19 people, 2 pets in Houston rescued by Cape, Jackson firefighters

A swift-water rescue group of Cape Girardeau and Jackson firefighters helped rescue people from flooded homes Saturday in an affluent neighborhood of Houston devastated by Tropical Storm Harvey.

Brad Dillow, battalion chief with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, was one of 10 members of a local swift-water rescue team that traveled to Texas to aid emergency efforts in the aftermath of the powerful storm that dumped nearly 52 inches of rain along the Texas coast over a five-day period.

“We were out in boats going door to door on the west side of Houston,” Dillow said Tuesday as he and the other local firefighters were en route back to Missouri.

They arrived home later that day.

Dirty water flooded a neighborhood of expensive homes, leaving water standing several feet high against front doors and exterior walls, Dillow said. Cars sat fully or partially submerged.

“There were snakes in the water,” he said. Lizards crawled into the rescue boats, he added.

With all the water damage, Dillow said many of those homes “will have to be torn down.”

Dillow said the Cape Girardeau and Jackson firefighters were part of a team of Missouri responders, including two groups of Kansas City-area firefighters, who boated through the floodwaters Saturday.

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson firefighters brought along three small, inflatable boats to aid in rescue efforts.

They and other Missouri responders checked 450 homes to document whether people remained in their residences or needed assistance, Dillow said.

“We rescued 19 civilians and two pets,” he added.

Dillow said the Cape Girardeau and Jackson firefighters were split up in different boats with other Missouri responders.

Combined, the local firefighters checked about 150 to 200 homes, Dillow said.

First responders weren’t the only ones out in boats.

“People were boating in and out, trying to get stuff out,” Dillow said, adding he saw people even using kayaks.

“We passed a few people who were trying to walk in the water,” he said.

Dillow said the water was waist-high to chest-deep in most places, with some spots even deeper.

“One resident told us that the manhole covers were gone. You could be walking down the middle of a street and all of a sudden step into a manhole,” Dillow recalled.

Dillow said he and others in the swift-water rescue boats had to dodge street signs, fire hydrants and cars hidden by the floodwaters.

“One of the Kansas City guys fell into a pool in a backyard,” he said, explaining the pool was obscured by floodwater.

An arson investigator with the Houston Fire Department whose home had been flooded helped guide Missouri responders through the area, Dillow said.

“His house was under water, and he did not have flood insurance,” Dillow said.

“Several people told us they did not have flood insurance because they were always told that this area never floods,” he said.

Two bayous converge in that area, which also is home to two large reservoirs, Dillow said. This area of Houston is expected to remain flooded for another 20 to 30 days as reservoirs still are releasing high volumes of water, he said.

Texans welcomed the help of Missouri responders.

The battalion chief said Texans “were so wonderful to us, so appreciative.”

He recalled one day, an “army of ladies” took their laundry to their homes and disinfected and cleaned it. Residents also brought food to the firefighters.

One couple, who lived near a staging area, invited responders to their home for a lunch of hamburgers and brats.

“It was very humbling,” Dillow said. “It just made you feel good about our country.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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