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    <title>I Went to the Flood Expecting Misery. I Found Humanity. - The New York Times</title>
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<p class="byline-dateline"><span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" >By <span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="JAMES G. MACKAY" itemprop="name">JAMES G. MACKAY</span></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2017-09-06T13:59:53-04:00" itemprop="dateModified" content="2017-09-06T13:59:53-04:00">SEPT. 5, 2017</time>
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<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="488" data-total-count="488">AUSTIN, Tex. — As I sat in my office complaining about the rain we were having here more than a week ago, I stumbled across a Facebook page run by the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department and the words hit me like a bus. “Fellow First Responders who are willing to go in and help we need certified, capable able-bodied people to come help,” it read. As my wife read the post over my shoulder, she put her hand on me and said, “Be safe down there sweetheart.” She knew I was going.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="461" data-total-count="949">I quickly assembled my gear and within a couple of hours I was driving south on I-35, headed for Rockport. I remember feeling unusually calm as I made my way south and tried to imagine what I would face once I arrived. NPR was airing segments from Corpus Christi, and eye witnesses were describing the scene in near-apocalyptic terms. There was a certain amount of focus placed on reports of price gouging and looting. I began to mentally prepare for the worst.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="464" data-total-count="1413">As I made my way into the city of Rockport, the devastation was profound. Power poles were leaning at 45-degree angles for miles or snapped cleanly in half, R.V. trailers and large boats littered the landscape — nearly all of them completely destroyed. Structures were literally ripped in half or obliterated by the 150 miles per hour winds and thousands of once-mighty oaks now blocked roads, driveways and doors. Rockport had sustained a life-threatening blow.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="382" data-total-count="1795">Within five minutes of checking in with Gillian Tate, public information officer for the Rockport volunteer fire department, I was assigned to a crew, and the work began. I was paired with Jon Lewis, another first responder from San Antonio who served several years as a firefighter before suffering a career-ending injury. Jon had read the same Facebook post and was there to help.</p><div id="story-ad-1" class="story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ">
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<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="911" data-total-count="2706" id="story-continues-1">At least six of the Rockport firefighters had lost their homes. With their families safe in other towns, they now lived at the main station and would have to wait to deal with their loss — now was the time to take care of their community. As we sectioned off the city and started going door-to-door searching for people who may have been trapped in their homes, many of us felt overwhelmed by the destruction. Jon had made contact with a middle-aged couple who were caring for their infirm mother. The house was relatively intact, but with no electricity. Jon had brought a generator from San Antonio, and within minutes this family had enough power to run the necessary medical equipment, a fan and the refrigerator. Jon would visit them several more times over the coming week to refuel the generator and bring fresh water and food. By the time I left Rockport, this family was still relatively comfortable.</p><div class="newsletter-signup variant-1-hidden " id="newsletter-promo" data-newsletter-productCode="TY" data-newsletter-productTitle="Opinion Today" aria-labeledby="newsletter-promo-heading">
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<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="454" data-total-count="3160">Beginning about Sunday people began showing up to the main fire station bringing bottled water and food for the hundred or more first responders now housed in the facility. Everyone who came to deliver these goods asked, “What else do you need?” We requested a couple of chain saws to help clear trees from vital roadways. The next day we had 14 brand new saws, complete with extra chains, fuel and oil, and three days after that we had upward of 30.</p>        <a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="#story-continues-2">Continue reading the main story</a>
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        <p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="691" data-total-count="3851" id="story-continues-3">The donations continued. Socks, gloves, toiletries, bug spray, sunblock, shovels, rakes, crowbars, batteries, hand sanitizer and other essential items poured into the fire station. The seeds of humanity were sprouting in the water-saturated devastation. People from around the state were showing up in cars, vans and pickup trucks filled with donations. It became a logistics challenge as the main station was already out of space, and by the sixth day after Harvey had made landfall the department was able to clear out their west station, converting it into a makeshift warehouse. Volunteers helped manage the operation, which freed up firefighters to concentrate on their primary mission.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="839" data-total-count="4690">There were also specialized response crews from Mexico who paid their own way to assist in the effort. One crew in particular, led by Mauricio Pantoja, brought a crew of five, ranging in age from 19 to 55. They had a cadaver dog, Titon, able to detect human remains in up to 15 feet of water. Mauricio spoke a moderate amount of English and translated conversations between his crew and ours during the evening after the curfew went into effect. “Jim, you and I are brothers,” he said to me. “We are here helping our brothers, we are the same. Borders keep brothers from brothers no matter where, what country. It is no good. We are all brothers.” For perhaps the first time I became very disappointed in myself for not knowing enough Spanish to have a conversation with my brothers. I have added learning Spanish to my to-do list.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="1013" data-total-count="5703">While there were a few isolated incidents of looting and price gouging, the prevailing theme in Rockport was one of neighbor helping neighbor and stranger helping stranger. I saw at least three families who brought pop-up shelters and Texas-size barbecue grills and were simply cooking food in whatever parking lot they could find. They had spray-painted signs made from large pieces of debris that read “FREE Food and Drinks — All Welcome.” These were people with no ties to the community; they just wanted to help in whatever way they could. Some organized themselves into groups like “Harvey’s Helpers” who set up a Facebook page and live-streamed up-to-the-minute requests for necessary items. Church groups provided food, clothing, diapers, portable air-conditioners and spiritual comfort to those who desperately needed the healing power of fellowship. Looters? Too few to even acknowledge, and those that were foolish enough to try and prey on the victims of Harvey were chased off or arrested.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="625" data-total-count="6328">I file this report from an interesting perspective. As a first responder, I was on the front line and had access to places others did not. I had direct contact with both victims and relief volunteers, and in many instances, was able to connect them to one another. My perspective is also unique in that I had little, if any, exposure to outside news — save for Gillian, who kept the world abreast of what was happening and what was needed via the department’s Facebook page. Before I arrived in Rockport, the situation sounded bad. Once I engaged in the recovery effort, however, I found that humanity was alive and well.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="560" data-total-count="6888">I am home now, but I would like readers to understand that Rockport, just like many other communities along the Gulf Coast, will need continued support for months, if not years, as they rebuild. I’d ask that anyone who reads this to donate to the American Red Cross. The Rockport Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page has a link to a GoFundMe page set up to help the firefighters (all of whom are unpaid volunteers) and their families. It is the least we can do for the selfless and humble people who have kept the spirit of their community burning bright.</p><footer class="story-footer story-content">
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                <div class="story-notes"><p>James G. MacKay is a certified firefighter and a first sergeant in the Air Force reserve.</p></div>
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