FOXBORO -- The images from Texas are stark. Flood waters overwhelming roadways, businesses and homes from the coast to well inland. The initial storm surge and the now-remnants of Hurricane Harvey are the culprits, and they continues to dump water on a region that long since couldn’t handle any more.
The Patriots may be thousands of miles away, but for players from Houston and surrounding areas, this has been difficult to watch.
“There’s some serious flooding going on,” said Cam Fleming, a Texas native. “It’s tragic. It’s a hard thing to deal with. I’m definitely praying for them.”
“Everybody down there right now has been through a lot,” former University of Houston linebacker Elandon Roberts said. “You just hope for the best . . . there is nothing you can really do about it, but what you can do is pray for the area and hope that they’ll be able to rescue the people that are trapped right now and just continue to pray because it ain’t over yet. The storm is still going.”
None of the players we spoke with had family in danger, at least as of this afternoon. Eric Rowe was thankful for that, but still couldn’t get over the devastation.
“My area is not as bad as the downtown area or South Houston,” said Rowe, who was raised 15 or 20 miles north of Houston. “There’s still a little bit of flooding but it’s not as compared to pictures in downtown, where water is going thru the roof . . . Right now, just praying for anyone down there.”
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and the team announced earlier Monday they will match up to $1 million in donations that are made to the American Red Cross for the Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief Fund. Rowe wasn’t surprised.
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“Mr. Kraft is a good guy,” he said. “I see him doing a bunch of charity stuff. He has a good heart . . . just for him to match, I’m sure it’s gladly appreciated.”
Money matters in the day-to-day, as well as in the overall recovery, but so, too, have the efforts of those who have bravely put themselves at risk to help others.
“It’s a very positive area,” said Roberts. “We all come together when stuff like that happens. We’ve been aware of it because we’ve been through it before. At the same time, everyone is coming together to give help where help is needed.”
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