A former Edmontonian who is living in Texas and working as an engineer and volunteer firefighter, is doing what he can to help with the rescue efforts amid devastating flooding in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey.
“It’s been really eye opening,” Ben Spooner said over the phone from League City, Tex. “The devastation is incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
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Spooner is working with the League City volunteer fire department. The city is located about 45 kilometres southeast of the heart of Houston.
Since Saturday morning, Spooner said the 911 dispatch has been overwhelmed by calls from people needing to be rescued, some in “dire medical emergencies.”
“They’re going into labour or their dad’s having a heart attack and yet there’s five feet of water inside their house — they can’t get out,” he said. “We’re doing our very best.”
Watch below: Ben Spooner talks about the rescue efforts underway in Texas
In some areas, the water is five- to eight-feet deep and crews have rescued people from the roofs of their vehicles or homes.
“This water is rushing through the streets like a river,” Spooner said. “There’s strong currents, the water is very dark and black so you can’t see what’s underneath you. So if you’re trying to walk or wade through the water it’s easy to step into a manhole cover that’s been blown loose.
“This is pretty nasty water too. We got snakes and alligators and all kinds of nasty stuff.”
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Because the water was so deep, Spooner said fire rescue crews were forced to use city dump trucks to get to people, because none of the trucks at their disposal could make it through the water.
“We were loading people up into dump trucks and driving them to the Red Cross centres,” he said, adding crews also used canoes, kayaks, “whatever we can” to get to people’s homes.
READ MORE: Floodwaters reach roof lines as residents plead for help in Hurricane Harvey aftermath
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott activated the entire Texas National Guard, sending 1,200 personnel on search and rescue efforts following Hurricane Harvey.
In Houston, officials have rescued more than 2,000 people from flooded homes since Harvey began pounding the area over the weekend.
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Spooner said Monday was a calmer day, with rain on and off rather than a steady pour. However, he said more wicked weather is on the way.
“We’ve just been warned by our command staff to expect even worse rain and flooding tonight,” Spooner said Monday afternoon. “We’re scrambling to repair all of our vehicles that more or less got destroyed trying to rescue people yesterday and get ready to do it all over again tonight.”
Spooner helped rescue people who have lived in League City for more than 30 years who told him they’ve never seen anything like this, but added everyone is coming together to help their neighbours during the uncertain time.
“It’s kind of neat to see our community come together and help each other out in these times of crisis,” he said. “The people that were flooded are glad they were able to escape with their lives and think positive and get through this.”
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City churches and office buildings have been turned into shelters for evacuees.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says there’s no let up yet, with more rain in the forecast.
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With files from The Associated Press.