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Former Calgarian Tara Larochelle is one of the lucky ones in flood-submerged Houston.
Harvey is the first hurricane she has ever experienced after moving to the Texas city from Calgary less than a year ago for a job in the oil and gas industry.
“I thought I was prepared because I was in Calgary for the 2013 floods and our home was flooded then, but this is some next level stuff that we’re seeing in Houston,” said Larochelle. “It’s just devastating. My heart is just broken for people who are not as fortunate as I am.”
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She said people close by are being evacuated from their roofs, tornadoes are touching down in nearby communities, and parts of the city that weren’t expecting flooding are being washed out after bayous overflowed, leaving people homeless and helpless.
Larochelle lives on the southeast side of Harris County on the second floor of an apartment building. Despite people in her neighbourhood being forced to evacuate because of rising water, her home is fine — at least for now.
“I think the worst part, for me, is that I’m kind of trapped,” said Larochelle, who can’t leave due to submerged roads.
Her home still has running water and electricity, but she’s taking as many precautions as possible to prepare for the road ahead. Larochelle is keeping her electronics fully charged, a bathtub full of water and evacuation bags packed.
Her preparations will last for five to six days without water or power.
Caroline McDonald-Harker, who works within Mount Royal University’s Centre for Community Disaster Research, said not enough policies and preparations were implemented quickly enough following other disastrous hurricanes that hit the United States, such as Katrina in 2005 and Ike in 2008.
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“This is not new to Texas,” said McDonald-Harker. “Yet this is still a situation of chaos. It’s almost as though it’s the first time they’ve experienced this. There are so many people that are stranded in their homes. We’re seeing this all over the news — they don’t know if they should stay or go, or where to go.”
Evacuation procedures, disaster kits and plans should be created with the worst case scenario in mind — and they weren’t, McDonald-Harker said.
But the bigger problem comes after the storm.
“I think what we don’t realize is the effects of disasters last long after a disaster has happened,” she said. “Communities, cities and provinces are really good at picking up the pieces in terms of infrastructure, but there is a neglect in the impact it has on individuals.”
PTSD and financial risk to vulnerable families will have lasting ramifications.
Steve Armstrong, former provincial director of the Canadian Red Cross, who has planned and managed relief and recovery responses after events such as the 2013 Alberta floods and 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, agrees the hardest step will be putting people’s lives back together.
“Governments and organizations want recovery to be a program where it’s done at a certain time … but people’s lives do not recover in a straight line. It’s one step forward, two steps back. Two steps forward, one step back.”
For Larochelle, moving forward starts with helping those more severely affected.
“In 2013, I watched (Calgary) come together,” she said. “I see this community coming together to do the same thing, and I’m hopeful that Houston and the communities affected are going to be able to look back at this and see more than heartbreaking devastation.
“People really find their humanity and everyone comes together.”
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