A Citizen Rescuer In Houston

When Tropical Storm Harvey flooded Houston, many local residents took it upon themselves to help their friends and neighbors. NPR's Scott Simon talks to one of those citizen rescuers, Alison Reagan.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

When those floodwaters rose to historic levels in Houston, regular people rose to the occasion. They lent a hand to family, friends and strangers. Alison Reagan is one of them. She lives in a suburb of Houston that didn't flood, but she and her family have a big-wheeled raised jeep With an engine snorkel and an inflatable kayak. Alison Reagan, thanks very much for being with us.

ALISON REAGAN: Thank you.

SIMON: What did you see when you drove through that deep water? What did you do?

REAGAN: It was just devastation everywhere. I mean, it looked like a lake. It looks like a lake in the middle of the neighborhood. You can't even fathom it.

SIMON: Do you remember some of the people you were able to help?

REAGAN: I do, yeah. There was a couple in particular who kind of lived in a - not assisted living, but it was designated for elderly couples. And they needed help. I mean, they had almost three feet of water in their home. So you couldn't get there by boat necessarily. And you couldn't get there by lifted Jeep, either. So the only option was to go in with an inflatable kayak. And the husband had just had heart surgery, so it was really difficult getting them out. You know, they needed to bring all their medications and everything.

But we just brought the inflatable kayak into their house and got them out the best way we knew how. The front entrance of their neighborhood was completely blocked off by water. There was a gate entrance. You couldn't even get in, so we had to bust down a fence to the back of the neighborhood to bring them out, so. And that flooding...

SIMON: And let me - you - these were strangers to you. You didn't know who they were.

REAGAN: Well, it was an old friend from high school's grandparents, who I hadn't talked to in years, just an acquaintance, you know. So yeah, we didn't really know them or anything. And then once we rescued them, their neighbors are saying, can y'all help me, too? Can y'all help me, too? So it ended up being about 15 families that we were able to get out of there.

SIMON: What made you go out and not just sit on, your, you know, your own dry derriere and be safe?

REAGAN: Yeah. Well, our house never got flooded. We never lost power. We have this lifted Jeep because we like to go off-roading. We have this kayak because we like to go kayaking. All these tools that we had, we were fortunate enough to have. So we thought, why not? You know, these people need help. Not many people here are able to help them, so we did what we could.

SIMON: What's it look like now? The water is receding, we're told, but there must be an awful lot left.

REAGAN: Oh, yeah. There's just devastation to all the homes. Power lines are down, broken by trees. Just devastation everywhere. I mean, mold in the homes is already setting in. Just everything is destroyed.

SIMON: Alison, do you worry about some of the chemicals and the detritus that's left behind?

REAGAN: I do worry about the chemicals. You know, none of us are by any means professionals, but there's fiberglass in the insulation. There's mold. We don't know if there's sewage covering, you know, these belongings are anything, but we do the best we can by wearing masks and gloves. And that's pretty much all we can do for now because you can't wait long to clean these homes up or it just gets worse. So we're doing the best we can now with the tools we have available to us.

SIMON: Yeah. Alison Reagan, let me ask you. People in Houston and the rest of Southeast Texas have have won so much admiration from Americans this week for reacting to these terrible events with such courage and pluck. Is there something you learned about human beings, about your neighbors and strangers this week that you'd like to pass on to us?

REAGAN: Yeah. I think, you know, the media shows a lot of tension between humans and that kind of thing, but when things get down to the nitty-gritty, I think all humans are inherently the same. They all want to help others and do what they can to help. And they really come together. I just don't think that humans and, you know, the tension between us with political parties and all that stuff, it just doesn't matter anymore when it comes down to this. We're all the same. We all want to help. We all want to survive. You know, that's it. I mean, yeah.

SIMON: Alison Reagan, thanks so much. Got our morning off to a good start.

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