As thousands of Houstonians face evacuation and peril due to the ongoing flooding in Texas, one city councillor has said he’s watching the news unfold with a “heavy heart” because of friends and family in the area.
Ward 12 Councillor Harold Usher, a Belizean immigrant to Canada, said he has a niece, in-laws, friends, and acquaintances in the Houston area, including some who settled there from Belize.
Due to damaged infrastructure in the southern coast of Texas, and the ongoing evacuation efforts, Usher said he hasn’t been able to reach anyone impacted by the floods.
“They are not communicating a whole lot right now. I guess because of the situation they might be outside trying to clear themselves out of wherever,” Usher said.
The uncertainty is challenging, he said, for someone from a part of the world that has seen its fair share of natural disasters —including hurricanes.
“I wonder what their situation (is),” he said. “I’m watching all of this with a heavy heart. Having come from a hurricane-designated area in Central America, I know how devastating that can be for some areas.”
Usher says he’ll continue to make calls tonight, in hopes of good news from people he knows living in the area.
The U.S. National Hurricane Centre says Hurricane Harvey is drifting back to the Gulf Coast, after moving inland on Friday.