CARIBOU, Maine — When Bill Thomas, 68, of Woodland arrived in Beaumont, Texas, to help victims of Hurricane Harvey, he said it seemed “like total chaos.” After being in Texas for nearly two weeks, Thomas said Monday that the situation is slowly improving.
Thomas has been with the Red Cross for roughly 10 years, and was deployed to Texas on Aug. 28. Since then, he says the water has receded, allowing him and others to assist more Texans in need.
“A few days ago on the highway, you could see water halfway up some of the houses,” Thomas said, adding that he spoke to someone who told him that his house was “completely under water,” and that he spoke to another Texan whose trailer “floated away” in the storm.
Thomas said that people came from all over to help the hurricane victims, and that any ideological differences some may have harbored were set aside for the sake of “humanitarian aid.”
“There were all kinds of different groups from all over the country, and even outside the country,” Thomas said. “I had a nice chat with a group of Muslims and an Israeli support group that came in.”
And a group of southern Baptists came in to cook some big meals for locals coping with loss.
“We’re all working for humanitarian aid,” he said. “ Even with all our differences, that’s something we all have in common.”
Some of the Beaumont water, according to Thomas, is now safe to drink.
“It’s awful when you have to use sanitizer after washing your hands,” Thomas said, “but you make do. Everything works out somehow.”
Larry French, the disaster program manager for American Red Cross of Maine, told Maine Public Broadcasting on Monday that 44 people from Maine are currently deployed to help with response efforts to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.
Thomas said that he and Corina Hamlin, 56, of Brownville, another volunteer who drove down with him in August in a Red Cross vehicle will be flown back to Maine on Sept. 18.
“They’re keeping our ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle) right here,” Thomas said. “There’s a lot to be done yet.”
