Sandy survivors help Texas couple stuck in New York

A couple from Houston is stranded in New York, fearing if they won't have a home to go back to. All they know is their neighborhood is under water. A group of Superstorm Sandy survivors is helping the couple through this desperate time.

Kristin and Jahqia Harrison scroll through their social media and see that their Houston neighborhood is flooded. 

"At this moment we have no idea what our home looks like," Kristin said. "Any damage, vehicles nothing whatsoever."

The couple, a Navy veteran and her wife, came up to New York for a music festival. At the same time, Hurricane Harvey barreled towards their home.

"We came up to Afro Punk to socialize and we ended up being stuck," Jahqia said.

The airports in Houston are shut down. The fourth-largest city in the United States is still underwater. Likely, so is their home.

"I have a friend who is a close neighbor and she sent me pictures of our area and it's pretty bad," Jahqia said.

They're staying with their cousin in Jersey City, who connected them to the Staten Island-based disaster-relief program called Yellow Boots.

"They're amazing – they have helped us out so much, with what to expect, what to do, the aftermath," Kristin said. "Really, just the support that they've given us since we've been here."

Yellow Boots consists of people impacted by Superstorm Sandy, like volunteer Stephanie Argento-Beharovic, who lost everything in 2012. She feels it is her turn to give back.

 

"I feel for them I don't want to see anyone going through that. They just have to have the patience and just keep going," Stephanie said. "Don't stop. They'll say they want to quit, keep going – don't stop. I said it so many times but I continued and got my house back."

Yellow Boots is now helping the Harrisons prepare for what is to come.

"We've asked them to work with FEMA to get a FEMA ID – basically a Social Security number as it relates anything claims-related," Farid Kader with Yellow Boots said. "We started to get them in front of national volunteer organizations for disaster relief. It's a lot but we're getting them in front of the right people."

"We're in a time of need right now and I'm just grateful and thankful there are actually people in the world that actually do care and will give freely," Jahqia said.

Yellow Boots and 25 other local organizations are collecting demolition equipment and protective gear to send down to Houston next week in a tractor trailer.