CHICKENS, DUCKS, GUINEAIn Vidor, the entire Forest Lake neighborhood is underwater. Water climbs up to the eaves and laps over doorways. Some flood-raised porches and homes poke through like random islands. At a property engulfed in water, the last home before a boat-launch site seems off-kilter. Kinship Circle IC Cheri Deatsch says: “Our team, along with other rescuers, canvassed the broader area all afternoon. Set to leave for the night, we hear distant noise from the barn.” Birds? Missy, Cheri and Ron trek back to investigate. Lots of birds: Chickens. Ducks. Guinea. They are farmed birds, trapped in a loft and unable to sustain flight over several feet of water. We manage to contain birds in dog carriers, to relocate them beyond the flood line where waters have receded. The resettled birds, who can now roam across a grassy stretch with a covered porch, are left with food and water. The team returns to feed and check the barn flock for several days. When volunteers revisit the site later that week, floodwaters are down. A family appears to have returned. Their now dry front porch is filled with items not present just a day before and the birds have food and water.

BOATS, FRIENDS AND TEAMWORKIn the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, volunteers travel from the far East and West coasts, Midwest and South to join forces for animal and human aid. Unlike some disaster-response environments, a politics-free spirit prevails. Cooperation and flexibility matter more than publicity and (animal) group dominance. With the need for boats paramount, volunteers form alliances between those with boats and the boat-less. In the field, Max Musson (who has since registered as a Kinship Circle volunteer) and his buddy from California have the boat. These “California Guys” align with a crew from Arizona with a rescue vehicle. Kinship Circle meets the CA-AZ team in the mall parking lot where people connect to form search-rescue boat units. The combined team conducts daily water rescue, food/water delivery and animal transport.

AS WATERS RECEDE, ANIMAL AID CONTINUESAs Harvey floodwaters begin to recede, a second shift of volunteers join others on the ground. Kinship Circle officer Sister Michael Marie, a nun and a veterinary technician from Ohio, along with Mary Leitch, board with a kind host family who offer nearly free lodging in Spring, Texas. Mary flies in from Pennsylvania for any task needed “from animal food/water drops to shelter care.” The two spend time at NRG Arena (Southwest of downtown Houston) which serves as a Disaster Animal Shelter run by Best Friends. The facility currently houses some 400 dogs and 100 cats, rescued in the field or guardian-surrendered. Some animals are transfers from Conroe and other emergency shelters as operations consolidate and move toward adoptions — after a 30-day hold on each animal. The shelter is organized and clean, with dogs in run/kennels and a veterinary clinic on-site. Local and out-state volunteers work in shifts to clean, walk, feed and socialize displaced animals. Some animals belong to evacuees who reside in the NRC Center, also situated on NRG Complex grounds. Today, the animal shelter opens its doors to the public, to facilitate reunions and adoptions. As Kinship Circle winds down its Hurricane Harvey aid, we are already on standby to deploy for Hurricane Irma animal victims in Florida.