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Category Archives: TEXAS HURRICANE TRAGEDY
Irate officer turns away Harvey volunteers delivering aid
Close this content, you can also use the Escape key at anytime U.S. Irate officer turns away Harvey volunteers delivering aid New York Post 9 hours ago Reactions Sign in to like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet Email A pair of big-hearted Illinois men who drove to Harvey-hit Texas in an RV hauling two massive buggies to aid flood victims were shut down by a law enforcement official, online video shows. Jared Kirkendoll and Scott Green had their monster-sized vehicle loaded with supplies and displaced victims when they were stopped in Vidor, Texas, over the weekend and told to leave. “I need you to come down here,” the officer can be heard saying at the beginning of the two-minute video, which was posted Saturday on Facebook. When Kirkendoll asked the official, “Why?,” he angrily responded, “Because I said so!” “You don’t gotta be so grouchy … what do you need?” Kirkendoll can be heard saying. The official … Read more Comments (691) Sign in to post a comment. Inside Edition Volunteers With Supplies Turned Away From Harvey-Ravaged Region by Cop: ‘We’ve Had Enough’ Inside Edition,Inside Edition 4 hours ago Reactions Sign in to like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet Email As rec
Source: Irate officer turns away Harvey volunteers delivering aid
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Damage From Harvey Has Already Caused Millions Of Pounds Of Toxic Pollutants To Be Released Into The Air
The explosions and ensuing fire at the Arkema chemical plant early Thursday are just the latest in a wave of damage, disruptions, and pollution at industrial facilities along the Texas coast after Har
The explosions and ensuing fire at the Arkema chemical plant early Thursday are just the latest in a wave of damage, disruptions, and pollution at industrial facilities along the Texas coast after Harvey.
Afp Contributor / AFP / Getty Images
A wave of refinery, petrochemical plant, and other industrial facility damages and shutdowns along the Texas coast in response to Harvey’s wrath has led to the release of millions of pounds of pollutants into the air, according to company filings analyzed by BuzzFeed News.
One of the nation’s hot spots for refining and other chemical processing, Houston is especially vulnerable to hurricanes and other flooding. Early Thursday morning — after Harvey had hit the city with more than 49 inches of rain in some places — the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Houston, exploded twice due to flooding. The ongoing fire has released black smoke, raising questions about whether large amounts of dangerous materials are being emitted.
Although Arkema has not yet filed a report estimating the air pollution triggered by this explosion, dozens of other industrial facilities already have.
Chevron Phillips, for example, moved to shut down its chemical manufacturing plant outside of Houston. In the process of halting production, however, various pieces of plant equipment spewed an estimated 754,000 pounds of air pollution. This was a noxious mix of cancer-causing chemicals, smog-forming pollutants, and other pollutants, according to the company’s recent report to Texas environmental regulators.
Chevron isn’t alone. A BuzzFeed News review of company filings from the 54 counties covered by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s state disaster declaration reveals that more than 40 industrial sites had either reported a spike in emissions, or predicted one, during shutdowns prompted by Harvey, or reported damage caused by the storm. The count includes reports that indicate emissions began on or after August 23, when National Hurricane Center staff first warned Texans about the storm, and which were posted by the morning of August 31.
Shutdowns can lower the efficacy of equipment used to capture or reduce emissions, according to Luke Metzger, of the local activist group Environment Texas, leading to spikes in pollutants released.
“Pollution controls are most effective when facilities are at top temperatures and flows, and as you are bringing that down, the equipment doesn’t work as well,” Metzger told BuzzFeed News. “You often do see a lot of emissions associated with startups or shut downs.”
There are steps companies can do to minimize this pollution, Metzger added. This includes not waiting until the last minute to shut down, and instead having “a more controlled, careful shutdown.”
Harvey tracked through two major refining and chemical hubs in Texas — Corpus Christi and Houston — and now heads toward the neighboring energy state of Louisiana. The result is that more than 3 million barrels of refining capacity are offline in Texas, representing about 16% of the nation’s capacity, according to an S&P Global Platts analysis from Wednesday.
That number is expected to go up as some Texas facilities soon return online at reduced rates, and others in Louisiana close. Gas prices are expected to go up, and Platts has predicted there could be Harvey-linked gas shortages in the US by Friday.
As refineries and other companies begin to resume operations, however, more emissions are expected. This is apparent in reporting to regulators from companies anticipating restarting soon, or already in the process of it.
But Harvey’s pollution footprint doesn’t end with shutdowns. Some facilities were damaged during the storm, and companies have started to report on those impacts, too. For instance, lightning struck equipment at the Dow Chemical Company plant in Freeport, Texas, releasing about 54,000 pounds of pollution, including toxic chemicals that can threaten human health, such as benzene and toluene.
Staff at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality did not respond to a request for comment about the emissions and other Harvey-linked pollution reported by companies so far, instead deferring to the agency’s summary of its Harvey responses posted online Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the trade group American Petroleum Institute said in a statement that taking refineries offline during extreme weather events is a “complex process,” and added that the industry “is committed to the safety of our workers and the community.”
Based on the reporting to Texas regulators available online so far, here’s a list of the top sources of Harvey-linked industrial pollution, by pounds of pollutants reported. Only pollution from facilities shutting down or damaged from the storm were included:
Thomas B. Shea / AFP / Getty Images
The refinery section of the Houston Ship Channel.
1. Chevron Phillips Chemical Cedar Bayou Plant
A chemical manufacturing plant in Baytown, Texas, reported it is shutting down due to Harvey. The company reported estimated emissions from 20 sources, totaling approximately 745,000 pounds of pollution. The plant separately reported that heavy rains triggered problems with a cooling water pump, resulting in the additional release of nearly 250 pounds of pollution.
2. Flint Hills Resources Port Authority Facility
Closing Flint Hills Resources’ chemical manufacturing plant in Port Arthur, Texas, released about 533,000 pounds of air emissions from three sources. The pollution amount provided is preliminary, and could be finalized in the coming weeks, the company reported.
3. Pasadena Terminal
Rainfall from Harvey caused some storage tanks to spill at a chemical manufacturing plant near Houston. According to two reports from the operator, about 407,000 pounds of pollution were released, including toxic chemicals such as benzene, butane, and xylene.
4. ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery
ExxonMobil’s refinery near Houston shut down due to Harvey and its rainfall, releasing about 371,000 pounds of pollution. According to the company’s filing to state officials, some of the emissions “may be authorized” under its permit. Harvey’s heavy rains then damaged some storage tanks at the refinery, causing an additional release of about 12,600 pounds of emissions.
5. Chevron Phillips Chemical Sweeny Old Ocean Facility
A chemical manufacturing plant near Old Ocean, Texas, released an estimated nearly 223,000 pounds of pollution during its storm-related shutdown. There were 15 sources, according to Chevron Phillips’ filing.
6. Marathon Petroleum Texas City Refinery
A Harvey-linked shutdown at Marathon Petroleum’s refinery in Texas City, Texas, resulted in the release of more than 201,000 pounds of emissions, according to the company’s reportingto Texas officials. This pollution resulted from dozens of sources, such as flares and so-called sour water units.
7. Chocolate Bayou Plant
At a chemical facility near the city of Alvin, Texas, Harvey’s flooding and other impacts disrupted operations at various units. The units were then shut down. Nearly 153,000 pounds of air pollutants were released, according to the company’s report.
8. ExxonMobil Beaumont Refinery
The storm led to nearly 109,000 pounds of emissions, according to two reports from this Jefferson County facility. The vast majority resulted from its shutdown, but an additional “upset” caused an estimated 1,300 pounds of excess sulfur dioxide emissions.
9. Flint Hill Resources’ Corpus Christi West Plant
Flint Hills Resources turned off its petroleum facility in Corpus Christi, running into some problems along the way, near where Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm. Using past events to estimate emissions, the company expected this led to about 108,000 pounds of air emissions across nine sources.
10. Formosa Point Comfort Plant
The chemical manufacturing plant near Port Comfort, Texas, shuttered in anticipation of Harvey. Operators submitted a series of emissions reports. It’s unclear whether each report listed additional emissions or updated previous estimates, and the company was not able to clarify by deadline. However, the highest of these predicts almost 92,000 pounds of pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and methane, were released
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Hurricane Harvey: Joel Osteen missed his chance to be a real Christian
In an environment where critics are eager to target Christian hypocrisy, Lakewood should have been ready with a message of sympathy and benevolence.
Source: Hurricane Harvey: Joel Osteen missed his chance to be a real Christian
Andy Staples reacts to the news that Georgia will start freshman quarterback Jake Fromm against Notre Dame on September 9th.Time_Sports
With critics eager to target Christian hypocrisy, Lakewood should have been ready to deliver a message of sympathy and benevolence.
It’s easy to point out the hypocrisy of some churches, especially a church like Joel Osteen’s Lakewood, which says it has the largest regularly-used worship center in the United States and welcomes more than 38,000 weekly attendees. And when reports surface of Osteen’s congregation turning away Hurricane Harvey victims in need of food and shelter, it might seem like they deserve that censure.
We may never know the truth behind the day when a few rain-soaked Houstonians came to the doorstep of Lakewood Church — just the type of people that Jesus told his disciples to look out for — and were instructed to look elsewhere for shelter. From new reports according to church personnel, it looks like Lakewood staff were justified in sending people to government shelters. But that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters, as is often true, are the optics.
And Lakewood Church has become a PR nightmare.
Photos offer conflicting narratives. On one hand, social media warriors posted photosof clear roads, debunking Lakewood’s claim that their building was “inaccessible due to severe flooding.” But those in the building retaliated, revealing the true “situation of our church,” showing murky water in a parking garage.
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If the flooding was real, then it would make sense to send the few evacuees requesting shelter to the much larger George R. Brown Convention Center less than six miles down the road. Flood water is a dangerous threat — often carrying raw sewage, toxic chemicals and diseases — so with more rain on the way, it made sense to direct those in need to a place of real safety.
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So yes, perhaps Lakewood was justified in sending evacuees down the road. Perhaps Lakewood did serve as a distribution center and later opened their doors for evacuees. Perhaps they’re undeserving of such social media vitriol.
But when people hear that the third largest church in the U.S. said they couldn’t fit a small group of shelter-seekers in a 16,000-seat arena because their basement was flooded, that doesn’t add up.
The casual observer would expect the church to do something. And this church in particular has perhaps a bit more to prove than other churches.
Their lead pastor, Joel Osteen, is notorious for spreading what is widely called a “prosperity gospel,” an watered-down version of Christianity that has an unbalanced emphasis on God’s promises to bless those who follow His commands, rather than personal sacrifice and pursuing holiness.
Osteen’s reportedly $10.5 million mansion and expensive-looking suits contrasts with the biblical directive to eschew wealth and care “for the least of these.” This is a church that proudly displays their building renovation’s price tag on their main website — $95 million, by the way — declares their head pastor “An Inspiration to Millions,” and Trumpishly lists his broadcast audience size, all in the same paragraph.
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The tragedy is that this also reflects poorly on churches that have responded more hospitably in flinging their doors open to anyone in need of shelter, like the Woodlands Church, Houston’s First Baptist Church and Windsor Village United Methodist Churchhave reportedly done. Presumably, smaller churches are doing the same without press attention, and at a higher personal cost.
But when the one of the largest churches in the country appears to lack compassion in the spotlight of a global news story, it sends an awful message. Even the Christians in the Houston area that are opening their homes to strangers get a bad rap. Lakewood’s sluggish media response should have been replaced with an aggressive campaign to right the “false narrative” that spread rapidly. They needed to be clear and honest about why they were not opening their doors to the first shelter-seekers. In an environment where critics are eager to target Christian hypocrisy, Lakewood should have been ready to deliver a message of sympathy and benevolence.
Lakewood is capable of doing good things — it sheltered 5,000 evacuees during a 2001 storm and has specific ministries where members visit nursing homes, prisons and hospitals. But its widespread castigation also serves as a warning for all churches in the future — when the spotlight falls on your town, what message will you send?
Kirkland An is a Collegiate Network editorial board fellow for USA TODAY. Follow him on Twitter: @kirkland_an.
You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.
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Joel Osteen: Televangelist Whose Church Closed During Hurricane Harvey Tells Victims not to Have ‘Poor Me’ Attitude
In a his Sunday sermon Joel Osteen said “misinformation” was to blame for criticism of his church for initially not opening its doors during the hurricane, which destroyed thousands of homes.
JOEL OSTEEN I FEEL IS A FAKE,HOW DARE THAT HYPOCRITE SAY THEM COMMENTS TO THE VICTIMS THAT HAVE LOST EVERYTHING,AND FOR SOME LOVED ONES.HOW WOULD THE FAKE JOEL OSTEEN FEEL IF HE LOST HIS MULTI MILLION MEGA CHURCH HIS MANSION,OR HIS ONE OF MANY FANCY HALF OF A MILLION CARS,I WILL TELL YOU WHAT THAT FAKE JOEL OSTEEN WOULD DO,FALL APART,BECAUSE THE FANCY CARS,THE MANSION,THE MEGA CHURCH ARE HIS GOD,IF JOEL OSTEEN WERE A REAL MAN OF GOD,HE WOULD NOT HAVE SAID THEM THINGS,AND A MAN OF GOD WOULD OFFER TO HELP THESE POOR VICTIMS FINANCIALLY,AS FAR AS I CAN TELL JOEL OSTEEN DID NOT DO THAT,THIS FAKE IS MORE A STORY TELLER THEN A MAN OF GOD!
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A televangelist whose church closed its doors during Hurricane Harvey claims that he is the victim of “misinformation” and told flood victims not to have a “poor me” attitude.
In his Sunday sermon, multimillionaire pastor Joel Osteen addressed the criticism that has been directed at him after his 16,000 seat Houston megachurch initially closed its doors during the storm, in which thousands of people were left homeless and 40 were killed.
Pastor and best-selling author Joel Osteen gives the invocation before Annise Parker is publicly sworn in as mayor of Houston in Houston, Texas, on January 4, 2010.RICHARD CARSON/REUTERS
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Pictures and video posted on social media showed the church apparently undamaged by the storm, and Osteen initially claimed he had not opened its doors because he had not been asked to by the state. The church re-opened Tuesday, as floodwaters began to recede.
Osteen defended the decision not to open the church during the devastating storm, and told those affected not to have a “poor old me attitude.”
“You know I really believe in these times of difficulty it’s, for me, certainly not the time to question your faith but to turn to your faith because God is the one that gives you the strength to make it through the difficult times,” he said in a video of Sunday’s sermon posted on YouTube.
“We are not going to understand everything that happens but, you know, having a ‘poor old me’ mentality or ‘look what I lost’ or ‘why did this happen’, that’s just going to pull you down. Like we’ve been talking about all night, you just got to turn it over and say ‘God you’re still on the throne’.”
Osteen preaches the prosperity gospel, a branch of Christianity that holds that following Christian teachings can increase personal wealth. His Lakewood church is one of the largest in the U.S.
On Sunday, Osteen blamed “misinformation” for criticism levelled at the church for remaining closed. He said he hadn’t opened its doors due to safety concerns, and floodwaters came within a couple of feet of breaching flood walls installed after floods in 2001.
He added: “Had we opened the building sooner and someone got injured, or perhaps the building flooded and someone lost their lives, that would have been a very different story. Now I don’t mind taking the heat for being precautious. But I don’t want to take the heat for being foolish.”
He continued: “This is not just an attack on me, it’s an attack on what we stand for—for faith, for hope, for love,” he said. “Jesus even said, ‘When the world hates you, remember: it hated me first.'”
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Texas Pastor Joel Osteen Responds to Hurricane Harvey Criticism After Church Remains Closed to Victims
He had claimed that that his church was flooded and unavailable to victims of the hurricane.
SHAME ON YOU JOEL OSTEEN!!!!!!!!!
TEXAS PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN RESPONDS TO HURRICANE HARVEY CRITICISM AFTER CHURCH REMAINS CLOSED TO VICTIMS
Texas pastor Joel Osteen has responded after the televangelist was slammed for not opening his megachurch to victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Osteen, the lead pastor of Lakewood Church—which is located at a 16,800-seat stadium that previously hosted the NBA’s Houston Rockets—said in a statement issued late on Monday that the church had “never closed our doors.”
“We will continue to be a distribution center to those in need. We are prepared to house people once shelters reach capacity. Lakewood will be a value to the community in the aftermath of this storm,” said Osteen in the statement quoted by ABC News.
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The church also circulated photos that it said showed flooding in and around the Lakewood Church Central Campus, which is located in Houston, Texas.
Seriously quite sickening when people spread negative news without knowing the situation. This is the situation of our church @lakewoodch
The church had come in for heavy criticism on social media after it claimed that the church was flooded and could not be used as a refuge shelter for victims of the hurricane, which has displaced tens of thousands of people and killed at least seven.
Some observers posted photographs from outside the church that appeared to show that the building had not been flooded.
Seriously quite sickening when people spread negative news without knowing the situation. This is the situation of our church @lakewoodch
Others criticized the perceived lack of response from Osteen, the author of two New York Times bestsellers who is reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars.
@JoelOsteen if you were a real Christian, you’d be opening your doors to your displaced neighbors.
Joel Osteen, as a Pastor you have a huge obligation to show the love of Christ at this very moment.
OPEN THE DOORS. #HoustonStrong
Lakewood Church said it had launched a fundraising campaign for victims of the hurricane and was acting as a collection site for supplies for shelters in Houston. The church said that it would begin collecting infant and adult diapers, baby formula and baby food as of 12:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The church had announced on Saturday that all weekend services had been cancelled due to the “weather impact of Hurricane Harvey and concern for the safety of our members.”
A Houston journalist, Charles Clymer, also circulated an unverified photo on Monday evening that claimed to show air mattresses being inflated at Lakewood Church and cited an unnamed source who claimed the church would soon open to those displaced due to Hurricane Harvey.
Lakewood Church apparently bought countless air mattresses and are prepping to open their doors. Took a while but good news.#JoelOsteen
The George R. Brown Convention Center has been transformed into the largest shelter for victims of Harvey, housing more than 6,000 people, according to ABC News. Places of worship including mosques and churches have also opened their doors to victims.
Evacuees fill up cots at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, that has been turned into a shelter run by the American Red Cross to house victims of the high water from Hurricane Harvey on August 28.ERICH SCHLEGEL/GETTY
Lakewood Church is the largest megachurch in the United States, with an average weekly attendance of more than 40,000 people, according to a database maintained by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The church hosts services in English and Spanish.
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HELP THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HARVEY
IT IS SO IMPORTANT WE COME TOGETHER AS ONE,AND REALIZE WHAT WE DO HAVE DURING A TRAGEDY LIKE HURRICANE HARVEY.MANY LOST THEIR LIVES TRYING TO SAVING OTHERS,SOME COULD NOT GET OUT IN TIME.RIGHT NOW OUR FOCUS SHOULD BE ON TEXAS IN HELPING THEM HEAL THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.IT WILL NOT BE EASY,IT WILL NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT,THIS KIND OF DEVASTATION CAN AND WILL EFFECT THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HARVEY,S MENTAL HEALTH AND THAT INCLUDES POST TRAUMATIC STRESS.AND AS WELL AS PHYSICAL HEALTH,BECAUSE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH REALLY DOES EFFECT YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH,SO PLEASE PRAY FOR THE VICTIMS AND HELP THEM THROUGH THEIR TIME OF NEED.
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Remembering Harvey Victim: Retired Teacher Ruben Jordan : NPR
The death toll from the after-effects of Hurricane Harvey is expected to rise. Rachel Martin and David Greene remember one victim: retired teacher Ruben Jordan, who everyone knew as Coach Jordan.
Source: Remembering Harvey Victim: Retired Teacher Ruben Jordan : NPR
Remembering Harvey Victim: Retired Teacher Ruben Jordan
Listen·2:532:53Queue
The death toll from the after-effects of Hurricane Harvey is expected to rise. Rachel Martin and David Greene remember one victim: retired teacher Ruben Jordan, who everyone knew as Coach Jordan.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And I’m David Greene reporting this morning from Houston, Texas. Flash flood warnings are in effect east of here right now along the Texas-Louisiana border. Some areas may get as much as a foot of rainfall.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
More than 30,000 people are already in emergency shelters along the Gulf Coast, and hundreds of thousands are without power. Also without power, at least one chemical plant that officials say is bound to see explosions from volatile compounds that are usually kept under refrigeration.
GREENE: Yeah. We’ll be watching that. And also around Houston, as we saw yesterday, the floodwaters have started to recede, but with that comes this grim reality. More than two dozen deaths have been confirmed, but that number, sadly, is expected to go up as search and rescue efforts go on.
MARTIN: One of the people who’s died in all this is a man named Ruben Jordan. He was a retired teacher. And as his friends and colleagues describe it, he was a pillar of the community.
MARY LATULIP: There are about 100,000 people in the town where we live, and coach Jordan probably knew most of them.
GREENE: That’s Mary LaTulip (ph). She worked with Jordan for 30 years at Clear Creek High School.
MARTIN: Ruben Jordan taught social studies there, and he coached football and track. More than that, though, he was a mentor and a role model for his students. They all knew him as coach Jordan.
JAMIE BROWNSEND: He was just there. He was just, you know, kind of a force of nature.
GREENE: That’s Jamie Brownsend (ph). She says she’s known coach Jordan almost her entire life. She grew up in his neighborhood. And when she got to high school, he was her teacher and coach.
MARTIN: After college, Brownsend went back to Clear Creek to teach, and coach Jordan became her mentor. She still remembers the advice he gave her when she was just beginning as a teacher.
BROWNSEND: He just reminded me that we were teaching kids. We weren’t teaching subjects, you know. We weren’t teaching science, we weren’t teaching math, but if we could remember we were teaching kids – that it was all about kids, it was about the relationships – the rest will work itself out.
GREENE: Wynette Jameson (ph) worked with coach Jordan for 25 years. She saw how he would interact with his students.
WYNETTE JAMESON: He could laser in on what a child needed and speak to them about that that day.
GREENE: Now, since coach Jordan’s death was confirmed, Jameson has been collecting messages about him online. She is planning on putting them in a book and giving that to his family.
MARTIN: One thing Wynette herself never wants to forget is coach Jordan’s sense of humor.
JAMESON: You know, I’ve cried and cried and cried till I don’t know if I can cry anymore. But I do miss the fact that he made me laugh so darn hard, and I miss him for that, for sure. The joy that he brought to the campus, you know.
MARTIN: Coach Ruben Jordan is survived by his two children.
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Hurricane Harvey Victims: What We Know About the Dead So Far
A high-school football coach, a police officer and several children are believed to have died in the storms and flooding.
Source: Hurricane Harvey Victims: What We Know About the Dead So Far
HURRICANE HARVEY VICTIMS: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE DEAD SO FAR
After days of torrential rain over southeastern Texas, details have begun to emerge of the victims of Tropical Storm Harvey.
Within hours of the storm making landfall late Friday, it had claimed its first victim in the coastal town of Rockport, with a person killed in a storm-related house fire.
On Saturday, torrential rains fell on Houston, with swaths of the city submerged by Sunday morning and reports of more fatalities.
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At the time of publication, 30 people were confirmed to have died in the storm. Here’s what we know about the victims and some of those feared dead.
Sergeant Steve Perez
Houston Police Sergeant Steve Perez died on his way to work Sunday, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Tuesday afternoon.
Houston Police Sergeant Steve Perez died in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Officials said that Perez drove into floodwaters in the dark and drowned.HANDOUT
Officials said that Perez drove into an underpass in the dark and became trapped by rising floodwaters and drowned.
“This is an individual who was with [the Houston Police Department], Houston’s finest, men and women in blue, for 34 years,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters on Tuesday. “In fact, he was two days’ shy of his 61st birthday. And he lost his life on Sunday morning on his way to work.”
Ruben Jordan
RIP Coach Ruben C Jordan-Wildcat forever https://creekhilife.com/?p=13398 Details to follow. Please respect family’s privacy.
High school basketball coach Jordan had been missing since Saturday morning, and was last seen helping people from rising waters.
In a statement to Clear Creek High School, where he had taught for more than 20 years, Jordan’s family confirmed his death.
“Our family would like to extend our sincere appreciation and thanks for the effort, support and prayers we received while trying to locate him,” they said in a statement posted on Facebook. “At this time we ask for your continued support, prayers and respect as we grieve and work toward making arrangements to lay him to rest. Words can’t begin to explain how grateful we are to be a part of such a strong, supportive and loving network of friends and family.”
Colleagues and former students paid tribute to Jordan.
Oh man, this one hurts. RIP Coach Jordan. https://creekhilife.com/13398/news/rip-coach-ruben-c-jordan-wildcat-forever/ …
RIP Coach Ruben C Jordan-Wildcat forever
Wildcat Family: updates will be forthcoming. PLEASE give the family some space at this time. More details will follow. With heavy hearts, we would like to announce to all of our FB friends and…
creekhilife.com
I want to take a moment and say Rest in peace to Ruben Jordan (My driving instructor). Please keep him and his family in your prayers…
The district offered their condolences on Twitter.
“Our hearts are heavy with the news of Coach Jordan. Please keep him, his family and the Creek Wildcats in your thoughts during this tragedy,” the tweet said.
Our hearts are heavy with the news of Coach Jordan. Please keep him, his family and the @CreekWildcats in your thoughts during this tragedy.
Ola Mae Crooks
Ola Mae Crooks, 83, died when her vehicle was caught in a flood in Walker County, north of Houston.
Associated Press news agency cited Sergeant Steven McNeil with the Texas Department of Public Safety, who said that Crooks drowned when her car was swept off a farm-to-market road at the San Jacinto River near her home. Authorities recovered her body early Tuesday morning.
Alexander Kwoksum Sung
Harris County confirmed Monday the death of Alexander Kwoksum Sung, 64, in the floods.
He drowned at a Houston clock repair business on Sunday, and his body was found in debris on Monday, said officials in a statement reported by the Houston Chronicle.
Saldivar family
A family of 6 from Houston died after their van went underwater in #Harvey. RIP to the Saldivar family. Oldest was 84, youngest was 6.
Relatives said four children and their two great-grandparents are presumed dead after the van in which they were trying to flee was swept into a bayou in east Houston and sank Sunday.
Manuel Saldivar, 84, his wife, Belia, 81, and great-grandchildren Devy, 16, Dominic, 14, Xavier, 8, and Daisy, 6, are all believed to have died.
They were last seen by the driver of the vehicle, Sammy Saldivar, Manuel and Belia’s son, who was able to escape alive, rescued after grabbing on to a branch and screaming for help.
A sheriff’s spokesman told The Washington Post that the deaths were not confirmed, and no bodies were likely to be found until the flood subsides. The water had still not receded enough to search for the van on Wednesday morning.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family.
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Harvey’s Deadly Toll: The Victims Of Texas’ Devastating Floods : The Two-Way : NPR
A small-business owner trying to save his shop, a policeman determined to make it to work, an elderly couple and four great-grandchildren trapped in a van: The high waters in Houston have been fatal.
Source: Harvey’s Deadly Toll: The Victims Of Texas’ Devastating Floods : The Two-Way : NPR
Harvey’s Deadly Toll: The Victims Of Texas’ Devastating Floods
Homes are flooded near the Addicks Reservoir as floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey rose on Tuesday in Houston.
David J. Phillip/AP
Updated Thursday, Aug. 31 at 2:45 p.m. ET
As devastating floods continue across Houston and along the Texas coast, rescue teams have brought hope, heroism and much-needed relief to the stranded.
But help came too late for some. At least 29 people are confirmed to have died in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and unprecedented flooding, and the death toll is expected to rise.
As the deceased arrive at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, medical examiners determine whether the causes of death are storm-related, and not due to natural causes.
Tricia Bentley, a spokeswoman, tells NPR that she expects the list of storm-related deaths to grow.
“I think as waters recede, we’re going to find people who drowned in their homes, vehicles that were maybe swept away,” she said on Thursday. “It could continue to grow over the coming weeks.”
Manuel and Belia Saldivar
Virginia Saldivar/AP
On Wednesday afternoon, authorities in Harris County confirmed that six members of the Saldivar family, including four children, died when their van was swept away by floodwaters. The van was flooded on Sunday, with one known survivor, but the vehicle’s whereabouts were unknown for several days.
On Sunday morning, sheriff’s deputies were conducting evacuations when “at a distance, they could hear somebody screaming,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says. “They spotted a man clinging to a tree. They were able to use a rope and really performed a heroic effort in getting him out.”
Daisy, Xavier and Dominic Saldivar in 2014
Virginia Saldivar/AP
Samuel Saldivar said six of his family members — his parents and his brother’s four grandchildren — were trapped inside a van that had submerged beneath the water.
It was several days before water levels dropped enough for authorities to locate the van. On Wednesday, divers found the bodies of all six of the missing members of the Saldivar family: Belia Rojas Salvidar, 81, and Manuel Saldivar, 84, along with their great-grandchildren Devorah, 16; Dominic, 14; Xavier Adam, 8; and Daisy, 6.
Their deaths left officers shaken, Gonzalez says. “It was a miracle the one driver was rescued,” he said.
Ruben Jordan
Courtesy of the Jordan Family
Ruben Jordan, 58, was a retired social studies teacher, and a track and football coach.
“There are about 100,000 people in the town where we live, and Coach Jordan probably knew most of them,” Mary Latulippe told NPR’s Morning Edition. She worked with Jordan for 30 years at Clear Creek High School.
He was known as a mentor and role model for his students.
“He was just there. He was just kind of a force of nature,” said Jamie Brownson, who knew Jordan for most of her life. They lived in the same neighborhood and he was her teacher and coach.
And when she became a teacher at Clear Creek herself, Jordan mentored her.
“He just reminded me that we were teaching kids,” she said. “We weren’t teaching subjects. We weren’t teaching science. We weren’t teaching math. That if we could remember that we were teaching kids, that it was all about kids – it was about the relationships – the rest would will itself out.”
He is survived by his two children.
Alexander Kwoksum Sung, 64, drowned inside his clock repair business, according to Harris County officials and The Associated Press.
He had repaired clocks in South Houston for decades.
Sung’s daughter Alicia Contreras told The Washington Post that she spoke to her dad over the phone during the early days of the storm. He had been checking in repeatedly to make sure she and her sister were safe, the Postreports. But Sung himself was at his business, Accu-Tyme, frantically trying to move customers’ clocks to higher shelves. “Sweetie, I’ll have to call you back,” he said. He texted a few minutes later, telling her he loved her.
That was Saturday night. His body was found in the flooded shop on Sunday.
Sgt. Steve Perez
Houston Police Department via AP
Sgt. Steve Perez, 60, was a Houston police officer who died trying to get to work on Sunday morning.
NPR’s Richard Gonzalez reported on Perez’s death:
“In a somber news conference Tuesday afternoon, Police Chief Art Acevedo said Perez’s wife, Cheryl, had asked her husband not to report to work Sunday morning. But Perez, who had been on the police force for 34 years and was just a few days short of his 61st birthday, insisted on going in.
” ‘Unfortunately in the darkness, Sgt. Perez drove into an underpass that’s about 16 1/2 feet, drove into the water and he died in a drowning-type event,’ said Acevedo, his eyes moistening.
” ‘Steve is one of the sweetest people in this department and I’ve been here only nine months. We have 6,500 employees and I knew who Steve Perez was because he was a sweet, gentle public servant.’
“Perez’s father-in-law, a Korean War combat veteran, also told him not to go because the conditions were so bad. ‘And his response was, “We’ve got work to do,” ‘ said Acevedo.”
Joshua Feuerstein, 33, of Conroe, died when he drove his pickup into standing water. Captain Bryan Carlisle of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office tells NPR that witnesses saw Feuerstein attempt to back out, but the truck was trapped in the deep water. Several people tried to save him, but were unable to reach him in time.
Donald Rogers, 65, and his wife Rochelle, 58, were killed when they drove into floodwaters as they went to check on a family member on Wednesday afternoon.
Rochelle Rogers was a florist, and her husband was a preacher at Second Baptist Church in Katy, the Houston Chronicle reports.
The couple was on the phone with 911 when their phone went silent, the AP reports. When officers reached their truck, it was completely submerged.
An unidentified man between the ages of 60 and 70 drowned on Monday night in Montgomery County. Authorities say witnesses saw the man trying to swim across a flooded road, but he slipped under the water. Bystanders tried to help him, but were unsuccessful. His body was found the next day.
Agnes Stanley, 89, died inside her home in Houston on Sunday. Her body was four in 4 feet of water.
She was a volunteer with Houston Audubon’s Docent Guild, where she worked with a program that introduced children to birds and botany, according to the Chronicle.
“She was fierce and determined. She was small in stature, but strong-willed and invincible,” Helen Drummond, executive director of Houston Audubon, told the newspaper. “She just meant so much to us and she will definitely be missed.”
Lisa Jones, 60, was killed when a tree fell on her mobile home in Porter.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office described the heartbreaking circumstances: Jones and her husband were inside their home on Monday when she went to take a nap in their bedroom. Then the tree fell, its waterlogged roots no longer able to hold it up. Photos show that the trunk nearly flattened the trailer where it hit.
“The homeowner screamed for his wife,” the sheriff’s office reports. “The elderly male was unable to get to her or get her to respond.”
He went for help. When police arrived, they found Jones dead in the bedroom.
Travis Lynn Callihan, 45, died on Monday when he drowned in water trying to leave his vehicle, authorities say. He later died in a Harris County hospital.
“Mr. Callihan lived alone, his brother said. He kept to himself and quit working after he broke his back a few years ago in a boating accident,” The New York Times reported. “He was a science geek, who loved hunting, fishing and scuba diving.
Colette Sulcer and her young daughter were driving in Beaumont when their vehicle was stuck in high water. Sulcer got out of the car and was swept away by water, her child clinging to her.
They floated a half-mile before being spotted by a police and fire department rescue team in a boat.
“The first responders got to the mother and child just before they went under a trestle,” a support for a bridge or elevated road, the Beaumont Police Department said on Facebook. Water had risen to the level of the trestle; the rescue team reached the mother and child just in time to keep them from being swept under.
Sulcer was unresponsive when rescue crews reached her, and the child was suffering from hypothermia. Waters were too high for an ambulance to reach the area, so a citizen with a truck helped transport the mother, daughter and first responders — who were performing CPR — through flooded streets to the ambulance.
The mother died, but her daughter survived and is now in stable condition.
Batool Qasem, 76, was found dead in high water beside her vehicle in Houston on Saturday.
Late Wednesday, Harris County authorities announced seven more deaths, including:
- Three unidentified persons
- Jorge Raul Perez, 33, and Yahi Rubio-Vizuet, 45, both found floating in floodwater
- Andrew Pasek, 25, who stepped on a submerged live electrical wire
- Ronald Zaring, 82, whose death was attributed to heart disease, pneumonia and the flood.
In Rockport, one unnamed person died on Friday or Saturday in a house fire during the storm, the Aransas County judge says. Rescue crews were unable to reach the house in time.
In Galveston County, three people have drowned, authorities say.
THE WORLD GONE MAD 
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