“I
think
just
writing
the
word
‘helpless’
was
like
a
trigger
that
I
needed,”
Wilsey
said
of
an
initial
social
media
post.
“Because
I
was
like,
‘No,
I’m
not.
I’m
not
helpless.
I
can
do
something.’”

300
volunteers
in
48
hours

Within
48
hours
of
that
post,
Wilsey
had
rallied
more
than
300
people
to
donate
supplies
and
support
her
effort
to
assemble

flood
relief
kits
for
impacted
families.

“I
decided
to
set
a
goal
of
just
making
50
bags.
I
didn’t
know
how
bad
the
flooding
was
going
to
get
when
I
started
this
either,”
she
said.
“And
within
48
hours,
I
had
over
300
people
buying
and
donating.”

The
kits
—
modeled
after
a
similar
project
Wilsey
organized
during

Hurricane
Harvey
—
include
essentials
for
families
with
small
children
such
as
diapers,
wipes,
towels,
onesies,
pacifiers,
formula,
granola
bars,
bug
spray
and
more.

Some
even
contain
handwritten
Bible
verses,
stickers
and
stuffed
animals,
Wilsey
said.

“We
didn’t
realize
how
insane
the
mosquitoes
get
after
flooding,”
Wilsey
noted.
“You
got
flooding,
and
then
you
turn
up
the
temperature
in

Texas,
and
it
gets
pretty
bad.
So
we
added
bug
spray
—
over
250
cans
of
it.
That’s
something
we
missed
during
Harvey.”

Ongoing
recovery
efforts

Rescue
efforts
continued
Wednesday
as
the
search
for
more
than

170
people
missing
stretched
into
a
sixth
day.
At
least
120
people
have
been
confirmed
dead,
with
officials
warning
the
toll
could
rise,
according
to
CBS
News.

The
disaster
—
driven
by
a
powerful
weekend
storm
—
caused
the
Guadalupe
River
to
surge
and
overwhelm
areas
west
of
Austin.

Kerr
County
suffered
the
worst
damage,
with
161
people
still
unaccounted
for,
according
to
officials.

President

Donald
Trump
approved
a
federal

disaster
declaration,
activating
support
from
the


Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency
(FEMA).
And
the

U.S.
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development
issued
a
90-day

foreclosure
moratorium
on
all

Federal
Housing
Administration-insured
forward
and
reverse
mortgages
in
the
disaster
area.

At
least
95
deaths
occurred
in
Kerr
County,
including
27
at

Camp
Mystic
—
a
girls’
summer
camp
near
the
community
of
Hunt.
Rescuers
are
still
searching
for
five
campers
and
one
counselor
who
remain
missing.

Support
pours
in
from
near
and
far

The
outpouring
of
support
extended
far
beyond
Wilsey’s
own
network.

“I
did
reach
out
to
my
local
community
—
like
my
hyper-local
350-home
subdivision
—
and
kind
of
started
with
that,”
she
said.
“But
then
I
just
put
it
on
my

Facebook
page,
and
I
was
born
and
raised
in

San
Diego,
so
I’ve
stayed
connected
with
a
lot
of
my
San
Diego
people.

“I
would
say
this
is
majority
Texans,
but
also
20%
coming
from
outside
of
Texas
to
support.
It’s
pretty
amazing.”

She
also
received
overwhelming
support
from
her

real
estate
colleagues.

“Tomorrow,
I
will
have
four
different
agents
from
three
different
brokerages
helping
me
stuff
these
bags,”
Wilsey
said.
“So
it’s
all
over.
It’s
not
just
my
brokerage
either.
I
mean,
agents
are
showing
up
big
time
right
now.

“These
are
our
communities,
right?
I
live
here,
I
work
here,
I
donate
here.
That’s
what
it’s
all
about.”

Devastation
in
every
direction

While
her
focus
has
been
on
emergency

disaster
relief,
the
scenes
that
Wilsey
has
witnessed
speak
to
the
broader
damage
left
behind.

“It
looks
like
hurricanes
came
through
here
or
tornadoes
came
through
here,”
she
said.
“There’s
a
ton
of
loss
of
property
—
whether
it’s
your
RV,
your
house.
You’re
seeing
pictures
of
refrigerators
and
vanities
lined
up
on
the
street.”

In
some
cases,
the
flooding
caused
even
more
chaos
near
area
lakes.

“Lake
Travis
has
been
sitting
at
43%
full
for
two
years,
and
overnight
we
went
up
almost
20
feet,”
Wilsey
said.
“We’ve
had
docks
just
running
free
on
the
lakes,
running
into
other
docks.
There’s
so
much
property
damage
on
our
lakes
right
now,
so
it’s
a
mess.”

Hope
amid
catastrophe

Amid
unspeakable
loss,
Wilsey
sees
resilience.

“There’s
the
saying,
‘Texans
helping
Texans’
—
it’s
more
than
just
a
phrase,”
she
said.
“It
really
is
a
way
of
life.
People
are
out
there
doing
nonstop
work.
I
mean,
it’s
hard
to
focus
on
work,
but
I
have
to,
because
obviously
that’s
my
livelihood
and
I
have
clients
that
I
owe
a

fiduciary
responsibility
to,
right?
But
it’s
hard
to
focus
on
anything
but
this
right
now.”

Wilsey
said
many
of
the
hardest-hit
areas
are
small,
rural
towns
that
are
difficult
to
reach.

“You
think
about
some
of
these
small
towns,
and
they
have
1,000
people
in
them,”
she
said.
“And
now
there’s
seven
to
eight
thousand
volunteers
that
just
showed
up.
There’s
not
even
enough
bathrooms
for
all
these
volunteers,
let
alone
lodging
and
parking
and
everything
else.”

Flood
insurance,
FEMA
disaster
zones

Statewide,
only
about
7%
of
residential
properties
carry
flood
insurance
coverage,
according
to

Neptune
Flood.
This
leaves
the
vast
majority
of
homeowners
financially
vulnerable.

In
Harris
County
—
home
to
Houston,
a
city
repeatedly
hit
by
major
floods
—
more
than
78%
of
homes
are
without
flood
insurance,
according
to
Neptune
data
cited
in
a

report
by
the
Houston
Chronicle.

According
to
FEMA
data,
more
than
half
of
all
National
Flood
Insurance
Program
claims
filed
since
2005
originated
outside
of
federally
designated
high-risk
flood
zones.

Construction
permitting
firm

PermitUsNow
is
among
those
helping
residents
and
business
owners
navigate
the
rebuilding
process.
It
offers
advice
on
floodplain
development
permits,
building
and
trade
permits,
and
FEMA-related
elevation
certificates.

Next
steps
to
recovery

While
her

Amazon
donation
link
has
reached
capacity,
Wilsey
urges
her
peers
to
keep
up
their
ongoing
contributions.

“Right
now,
I
think
the
biggest
call
to
action
is
financial
support
and
like,
muscle
and
people
on
the
ground,
chainsaws,
and
cutting
through
stuff
so
that
we
can
get
to
everything,”
she
said.

For
now,
her
garage
is
full
of
donated
goods.
Her
neighbors,
clients
and
colleagues
are
showing
up
by
the
dozens
—
and
her
sense
of
helplessness
has
been
replaced
by
something
stronger.

“I’m
not
helpless,”
she
repeated.
“None
of
us
are,
if
we
decide
not
to
be.”