Amid Houston flooding, Vincent Evangelista is lucky to have power and water; food is running low

Houston, for three days now, a city under water. Photos by Vincent Evangelista

Water rises all the way up the parkway sign.

When I called at 5 p.m., Houston resident Vincent ‘Enteng’ Evangelista just woke up.

He stayed up late waiting for the release of water from two overfilled reservoirs. State and city officials were hoping the release would ease the flooding and prevent spillover into other communities and suburbs.

“Aapaw na siya,” he said.

Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas the evening of August 26 dumping heavy winds and rains on downtown Houston where Enteng, 35, has lived for five years now. Houston, known for its energy and health care industries, is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Austin, the capital.

“We are 60 percent to 70 percent under water,” he said in a telephone interview with The FilAm.

Long drive-through line at Whattaburger, a popular chain in Texas.

Because Houston, the fourth biggest metropolis in the U.S., has an uneven terrain, he said the water is anywhere from seven feet to two storeys deep.

“Grabe!” he said. “It’s been three days.”

On Facebook, he writes: “I grew up in the Philippines where storms and flood were part of my daily living but I’ve never been scared like this and it never prepared me to this extent of a catastrophe happening now in Houston…God bless us all.”

Enteng and his partner live in an apartment complex on the west side of Houston that, fortunately, continues to have electricity and water.

“Our apartment is elevated from the street kaya OK pa naman kami,” he said. “We have water and power, which is very important. We can still connect to the Internet.”

There is food in the fridge, but enough for a couple of days more. They made sure there is enough food for several days. Right now, food chains, like Walmart and other grocery stores, are closed. The small Asian stores remain open but shelves are fast becoming depleted.

“Bottles of water which used to sell for $2 a pack are now selling for $18,” he said. Some stores have been reported for price gouging, but for now, he asserted, the focus is on saving lives. “Many people are still trapped in their homes and need to be rescued,” he said.

A lake forms in front of the house of Jojo and Catherine Cruz-Catipon in Richmond, a suburb of Houston.

He is especially saddened that Houston’s Theater District, the largest outside of Broadway in New York City, is closed and appears to be severely water-damaged. This is where Enteng, an original member of the Ryan Cayabyab Singers in the Philippines, usually performs when he is not busy in his day job in health care.

“The Theatre District has two storeys high of water,” he said.

Houston resident Vincent Evangelista: ‘God bless us all.’

He said Hurricane Harvey is comparable to Signal No. 3 in the Philippines, the combined wrath of strong rain and wind. Many in Texas believe Harvey is deadlier than Hurricane Katrina which hit Louisiana in August of 2005 and killed more than 1,200 people. There is still no casualty count yet in Harvey because it is not over; the worst is expected middle of the week.

The political blame game is on among local officials. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, did not impose forced evacuation, leaving many residents stranded in their homes. An appalling image is that of elderly women trapped in a nursing home, their chairs bouncing on flood water. Some of them are reported to be suffering from dementia.

Enteng said the “root” of that decision was the 2005 Hurricane Rita which made evacuation mandatory for Texans. The result was massive gridlock, with 3 million vehicles stranded on the freeway and people succumbing from starvation, dehydration, and the heat.

“To prevent that, the mayor did not make evacuation mandatory,” he said.

On the other hand, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, is said to favor forced evacuation of residents.

“Nagsisihan sila,” said Enteng. “There’s no room for that right now. We’re in the middle of a catastrophe.”

© 2017 The FilAm

Flood water sitting in the house of Francis Navarro in Katy, the first city outside west of Houston. Navarro’s parents were trapped for 10 hours but eventually rescued. He works as operational and sales Manager at Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Sugar Land.