Scroll down to continue.
Presentation includes sound.
Surviving Harvey
A makeshift army, marching on adrenaline
Sept. 2, 2017
About this series
In the aftermath of Harvey’s landfall, The Washington Post documented scenes of fear, despair and hope.
The epic floodwaters across thousands of square miles create new and dangerous crises in an instant. Fires are fought without hydrants. A squadron of helicopters swoops in to transport hospital patients. An entire city wakes up to no running water. Blocks of empty homes need to be searched again.
Among the throngs of disaster workers: Police officers and firefighters, Coast Guard rescue swimmers and FEMA aid specialists, nurses and doctors, troops who have seen battle and volunteers who cannot stay away. Sleep is something they used to do.
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
Woman
“I'm sorry.”
U.S. Border Patrol Agent
“No, No. Don't be sorry.”
U.S. Border Patrol Agent
“Hold on!”
U.S. Border Patrol Agent
“Here, we are going to put the lifevest on you first.”
U.S. Border Patrol Agent
“I got you. I got you.”
“Snap it.”
Woman
“Ok.”
U.S. Border Patrol Agent
“Are you alright?”
Woman
“I'm freezing.”
U.S. Border Patrol Agent
“Try to climb in this. I will push you up. Alright? One, two, three. Do you feel better? Are you ok?”
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
TOBY RANNIGAN Rescue volunteer
“Does anybody need help?”
“This is ridiculous. Does anybody need help?”
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
TOBY RANNIGAN Rescue volunteer
“Everybody, they’re wanting us to go in and get their medicine, or bring them back to get their personal belongings.”
“And then we have people calling that have animals, that have friends, that have loved ones that are stuck. And then we get there, and then they don’t want to leave because they have animals.”
“It’s tough out here right now.”
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
RESCUE VOLUNTEER
“How many people?”
WOMAN
“One elderly, three kids and a dog.”
RESCUE VOLUNTEER
“Do you need us to help?”
WOMAN
“Yes”
RESCUE VOLUNTEER
“One, two, three. Alright, good ride.”
WOMAN
“Good ride.”
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
FIREFIGHTER
“Just waiting for water right now.”
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
JAY DILLON Senior captain, Houston Fire Department
“We were dispatched to a house on fire, and it was surrounded by three foot of water.”
“We had a little bit of difficulty when we initially got in here. The only thing we could do was connect the hose directly to the fire hydrant, which was under water.”
“What has been hard for me is that all my friends that live in this area are struggling.”
“That is what has been hard, dealing with the suffering that is going on.”
Many firefighters and police have lost their own homes. A Port Arthur sergeant races off to work in a polo shirt, his uniform lost in the flood. A Houston officer dies on his way to work; the city’s chief breaks down talking about it. Two volunteers drown on their way to a third save, after pulling seven from the waters.
Houston
Tap for volume
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
DAVID DELEON Chief of reserves, Harris County Sheriff’s Office
“I live in a neighborhood called Kingwood, and it’s, at least in my home I have five feet of water.”
“And it’s difficult because we’re out here working, and at the same time we have to deal with our personal issues as well.”
“Everything below five foot is going to have to be removed.”
“All my high school yearbooks and, you know, these are things that can’t be replaced, the memories and so forth.”
Houston
Tap for volume
Read transcript
JAY DILLON Senior captain, Houston Fire Department
“Firefighters and EMTs and police attend to human suffering on a regular basis, and that is a difficult part of the job. It creates a lot of stress for us, but that is why we are here.”
DAVID DELEON Chief of reserves, Harris County Sheriff’s Office
“Life is going to give you challenges. We’re just going to have to go back and fight those challenges.”
They push their own piercing losses to the back of their minds — and turn to meet the needs of strangers.
Tap for volume
Credits
Text
Ann Gerhart
Story and presentation
Kevin Schaul and Samuel Granados
Video and photo editing
Reem Akkad, Jayne Orenstein and Marisa Schwartz Taylor
Video footage
Dalton Bennett, Zoeann Murphy, Erin O'Conner and Nicole Ellis
Boat rescue
U.S. Border Patrol/Reuters
Photography
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post; LM Otero/AP; U.S. Coast Guard/European Pressphoto Agency; Army National Guard/Getty Images
More in this series
‘Where are we supposed to go?’
Episode 1 · Aug. 30
Throughout Southeast Texas, rainfall of biblical proportions has flooded tens of thousands of people out of their homes.
Watch this episode
A makeshift army, marching on adrenaline
Episode 2 · Sept. 2
The labor of saving and serving flood victims seems without end. The relief workers, exhausted, push on.
Watch again
A long and fraught recovery
Episode 3 · Sept. 12
Throughout Houston, thousands are struggling every day to find a place to call home.
Watch this episode
More coverage
Here’s how you can help Texas residents affected by Harvey
What the flooding and rescues of Hurricane Harvey look like, in videos
Scroll down to continue