle reported.

In other cases, the flooding led to unwanted visitors. Several images circulated showing mounds of fire ants in floodwaters, and one woman found alligators in her yard, not far from her patio.

Though they were clearly in a bad situation, a family wouldn’t let their circumstances stop them from a few laughs as a man tried to catch a fish inside their house. (We suggest watching all three of the videos.)

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT