For Houston Family, Deep Faith—and Help From FEMA Partners—Drives Recovery from Storms

HOUSTON—Floodwaters drove Carol Lowrey, her son David and family friend Wanda Simons to seek refuge in a hotel after the April floods inundated their neighborhood. For 22 days, they shared a hotel room while the two women worked at restoring order to the chaos of their lives.

They divided the responsibilities. Carol took care of her 44-year-old son who is paralyzed as a result of spina bifida, a birth defect affecting the spinal column. Wanda worked the phones and the hotel computer, arranging for contractors and navigating the Medicare maze. She battled the insurance company that insisted, to the women’s dismay, the wheelchair-accessible van customized for David was a total loss. They knew it wasn’t. And Wanda began building a spreadsheet, cataloging what they lost and estimating the cost. 

“We had to document everything. We had lists of stuff,” Carol Lowrey recalled.

With a ballooning “to do” list and mounting debt, it was clear the family was in crisis and needed help. As longtime friends from Believers Fellowship Baptist Church in nearby Spring, Harris County, Carol and Wanda continue to find support in their church family and federal disaster assistance programs.

A presidential disaster declaration can trigger activation of FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program, which may prompt a governor to request implementation of the Immediate Disaster Case Management Program. This is a time-limited partnership administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. It pairs a disaster survivor with a case manager, or single point of contact, who helps determine the client’s unmet disaster-related needs. From that point, the case manager develops an individualized recovery plan and provides links to a broad range of resources, including funding and technical assistance, to support a more rapid recovery.

Storms unleashed heavy rains and flooding on Harris County for eight continuous days in April, prompting nearly 21,000 affected households to seek disaster assistance.

In the days and weeks afterward, disaster survivors were encouraged to call 211, a toll-free number sponsored by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to connect them with needed services.

Carol, who is 68, and Wanda, 64, were directed to the Immediate Disaster Case Management Program by FEMA’s disaster survivor assistance teams canvassing their neighborhood on May 11, the day after the family returned home from the hotel.

“We focus on being that single-source resource,” said Thelma Gutierrez, the program’s branch director in Houston and case manager for the Lowrey household. “Chaos comes with the disaster and we help (survivors) develop a plan, set tangible goals and help restore a sense of normalcy.”

Survivor needs range from basic to critical. With lives in turmoil, small stressors become overwhelming and can cause a survivor to become immobilized. The result: Nothing gets done. Addressing those challenges is tantamount to eating an elephant. Case managers help survivors through it, one small bite at a time.

“You have to understand who your client is and what their needs are,” Gutierrez said. “We look for resources that do not add an additional burden to the client.”

Forty case managers, most of them bilingual, were deployed to the April disaster, along with five strike team leaders and a staff of 15 management and support staff. They developed a community profile, assessed the need and identified local resources. Outreach teams notified city officials, community organizations and media outlets about the program. Most clients were referred to the program by FEMA, others transferred from voluntary organizations active in disaster and long-term recovery groups.

As of Aug. 4, the Immediate Disaster Case Management Program has served 2,746 individuals and families since launching in Texas June 5.

For the Lowrey household, and David in particular, the needs are critical. Visits to the chiropractor are three times a week, dental visits four times a year. There are annual visits to the urologist, neurosurgeon, pulmonologist and David’s primary care physician; annual check-ups accompany those visits.

Floodwaters damaged the electrical equipment in the customized van used to transport David to medical appointments. The night the family was rescued from their home by boat, floodwaters already up the front steps and licking at the door, Carol and Wanda took only David’s essentials, including medicines and a CPAP machine that delivers pressurized air to aid his breathing.

In the months since the floods, the Lowrey household has received rental assistance from FEMA and reimbursement for the hotel stay. The Immediate Disaster Case Management Program identified organizations that replenished some of David’s supplies, including furniture, durable and consumable medical supplies such as gloves and disposable wipes. They also provided a much-needed compassionate ear.

On a blistering summer day, the Lowrey family sat together for an interview in the cramped, second-floor master bedroom now serving as the main living space. The first floor of the house is gutted and under construction, and the family is restricted to the upstairs rooms. David hasn’t kept any medical appointments or attended church since the storms. Carol and Wanda can’t lift him or his 350-pound wheelchair.

There are many hurdles to overcome in getting their lives back to normal, but their deeply held faith keeps this family going. They believe God will not give them any more than they can handle.

The Immediate Disaster Case Management services are available to survivors of April 17–30 floods, who reside in Austin, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Grimes, Harris, Hidalgo, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Waller or Wharton counties. Survivors of May 22–June 24 storms and flooding in Brazoria, Brazos, Washington or any of the above counties may also access Immediate Disaster Case Management services.

For more information about the Immediate Disaster Case Management Program, visit SETexasFloodAssistance2016.com or call 855-742-5881. Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and use a TTY may call 800-735-2989 (English) or 800-662-4954 (Spanish).  

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