As self-appointed responders team with expanding organized efforts to help rescue and support residents in Houston and surrounding communities hardest hit by Hurricane — now tropical storm — Harvey, several former local residents checked in with The Newtown Bee about the situation as they were seeing it.

Following social network posts seeking information from Newtown residents now living in the Houston area, Jon Iszard was the first to write back late Monday afternoon, and then reconnected on Tuesday.

“I am an ‘ex-Newtownian’ living in League City, a suburb of Houston,” Mr Iszard wrote, adding that he has lived in the Houston area since moving to attend graduate school there in 1981. “We came close to flooding yesterday as our neighborhood (Clear Creek Village) is adjacent to the creek by the same name, but water has receded some in our neighborhood since then, and we hope we can dodge the bullet. Many others here are not so fortunate. We were here for Alicia and Tropical Storm Allison, and have never seen anything like this.”

Mr Iszard said the worst flood in living memory in his neighborhood was from storm Alison.

“At that time, Clear Creek, which is officially flooded at 12 feet in our neighborhood, set a new flood stage record at 19.1 feet. One of the reasons we bought our house was because its elevation is a further five or six feet above that,” he said. “We awoke after a long night of hard rain and thunderstorms [Sunday, August 27] to a creek that had risen to 23.49 feet — 4.39 feet above the previous record — and starting to come up our driveway. It actually peaked at 24.08 and was lapping against my driveway.”

Nonetheless, Mr Iszard said he counts himself and his family among the fortunate ones.

“Streets and highways remain flooded throughout the greater Houston area, but there is one shelter we can reach, and will be bringing them food we can spare shortly,” he said. “I don’t think this ends quickly — certainly not while it continues to rain.”

By Wednesday afternoon, Mr Iszard said he was spared from flooding, while many of his immediate neighbors were not so lucky.

“We’re okay, so we filled up a backpack with water bottles and made our way around the neighborhood meeting up with other folks who were not so lucky,” he said. “Right now, most of them are still pulling wet carpeting out of their houses.”

Shortly after 3 pm on Monday, August 28, William Meier wrote in from Kingwood in northeast Houston, to also share that he was “doing better than most.”

“We’re still dry, have power and internet. However you don’t have to go far to see the affects of Harvey. Just down the block our neighbors’ roads are flooded,” Mr Meier wrote. “It won’t take too much rain for it to be in their houses. No gas at the local gas station. It’s been hit or miss for the past several days.”

Earlier that afternoon, Mr Meier said he encountered his first food lines at the local Krogers [grocery store].

“We stood on line for a half hour but left as we still have some food left, but [are] trying to take advantage of the lull in the storm,” he shared. “I have to say that the HEB [grocery store] and Krogers have been doing a good job of sending extra deliveries, but fear the flooding is preventing that now.”

After communicating with friends, Mr Meier said those he reached in the south and west Houston “seem to be hurting more than us.”

“We only got 22.5 inches of rain in the past 72 hours,” Mr Meier said. “Otherwise I see a bunch of people trying to help one another, checking on one another, offering help, food, water, etc if needed.”

At about 1 pm on Tuesday, Linda Lundgren wrote in from Cypress in northwest Houston, reporting she logged just under 30 inches of rain.

“We are fortunate to have no flooding outside of large puddles in the yard, but many roads are flooded,” Ms Lundgren said. “While we personally have been minimally impacted, that is not the case for so many people. What is so uplifting is to watch how everyone is stepping up to help rescue people [with] big trucks and boats, and donations of food, water, and clothing. This city has a very long recovery in front of it, but the strength of the people will pull it through.”

Monday afternoon, former Newtown resident Mary Laremont sent the following message from Austin: “I grew up in Sandy Hook, lived there my whole childhood. Moved to Texas in 2003 move from the military. Harvey in Austin has downed some power lines, flooded a few streets, but it has given me the Yankee spirit to help my neighbors. We cannot get to Houston, which has horrific flooding, but we have donated money and blood at the Red Cross. Thank you so much for The Bee; we stay in touch with all the going ons [in Newtown] here in Austin.”

Late Monday afternoon, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy dispatched a C-130H cargo plane and eight Airmen from the 103rd Airlift Wing of the Connecticut National Guard to help with the Hurricane Harvey response and recovery efforts. The crew included C-130H pilots, crewmembers, loadmasters, and maintainers.

“I want to thank the Connecticut Air National Guardsmen deploying to Texas, and their families, for their service,” Lt Governor Nancy Wyman said. “Connecticut knows firsthand how important additional support and resources are during storm recovery.”

Connecticut’s division of the National Disaster Medical System joined state volunteers with the American Red Cross, representatives from Fairfield-based Save the Children, and Stamford-based Americares were on the way to assist, and late Wednesday afternoon, volunteers from the Naugatuck Valley town of Beacon Falls and its Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 fire department were close to filling a trailer with supplies to begin heading toward Texas.

Locally, Newtown residents who are willing and able to help are being steered to the Newtown, Bethel, or Monroe Big Y World Class Markets, which along with other company stores are partnering with the American Red Cross to raise donations for those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Starting Friday, September 1, and continuing through Saturday, September 16, Big Y customers and employees will have the opportunity to donate to American Red Cross disaster relief at all Big Y locations throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. Donation containers will be available at all Big Y registers. The funds raised will support people in the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Mario Bruno, CEO, American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region, said in a release, “This campaign will enable the Red Cross to aid in the recovery of those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The outpouring of support we have seen over the years from Big Y employees and their customers has been tremendous.”

To help people affected by Hurricane Harvey, the Red Cross has launched a massive relief response that includes sheltering the thousands of residents seeking refuge, with that number expected to grow drastically in the days ahead. Hundreds of dedicated volunteers and employees including 40-plus from Connecticut alone are battling impassable roads and dangerous conditions to help people forced from their homes, with more workers headed to the area every day.

The Red Cross has enough shelter supplies on hand in Texas to support more than 34,000 people. In addition, tractor trailer loads of ready-to-eat meals, comfort kits, and kitchen and cleaning supplies are on the ground, and about 200 emergency response vehicles — more than half of the fleet — have been mobilized.

Charity Navigator has compiled a list of highly rated organizations responding in the aftermath of this storm and providing assistance to the people and communities affected by it. Donors can designate their donations to the cause on the organization’s website, charitynavigator.org.

However, at this point in time it is not certain that all these organizations will spend 100 percent of donations received on Hurricane Harvey relief.

Anyone looking for a local charity to support in the wake of Hurricane Harvey should consider Houston SPCA, Houston Humane Society, Houston Food Bank, Food Bank of Corpus Christi, or San Antonio Humane Society. These highly rated organizations are located in the most-affected areas and are providing support to individuals and animals, according to Charity Navigator.