As the nation’s eyes have turned toward Florida and Hurricane Irma, Northwest Indiana is letting the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas know they haven’t been forgotten.
A dozen trucks and 20 members of the NWI Truck Club left the area Friday morning from a Hammond parking lot near Interstate 80-94 headed to two communities in Texas devastated by the hurricane, where they’ll pass out donated bottled water and other needed items to victims.
Members Matt Abner, of Hobart, and Chris Beach, of Portage, said they’d been up until 3 a.m. Friday loading supplies in the pickups and trailers. Beach said he was glad that he had another driver in his truck for when he was ready to “tap out” during the 17-hour trip.
A semitrailer left Thursday with more supplies, according to Tina Bateman Anderson, one of about 500 members of the club.
Bateman Anderson said truck club members collected items contained in a list she received from individuals she knows in the Beaumont area, where she grew up.
In addition to eight skids of bottled water, members are bringing diapers, cleaning supplies, tools, clean socks and underwear, clothing, Ramen noodles and dust masks.
“Many people don’t know that the clothes they were wearing were ruined if they were walking in the contaminated water,” Bateman Anderson said.
She said if the victims were carrying clothing in bags and the bags got wet from the flood waters, those clothes were contaminated and ruined as well.
“Some people don’t even have the clothes that were on their back,” she said.
Beach said Abner had stickers made for the convoy with “NWI Harvey relief” and “Come hell or high water” surrounding an outline of Texas.
Bateman Anderson said the dust masks are needed for individuals trying to clean up the mess in their homes in the aftermath of the destructive storm.
She said the Northwest Indiana contingent’s first stop would be in Beaumont where they will deliver items in the neighborhoods she grew up in, then would head to Baytown to drop off other supplies.
“We can’t go to their homes,” she said. “Many have no place to live. Most don’t have flood insurance. They aren’t in a flood plain. There is no coverage for them.”
She said the NWI Truck Club also delivered bottled water to Flint, Mich., during its water crisis last year.
Municipalities have also responded.
Merrillville and Hobart have set up areas where residents can donate cases of bottled water. The two communities are partnering with Indiana American Water to bring the water to individuals in the areas hit by Hurricane Harvey.
“I know we need to do something. This is the right thing to do,” Merrillville Town Council President Richard Hardaway, D-2nd, said.
“People down there will need water way beyond tomorrow and next week,” Hardaway said.
He said the cases of water can be brought to the Merrillville Stormwater Resource Center, 7404 Broadway, or the Pruzin Center, 5750 Tyler St., during regular business hours.
Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor said donations of bottled water can be dropped off at any time at the Hobart Police Station, 705 E. 4th St., Fire Station 1, 400 W. 10th St., and Fire Station 4, 7710 S. Colorado St.
A spokesman for Indiana American Water said it wasn’t known yet when the water would be delivered.
The bottled water drive is a partnership between Indiana American Water, the communities of Hobart, Merrillville, Gary and Lake Station, and JMD Construction and NWI LINKS.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
