Volunteers band together to clean up toppled trees after Houston storm

The night of Houston’s deadly derecho, Nancy Guevara’s lights went out, the air conditioning cut out, and a 45-foot tree — which she thought was firmly rooted in her front yard — toppled over, shattering her car and blocked his driveway.

The noise shook the house. Neither Guevara, 42, nor her husband had power tools to cut the thick tree trunk. They didn’t have enough money to pay a crew to come clean up the place. And they weren’t the only ones. Guevara Street in the Grand Fifth Ward was now lined with uprooted trees, branches and storm debris — and few resources to remove it all.

That changed for the better, however, when a team of about 10 volunteers showed up at her house Saturday morning to finally cut down her fallen tree.

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They were plumbers, insulators, ironworkers, machinists – all members of a local union who signed up to clean up damaged properties. All week, the 10 to 20 members traveled to the Greater Fifth Ward, Denver Harbor, Kashmere Gardens, Spring Branch, Acres Homes and other neighborhoods to meet demand.

The volunteer effort was organized by the Texas Gulf Coast Area Federation of Labor, a labor organization representing 95 unions along the Texas Gulf Coast. Many volunteers include qualified union apprentices, Harris County and other community organizations donating equipment – ​​all in response to the storm.

“A lot of these communities are struggling to cut down these trees themselves,” said Julia Popowych, communications and marketing coordinator for TGCALF. “Union members and apprentices are helping, so people can get their lives back on track. »

The high price of storm recovery

Thousands of people were left without power after a severe derecho, or wind storm, ravaged the Houston area just over a week ago. The strong winds tore down trees, toppled power lines and shattered windows in less than an hour, reaching gusts of up to 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

For days after the storm, Houston residents sat in sweltering 90-degree heat or moved to places with electricity as CenterPoint Energy worked to restore power to nearly a million clients.

More than a week later, most Houstonians have power again, but storm damage has left its mark across the city. Broken and toppled trees litter properties throughout the area, and residents like Guevara don’t have enough money to clean them up.

Some properties only require brush clearing; others need chainsaws. Lacy Wolf, an insulator with 41 years of experience, helped cut Guevara’s tree into small pieces and roll them to the curb. His truck plays loud music. As president of TGCALF, he worked all week on storm recovery.

“It’s not just about our regular brothers and sisters who are members of the union, it’s about the entire community,” Wolf, 61, said. “It’s about everyone, especially those who need it most.”

$3,000 to cut down a tree

On a property just south of Guevara’s, three union machinists, a plumber’s apprentice and an organizer from the nonprofit Houston Justice are sorting through the rubble. Their first spot of the morning, the crew simply removed tree debris from the back of the property to the street. The owner is at work, but has allowed union members to stop by while he is away.

Brandon Lamoreaux, 35, is about to become an apprentice stagehand, which means working backstage at shows in Houston. His electricity was cut off for five days and his refrigerator exploded. So he understood the stress of the storm. Still, he joked with his other stagehands.

“Aren’t the props supposed to handle all these trees,” said machinist Josue DeLeon, 32. They all laugh at the inside joke – the joke is about the stagehand’s props department.

All three belong to the IATSE union, Local 51 – or the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. They had heard about volunteering a few days ago and decided to join us to help. They understood that the cost of repairing properties was not affordable for everyone.

When Guevara began asking for quotes to remove his tree from his yard, the amount was around $3,000, almost triple the price he was quoted for removing another tree last year .

She and her husband were able to borrow a saw from their neighbor to remove some of the smaller pieces of the tree and remove part of it from her driveway, but that wouldn’t work for a heavier trunk. Guevara started thinking she should rent a chainsaw at a different price, until her neighbor told her about the union’s volunteer work. She signed up.

“Honestly, I’m just glad it wasn’t my house that was destroyed,” she said. “This tree was only a few feet from our front door. I can’t imagine how we would have handled this.

Her family had no power for an entire week after the storm. They tried to make it work, but the heat became too intense. They moved into his daughter’s apartment.

The high cost of felling trees is also found throughout the city. Wolf said he recently cut down a 75-foot tree in the Garden Villas neighborhood that cost $3,200. It’s expensive, but trying to cut down a tree without training and equipment is dangerous.

“I mean, people can’t afford $3,000 worth of groceries, let alone a tree,” Wolf said.

Union members had a total of about 15 to 20 properties to work on from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. If they had more time in a house before the next address, the group could walk around the neighborhood and see who else might need help.

With the tree finally up and running and the energy returning, Guevara thinks things could return to normal. She is still a little worried. Hurricane season was approaching and after the derecho, she doesn’t know how the city will handle the situation.

“How can we even prepare for this? ” she asked.

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