Corpus Christi Reporter Says There’s Hope Amid The Devastation

Julie Garcia of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times says volunteers from inland areas have come to the coast with supplies and chicken tacos.

By Rhonda FanningAugust 30, 2017 12:21 pm, ,

The NPR station in Corpus Christi still didn’t have power as of Wednesday morning, which means the Texas Standard, which is reporting on location in the Texas Gulf Coast, had to scramble to find another place from which to broadcast the show. Lucky, our friends at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times newspaper offered space for us to set up our remote studios. Plus, staff was able to offer expertise on how the area is coping after Hurricane Harvey.

Reporter Julie Garcia is one of the dedicated reporters covering the hurricane for the paper and says she’s exhausted, especially because, in addition to covering the story for the Corpus Christi area, her family and friends in Beaumont are suffering from the continuing rain and flooding there.

“I’m feeling that emotional tug, which is making me want to be on the phone all day with them but then also, of course, I’m reporting here, mostly from the Aransas County/Rockport/Fulton area,” Garcia says.

She says amid the scenes of devastation, she also senses hope in the people trying to clean up the damage.

“People are really helping each other out. We have many people…they’re volunteering, they’re coming into the Rockport area and brining supplies, they’re cooking chicken tacos. There’s this really big sense of Texans helping Texans,” she says.

But, she says, officials urge people not to stay; residents can only come to clean up damage and take photos for insurance, but have to leave by 7 p.m.

“It’s not safe to stay there at night right now. They have no power, they do not have working wastewater yet. Nothing’s open. Really the only resources are county and volunteer services,” she says.

 

Written by Caroline Covington.