Harvey Relief for Tommy & Charlotte

On Friday, Aug 25, 2017, my parents, Tommy (70) and Charlotte (67) Morris, were hit by hurricane Harvey. By Sunday their house was flooded, and like a vast majority (estimated at > 80%) of flood victims, they did not have flood insurance. (front yard)


(I-10 about 2 miles from their home)

As soon as the roads were navigable, I traveled from Austin to help them in the aftermath. A handful of friends and family have helped throughout the past 2 weeks, for which I am so very grateful!

While, praise God, they did not get several feet of flooding like some others, they got enough to require ripping up all flooring, all cabinets, and all sheetrock up to 2 feet.

(kitchen)

We needed to get everything up/out as soon as possible to treat for mold. Turns out there was quite a bit.

(utility room behind the cabinets)

(bathroom wall at side of cabinets)

Sadly, the cabinets we removed in the utility room were ones built by my Papaw (mom's dad) 40 years agos. They spanned the wall in an "L" shape, and they were by far the best craftsmanship I've ever seen (and it killed me to rip them out). He also built the cabinets in my parents bathroom, floor to ceiling, but they had to go, as well.

(last set of drawers we removed in the utility room)

(behind the floor to ceiling cabinets that we had to remove)

Thankfully, much of their furniture we believe to be salvageable, but they have no place to put it. All of the work we have done over the past two weekends (for me; two weeks for them) has been by shifting things around in the house and garage (detached, but was also flooded) and looking for temporary storage.

(living room; everything pushed to the center of the room to remove the wood paneling)

While the total cost of replacement will no doubt cost them tens of thousands of dollars, the immediate need is a place to store their belongings that survived.

Thus, my primary goal at this point is to raise $1500 to help them buy a container for an air-tight, water-tight storage container, which they could keep on their property.

By having this storage, Tommy and Charlotte can start moving their furniture, clothes, etc, to a safe place while they continue to demo, dry, and bleach (to kill mold) the interior of their house. This is required before any repair work can be done in the home.

My parents were such a great example for me growing up. Whenever they saw someone in need, they didn't hesitate to help, regardless of the situation, and regardless of whether they could actually afford it or not. If I turn out to be half as generous as they have been, I will be extremely proud. For others to bless them in their time of need would mean more than words can say.

They were overwhelmed by the destruction, the work required to recover, the financial burden this will end up being, and even just where to start. Please join me in overwhelming them with support, hope, love, and a small relief of financial burden!