of Cajun Navy guys at a Holiday Inn off of I10. "What's your plan?" They asked me. I didn't have one still. "I've followed you this far, I'll just stick with you." And this is how I joined the Cajun Navy (Texas Branch). Humble was being hit hard so we headed that way.
men approached us. Their neighborhood was flooded and they had small children "could we help them." Brandon and I stayed, the rest of the group ventured on to where we had originally been headed. This would be my first time launching my boat off the side of a freeway. It took us what seemed forever to get back there, at one point Brandon had to go back and drive his truck through the same water to get our boats past a high spot.There was an entire neighborhood under water and no one else was here.
Not everyone, I saw my first dead body here. I also saw a man get pulled under into the storm system after falling off the inflatable mattress he was using as a raft. "You have to find him!" The lady screams from the second floor window of her home as I circle my boat in the current looking for any sign of him. I never did and I still hear her screams when I close my eyes.
Except for Alex, he was our MVP for that day. Alex and his buddy took me back to the truck after we were done with that neighborhood so I could come get my boat. He told me his story.
Alex is an over the road truck driver and was in California when the storm hit Houston. As he struggled to get back home his wife was saved by the Cajun Navy, he didn't own a boat but he did have a couple of kayaks. I watched him pull people out of that neighborhood two kayaks full at a time all day long. Chest deep in water pulling those kayaks behind him tirelessly his only thought being how lucky he was that someone saved his wife and that he had to return the favor. I didn't get his picture or his last name but he was the embodiment of intestinal fortitude and bravery.
Once unloaded we went to help a Constable get her family out, we weren't able to get there. I
later heard an airboat was able to pull them out. It was a relief. With nothing left for us to do but be in the way we called it a day at five PM. Drag the boats back up the on ramp and a high speed stint against traffic back to Walter and Kims house.
check on another friend from homes grandparents. They had been evacuated it was pretty uneventful.
Look for the helpers
-Mr. Rogers