Help Elderly Couple Rebuild #Harvey

My name is Pamela Knight and I am the daughter of Marion & Flora Phillips. They are 81 years young and have lost everything due to the massive flood waters that drenched the city they have lived in for about 60 years.

This is probably the hardest thing that I have had to do in my life. So I am asking for your help. You would have to be under a rock to not know about the devastation that Hurricane Harvey has caused for Houston and the Gulf Coast areas. I and my immediate family did not get flooded, but my folks in Orange did. I couldn't imagine what was to come as mom called me hour upon hour to make sure that the grandkids were safe. They were about to experience something that has never happened to them. See I live in Houston, Texas and I watched for days as so many were getting rescued and saw the outpouring of love and support for my city. As I prayed for the water to recede in Houston I got a disturbing phone call from my mom the day before my birthday August 30, 2017. Her first words were "water is in the house what do we do?" I asked how much and she said it was up to their knees. To wake up to water in your home is stressful enough, but then add age and disability and you have a serious problem. I jumped out of bed in horror screamed for my husband who heard and was already looking to find a route out of Houston to get to them because 911 is backed up, so how do I get them rescued and I'm 2 hours away is the question. I have 2 phones in my hand and called the Coast Guard directly. Somehow I found the Washington DC phone number and they dispatched someone with a boat. Meanwhile, I am on the other cell trying to see how to get them out of the water until they get there. My brother and niece waded with them to get them to the house across the street with a porch. About an hour later they were on a bus on the way to a shelter in Louisiana. Half of my city was up and running by now so relatives sent money for gas so that we could go and get them with both our cars, not trucks cars because we were literally out of money. Using the Waze app we went on this adventure on farm roads we had never traveled. We said a prayer and through high water
made our way to Lake Charles which should have been a 2 and a half hour drive but turned into 6 hrs.
What you can't experience from watching this video is the treacherous smell from the sewage waters that traveled to every room in the house. Mold is EVERYWHERE. With minimal help from some who are sick themselves, we have gotten most of the furniture out. The city opened 11 floodgates that added to this devastation. So in all, they lost 2 cars, 4 bedrooms of furniture, washer & dryer, the entire living room, stove, 2 refrigerators, deep freezer, and dining room. They are comfortable in a hotel right now, but we all know that there is no place like home. They have lost everything they have except some of their clothes that were hanging in the closet. We need help with getting this house back together. Sheetrock still needs to come out so that we can get the place dried out. I honestly don't know how much this will cost. FEMA and the insurance companies are swamped with claims so we have no ETA on when, where, or how. They are on a fixed income so eating every day can get expensive. Especially when you have 2 diabetics that have to eat a certain way. Gas to get to and fro is a necessity amongst so many other things. I know that this is a lot to read, but there is so much to be done. If you would like to donate to this family it would definitely help.

God Bless You All