Voices From The Floods: Surveying Harvey’s Aftermath in Houston, Victoria And Rockport

Texas Standard spoke with people on the ground in three cities pummeled by Harvey. Here’s what they told us.

By Rhonda Fanning and Michael MarksSeptember 4, 2017 1:09 pm

A little over a week after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, how are the cities hit hardest by the storm – and the people that live in them – doing?

For some Texans, something like normality has returned. But for many others, it’s still a matter of wading through waist-high waters inside homes and businesses.

Texas Standard spoke with people on the ground in three cities pummeled by Harvey: Houston, Victoria, and Rockport. Here’s what they had to say:

In Houston: The Houston Chronicle‘s Mike Hixenbaugh is part of the reporting team that tackled Harvey coverage. Sunday’s edition of the Chronicle included a stirring piece following the lives of five Houstonians. Hixenbaugh says lots of people are asking questions same as the people they profiled: mainly, “where do you go now – what’s next?”

In Victoria: Marina Riker is a reporter with the Victoria Advocate. “Compared to last week, it looks a lot better than it did,” she says. “Some people are starting to resume to normal life, but we’ve still got a lot of challenges moving forward” – including eviction notices for some of Victoria’s least fortunate.

In Rockport: We spoke with Kevin Carruth, Rockport City Manager. “As time goes forward, this is gonna be a long term recovery,” he says.” Looking two weeks, three, weeks, four weeks down the road – that’s when everybody starts to go home, and that’s when the need will really come up, because we’ll be more by ourselves.”

Listen to the entire segment in the audio player above.