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By Karla Pomeroy
Editor 

Surviving and rebuilding

Christensen family reaches out to help others while receiving help after Hurricane Harvey

 

September 15, 2017

COURTESY/R-Jay Ruiz

RJ Christensen and more than 50 friends removed debris from his home and his neighbors' homes at Oak Hills Village in Houston, Texas, following Hurricane Harvey. The pile of wet debris lined the street in front of the home.

WORLAND - Looking back to the start of Hurricane Harvey on Friday, Aug. 25, RJ Christensen said this week that he would not have evacuated any earlier than he did because he would not have had the chance to help his neighbors during the flood, as well as after the flood.

Christensen and his family evacuated on Monday, Aug. 28, from their Houston, Texas, home in Oak Hills Village. There had been no mandatory evacuation order and history for the neighborhood showed that it had not flooded. The neighborhood was not in a flood plain, Christensen said. Since it was not in a flood plain he and his neighbors were not required to have flood insurance and thus they didn't have any when the rains and the floods came.

Christensen is a Worland High School graduate, the son of Ron and Rhonda Christensen, former Worland residents, grandson of Keith and Helen Kay Grant of Lovell, and, he noted, he was a member of the inaugural WHS Warrior soccer team.

Regarding deciding not to leave until the waters had reached their house, Christensen said, "We didn't think we were in danger and we didn't want to abandon anyone [in the neighborhood]. We didn't know how bad it would be."

He added, "I'm glad we stayed. We were able to get in real quick [to their home to begin recovery and repair work]."

After rafting his family out on Monday, Aug. 28, as well as helping some other neighbors get out of the flooded neighborhood, Christensen returned to his home on Wednesday, Aug. 30, with the flood waters having receded.

He said they had to tear out the flooring out, two feet high on the walls and "we lost our whole kitchen and all of our appliances." They also lost bookshelves, dressers and other furniture.

"We were the first family to get in there and start ripping things out. He had been able to recruit 50 friends to come and help.

"I did some relief work in Louisiana last year with the big floods in Baton Rouge so I knew what to do," Christensen said.

The most important thing, he said, was to get everything that was wet out of the house.

"It all needs to come out, based on what I saw in Louisiana," Christensen said.

He said the cut the walls and insulation out from the floor up two feet to make sure they got any of the walls that were damaged by the water that had been at least four inches in the home.

All the clothing was removed. He said about half of the clothes are salvageable, those in higher dresser drawers.

"We lost a chest full of baby blankets that my mom, sister and grandmother had made," he said.

When they were preparing to evacuate Sunday night, Aug. 27, they moved journals, photo albums and other keepsakes in the attic, where it remains nice and dry and where it will remain until the house is repaired and the family can move back in.

After the Christensen family and their 50-plus friends finished with their house, they helped Christensen's neighbors. Throughout the week they helped seven different families remove debris from the homes.

He said as word got around that they were helping more and more people asked for help and more and more people came to help.

"By Saturday [Sept. 2], I was just directing crews. We'd drop a crew off at a house, I would direct them what they needed to do and then go on to the next house," he said.

Saturday afternoon they had finished helping everyone who wanted help in Christensen's neighborhood, but they didn't stop, they went a few streets over to another neighborhood that was hit hard.

"We had a caravan of five cars and we drove around the neighborhood until we saw someone looking for help," Christensen said. One family who had been looking overwhelmed when the group arrived, were smiling and laughing "with joy by the end because they didn't have to do it all themselves."

He noted, however, one woman they helped didn't get in and get everything out as quickly. When they recently removed her cabinets the walls were green with mold.

Helping others has helped Christensen cope with being displaced. "It's stressful being a displaced person and not knowing when you can move back home. It can get you down, especially when you're not sleeping well because you're not sleeping in your own bed."

He said his first priority was to do all he could first for his family. He wife Emily and three daughters are now in Arizona with Emily's family. Grace, 7, has been enrolled in school, until they can move back home.

Now, as he and his dog, Denali, stay with a friend in Houston, he does what he can on his house and then "I go find somebody else to help and that helps bring back the joy. For a little while you're not worrying about yourself. It's been cool to find that balance."

HELPING HANDS

During an interview Monday night, Christensen said the house is getting dried out really well and they should be able to start putting some sheetrock up in about a week.

He has a cousin flying in to help him lay floor tiles and people have donated cabinets to replace what was lost. They also have a washer and dryer donated and a friend donated a sofa.

"People have also been feeding us like crazy. People will be driving by with home-cooked food. They're looking for anyone working on their houses," Christensen said, noting that when they see someone working they'll stop and offer a home-cooked meal. "We've had some really delicious Indian food, Mexican, barbecue and brisket. People are taking care of each other."

Christensen has been witness to the many ways people are trying to help he and his family as well as others.

"The main thing I've been noticing a lot lately is that the little things people do can make a huge difference in the long run," Christensen said.

His sister sold bracelets and raised $1,000.

A friend, who is physically not able to come help them work on the home and was unable to help remove the debris helped spread the word on Facebook.

Another friend set up an account through you caring.com at https://www.youcaring.com/emilyrjchristensenandtheirthreelittlegirls-939235. There is a goal of $15,000, of which $3,775 has been raised.

The nice thing about youcaring.com, Christensen said, is that money is available to them right now.

He said they have funding to do the floors and the walls but doors and windows and the rest of appliances and furniture will have to wait as funds are available.

As for accessing relief funding, Christensen said many of the relief organizations such as Red Cross focus on health and safety. The funds are not for rebuilding.

Houston Texans player JJ Watt raised more than $30 million, but Christensen said Watt announced that there will no quick decisions on how or where the money will be distributed.

According to the Associated Press, more than 50 local and national charities have raised more than $350 million in the nearly three weeks since Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas Gulf Coast, and the disparate groups are trying to decide on priorities while some storm victims still await help.

Distrust of large charities such as the American Red Cross has driven many donors to smaller, local organizations. For instance, Houston Texans football star J.J. Watt has raised more than $30 million for his foundation, an effort he started by posting appeals on social media.

One donor to Watt's effort, Helen Vasquez, stood outside the Texans' stadium and said she had seen a Facebook post listing the salaries of executives at top national charities. She gave Watt $20 instead.

"It's all going to the people itself and not to the corporations, not the higher-ups in the corporations," Vasquez said.

But most of the money raised for Harvey has gone to the Red Cross, which has raised a least $211 million. The rest went to other organizations, including 40 groups listed by Charity Navigator, as well as dozens of other groups and individual families raising money on do-it-yourself sites such as GoFundMe (or youcaring).

More than $50 million has poured into the local fund set up by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county's chief administrative official.

Christensen said, "As far as getting people back into their houses soon, there's no relief. We're fortunate that friends and family have donated as much as they have."

He added, "My vision is for this thing to keep growing and get others involved and at some point we'll have everything paid for maybe we can help the next person."

Until then Christensen will continue to teach sculpture at Elsik High School and coach junior varsity tennis, as well as working on the house and helping others as he can.

 
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