A bowling alley has become ground zero for relief efforts in Port Arthur, Texas after historic flooding from tropical storm Harvey which dumped close to the city’s annual rainfall in the space of three days.
There were emotional scenes at the Max Bowl on Thursday afternoon as those evacuated from their homes in the small Gulf Coast city struggled to piece together their lives and wondered what the next steps would bring.
People searched through bundles of donated clothing for items, waited in line for hot food and tried to keep children occupied in the leisure center, which was broken open by fire crews on Monday night, after gaining permission from the Good Samaritan owner, to protect displaced people from the life-threatening weather. The original shelter, at the Bob Bowers Civic Center, flooded.
Storm surges swamped Port Arthur and the surrounding area of East Texas earlier in the week after Hurricane Harvey rounded on the Lone Star State for a second time, making landfall as a tropical storm, bringing ferocious winds and torrential rains.
Max Bowl Bowling alley has been open as a safe place for evacuees to take shelter and receive clothing, food and water
It’s not the usual fare for bowlers at the Max Bowl snack bar. Hurricane Harvey evacuees are seen getting food from the facility now being used used as a temporary shelter for the flood victims
Storm surges swamped Port Arthur and the surrounding area of East Texas earlier in the week after Hurricane Harvey rounded on the Lone Star State for a second time, making landfall as a tropical storm, bringing ferocious winds and torrential rains
Parents tried to keep children occupied in the leisure center, which was broken open by fire crews on Monday night
People searched through bundles of donated clothing for items, waited in line for hot food after gaining permission from the Good Samaritan owner of the bowling alley
Cots were placed in the 40 lanes of the recreation center
The official death toll from the natural disaster is 47 but officials expect this number to rise as the water recedes and a grim search for bodies gets underway.
Some residents reported walking neck-high through floodwaters holding their pets and most precious possessions above their heads.
Army veteran Keith Francis, 62, was evacuated from his single-story home with his wife, Lora, 53, his 13-year-old daughter Ski, and two German shepherds, Big Boy and Jasper.
The disabled veteran, who suffers from anxiety attacks, heart, blood pressure and back ailments, had made a camp on a bowling lane, carefully laying out his Bible and surviving medication on the cot.
Francis, who served in the 34th signal battalion and volunteered for active duty in the Vietnam War when he was 18, told DailyMail.com that he had lost everything he had ever worked for.
‘The house is gone, the water and mold got into everything. My wife and I built the house around 2000 in a safe area of Port Arthur where we were told we didn’t need flood insurance. We got through Katrina, we got through Rita.
‘I’ve never seen water like this, we’ve never seen anything like this. We never heard the pumps going. My family has lost everything.’
Francis, who is retired from ExxonMobil, added: ‘Look it up on Google Maps: you’ll say, “Wow, what a beautiful home he had.”’
Army veteran Keith Francis, 62, was evacuated from his single-story home with his wife, Lora, 53, his 13-year-old daughter Ski, and two German shepherds, Big Boy and Jasper
The veteran, who is a devout member of the Beaumont Church of Christ, said that water started seeping under his house’s front door and garage on Sunday but at first he wasn’t worried because the water pumps drained the flooding. He’s setting up a cout on Lane 40
The veteran, who is a devout member of the Beaumont Church of Christ, said that water started seeping under his house’s front door and garage on Sunday but at first he wasn’t worried because the water pumps drained the flooding.
But by Monday afternoon, the water was on the rise.
Francis said: ‘We called 911 but we couldn’t get though, they were completely overwhelmed.
‘I told my wife and daughter to get in a volunteer rescue boat on Monday around 1.30pm but I couldn’t leave my dogs, they were completely traumatized.
‘The rescuers said they would come back for me but no one came. At 7pm, the house was really starting to fill up with water. The water was up to waist level so I was sitting on the top edge of a chair, propped against the wall.
The power had gone out. I was trying to keep out of the dark water and keep the dogs calm.’
He was rescued at 10am on Tuesday by a boat crew. ‘There were no voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders so we stayed,’ Francis said. ‘When I arrived here [bowling alley], it was hot and humid. There was several hundred people. People were lying on the floors, there weren’t many cots to go around. People were standing outside in the rain to beat the crowds inside.
‘We haven’t seen anyone from FEMA or the Red Cross out here.
All these people are in extremely unsanitary conditions. The volunteers are doing everything they can but we haven’t seen FEMA or the Red Cross.
‘There are no showers here and the bathrooms, well, you don’t even want to go in there.
‘With all that standing water comes lots of bacteria and mosquitoes.’
The veteran said he hoped that President Trump’s administration would make good on their promises of help. ‘Trump said he was going to “Make America Great Again”. Well, what is he going to do for all these people? If you’re the president, act like the president.’
He added: ‘A lot of people here have lost everything. The poorest of the poor, at least most of them had a car to get to work but now they don’t even have that.
‘Trump is claiming America is so great. This is like a third world country.
‘I love the flag and I served the flag. I heard Kennedy when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.
‘But now I need my country to do for me. I cannot eat the flag. People here are in desperate need of help.’
Also at the shelter, was 91-year-old Josephine Henry, originally from New Iberia, who moved to Port Arthur in 2008 after her husband passed away.
She told DailyMail.com that she had been at the shelter since Wednesday as all her relatives’ homes were underwater. She left her first-floor apartment in knee-deep water, bringing her purse, a small case and her family Bible in leather protective cover.
By some local estimates, 54 inches of rain fell over 72 hours in the Port Arthur area – the average annual rainfall for the Port Arthur area is 60 inches
Josephine Henry, 91, wears a flora dress and clutches her family Bible as she waits inside the Max Bowl Bowling Alley waiting for her family to come save her in Port Arthur, Texas.
‘I had a time getting out of there,’ she said. ‘The boat picked me up.’
The 91-year-old said she was very grateful to have found a place to stay and to get something to eat.
‘I slept on two chairs because I’m unable to lie down anymore but I managed to get some sleep,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘By God’s grace and mercy, I am still here.’
Minutes later, her daughter Lena Kelly, 61, and son-in-law, Nelson Kelly, 66, arrived to collect her and bring her to their home.
Tomika Williams, 40, cradled her one-year-old son Tison in her arms as she waited with friend Letitcia Herbert, 40, at a Formica table in the bowling alley after they had to abandon their homes with their children when Harvey hit.
Haleem Collins Jr., 14, Tyree Williams, Tomika Williams,40, Letitcia Hebert, 40, and baby Tyson seek refuge from the flooding inside the Max Bowl Bowling Alley in Port Arthur, Texas
Tomika told DailyMail.com: ‘We left the house on Wednesday anticipating that the waters would be rising. At the moment, we don’t know if our homes have been damaged. When we left, there was water right up to the porch. We know that the cars are underwater.’
Tomika estimated that several hundred people had been staying at the bowling alley, adding that they hadn’t slept and it had been difficult for the children to get any rest.
The mothers said they were grateful for the donations of clothing and food. At lunchtime on Thursday, a local Asian restaurant, Sake Sushi Bar and Lounge, was serving free hot meals to those evacuated.
The women said that they were unsure of what was next was in the recovery process and said they had no flood insurance for their possessions because they were renting their homes.
Tomika said: ‘Authorities have told us that we could be put on a plane and end up anywhere – Louisiana, Virginia.’
On Thursday afternoon, volunteers were asking if 50 people would like to take up the offer of a shelter in Dallas.
Tomika added: ‘I have never been in a shelter in my own city before. This is a first. Normally we get out and go to family.
Letitcia said: ‘I remember watching [Hurricane] Katrina on TV at home. But when you see the water rise in your own city, then it becomes real. Port Arthur has never seen anything like this before.
‘Because there wasn’t an evacuation order issued, it didn’t sound like it was going to be that bad. They waited and that’s why so many are stuck here now in this situation.
‘During [Hurricane] Rita, we were in Austin with relatives, watching TV and saying, those poor people.” Now it’s us. I’m not saying it’s as bad as Katrina – but it’s bad.’
Leading the volunteer efforts at the makeshift shelter was Anton Green, 42, and his wife, Sandra. They had been helping coordinate efforts since Tuesday and prior to that, Anton was conducting house-to-house rescues in a row boat.
Anton Green, 42, is one of the volunteers that is helping keep the bowling alley running as a temporary center. When the rains first started and the waters started to rise he went around on boats rescuing people and bringing them to the bowling alley
The couple, whose children were at home, have been at the shelter around-the-clock because they wanted to give back, feeling fortunate that their home suffered no water damage.
‘When the storm water started rising up, we started telling people to get out,’ Anton said. ‘The rain was so powerful, it was stinging your face as it hit.
‘The Fire Department called the owner of the bowling alley, Jeff Toliver, who gave permission to break in. The crew broke down the door as people were standing out under awnings in pouring rain and lightning.
‘Normally we would use a civic centre but the Bob Bowers Center is only one foot above sea level and it flooded immediately. We started bringing people to the bowling alley on buses around 11.30pm on Monday.’
At capacity, Anton estimated that around 800 people had been taking shelter in Max Bowl. ‘It was shoulder to shoulder in here,’ he said.
‘We’ve been surviving on what people have brought in to donate. We are trying to make sure we get enough socks and toiletries and then keeping them behind the counter to hand out to people so they don’t all disappear at once.
‘We need more food. People here are tired and hungry.’
He added: ‘This is where we live – we’ve been through [Hurricanes] Rita and Ike but they weren’t expecting this much water.
‘I’m going to do my very best to help until I can’t stay awake anymore and I have to sleep.’
Away from the bowling alley, Port Arthur residents were struggling to navigate around a network of impassable streets. Many were becoming stuck in trucks and cars after misjudging the depths of the murky street waters while anxiously trying to retrieve important documents and valuables from their homes and turning off any power supplies.
Hazel Tucker, 84, and her son Jeremy Coburn, were in a truck with her grandson-in-law, Matt Heger, and his brother Steven, when they became stuck on Jimmy Johnson Boulevard trying to return to her home.
Hazel has lived in Port Arthur since 1942 and said that she has seen storms before in the area. She evacuated her home on Tuesday to stay with relatives. She told DailyMail.com: ‘The apartment is on the ground floor and there has been a lot of flooding.
Matt Heger (right) pushes his truck through water to save his grandmother-in-law Hazel Tucker, 84, and her son Jeremy Coburn.
Matt Heger pushes his truck through water to save his grandmother-in-law Hazel Tucker, 84, and her son Jeremy Coburn
‘We came back to check on the utilities and collect my things but we couldn’t get in because the water is so high. We also came to check on the house of Matt’s grandmother who lives nearby but we weren’t able to get to the house because of the water.
‘I’ve seen it bad before but usually we don’t stay so I’m seeing more of the damage first-hand.’
Around the corner, Floyd Gaspard, 71, and his wife Francine, 69, were out in their driveway checking on neighbors with Floyd’s sister, Katie Gaspard, 67, a sister with the Dominican Sisters of Houston and a special education teacher at Port Neches Groves High School.
Katie’s nephew brought her to stay with her brother and sister-in-law in Port Arthur after she lost power at her home in Vidor. But within hours, the Port Arthur street was filling with water.
Francine told DailyMail.com: The water came right up to the doorstep of the house, so we shut everything down, sat down and prayed together. Thank God, the water started receding.’
Sister Katie told DailyMail.com: ‘A lot of the teachers at my school have lost everything. We need FEMA to be here
Floyd Gaspard, 71, and his wife Francine, 69 (left) were out in their driveway checking on neighbors with Floyd’s sister, Katie Gaspard, 67, a sister with the Dominican Sisters of Houston and a special education teacher at Port Neches Groves High School
Standing water from Hurricane Harvey closed many roads and flooded many homes and vehicles.
The affected areas in Texas have seen a combined 20 trillion gallons of rain – enough to support New York City’s water needs for the next 50 years
The 4-=lane bowling alley has been is a temporary haven for 800 residents of Fort Arthur
‘People are running out of water, food and gas. We are like an island here, we are totally cut off.’
She added: ‘It’s going to be a long recovery but we will recover. Texans are unique.’
Floyd, who is the director and CEO of the Port Arthur International Public Port, said: ‘The port has been shut down since Friday night. As soon as the seas calm down, we can start to get the boats back in again.
‘I was born and raised in Port Arthur and I’ve never seen anything like this. It is catastrophic.’