Few of us can imagine what it would be like to be living in Houston right now. The city has been battered by Hurricane Henry with more flooding and problems on the way — lives have been lost, but people have also shown tremendous fortitude and a willingness to help others in need. Houston has seen the gamut of emotions. And the roller coaster is not yet over.
Houston Rockets’ center Clint Capella doesn’t have to imagine life in Houston, he’s been living in his downtown Houston condo through the experience. He’s also tried to help people through social media. He talked about it to Michael C. Wright of ESPN.
“First off, I was just trying to help the people,” Capela told ESPN.com…
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Capela said. “I’m from Switzerland, and I’ve never seen this before. So I was just trying to help the people, and I saw that it was working pretty good; my help was really effective. So, this is why I started doing this. I’m just showing some love for the city by doing this, by trying to spread the word out, and doing whatever I can to help. Just by spreading the word by Twitter that people need to be rescued, that they’re trapped in their houses, stuff like that. A lot of people have been helped in the streets because of that. I just felt that I could have an impact there, and I was really happy to do that. I’m just happy to see how effective it is….
As the catastrophe has unfolded, Capela said he ventures out every day “to see how much better it gets,” but can’t walk too far because “it’s still flooded.” Near Capela’s building downtown, the water has receded somewhat. But just a couple of blocks away, “it’s still pretty bad.”
Capela asked for people to Tweet at him with their emergency situations, and he would tweet out where people were stranded and – because of his social media reach as an NBA player — he was able to help.
He’s helped, he has done what he can, like so many others in Houston have done.
If you want to help, in any amount you can, follow this link to J.J. Watt’s fundraising efforts, there are other worthy organizations on the ground in Houston, or you can donate to the American Red Cross, which currently has more than 30 shelters open in the region. Every little bit helps.
