Harvey's heroes

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff writer

Through Hurricane Harvey's relentless rain in Texas and Louisiana, people connected with North Idaho are assisting with the devastation or are on alert and a phone call away from being deployed there.

"If you go 2 minutes on either side of our house, homes are in 4 to 6 feet of water and cars are completely submerged," said Brandon Guindon, who has lived in Post Falls most of his life and helped start Real Life Ministries-Texas near Houston as the pastor more than four years ago.

"It will just not stop raining. It's been unbelievable."

Guindon said six families in the church in Tomball in the northwest section of Houston have been flooded out of their homes and four of those had to be rescued.

Guindon's house hasn't been flooded because it sits in a higher location, but he's taken in a single mom whose home is flooded and is helping coordinate rescue efforts. He spent Monday morning draining water from the church.

"There's so much water that it can't be repelled," he said. "The gutters are so overwhelmed that the water runs into the building."

Guindon said he witnessed a farmer scurrying to transport his horses to higher ground as his home was in about 4 feet of water.

"It's dramatic to see highways and ramps that you drive on all the time totally under water," he said.

Guindon has spent nearly a year enduring the effects of his two daughters' auto crash and their recovery. He said he just returned home from a vacation when Harvey hit.

"We have to trust in the Lord and rely on Him," he said, referring to how he's dealt with both dramatic events.

Guindon said he's been amazed at the offers of support both from North Idaho and the Texas community during the blow and soaking by Harvey.

"People really take care of each other down here," he said.

With 15 to 31 inches of rain having already fallen in southeastern Texas — and the amount expected to rise to at least 40 inches by the end of the week — Guindon said it may be the middle of next week before the water subsides and recovery efforts can start.

"We're still helping people who are stranded," Guindon said. "We're in a wait-and-see situation because there just isn't a lot we can do until it stops raining."

K-9 on call

Meanwhile, Coeur d'Alene Fire Capt. Jeff Sells and his department's K-9 labrador retriever, Otis, that specializes in finding victims have been put on alert to be deployed as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's urban search and rescue program based in Pierce County, Wash.

"We would conduct searches of collapsed buildings (and other areas)," Sells said. "My team is next up to go out the door."

Sells said during natural disasters, the first wave of deployments is geared toward rescue efforts. Recovery missions, such as the one Coeur d'Alene's K-9 teams participated in after the mudslide in Oso, Wash., then follow.

"Whenever you see devastation of this magnitude, you want to go help," Sells said. "The K-9 unit is just one of 20 specialties on urban search and rescue and all are equally important. We're prepared to go out the door if we're called."

Red Cross is there

Megan Snow, executive director of the Greater Inland Northwest Chapter of the American Red Cross in North Idaho and eastern Washington, said the chapter sent 12 volunteers to the hurricane zone last week before Harvey struck.

Snow said there's a delicate balance between sending some south while keeping others here amid wildfire season.

The ones headed south are assisting in shelters throughout the Gulf Coast region. None of those volunteers are from North Idaho, but Snow said multiple residents from here have indicated they're available for deployment if called upon.

"We're in a bit of a holding pattern, watching what the storm will do," Snow said.

Northern Lakes Fire Chief Pat Riley said he knows multiple fire officials in Texas, including in Bastrop between Houston and Austin, who he's in touch with during the ordeal to lend emotional support because they are inundated with rescue efforts.

If you know someone from North Idaho who’s helping in the wake of Harvey’s wrath, please contact Caroline Lobsinger at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com or 208-263-9534, ext. 259.