Abuja News
Nigerians Caught In Hurricane Harvey In Houston Texas Share Harrowing Stories
Wednesday August 30, 2017 – Photos: Nigerians Caught In Hurricane Harvey In Houston Texas Share Harrowing Stories
In the wake of the pounding rainstorm that hit Houston Texas, thousands of residents have been rendered homeless.
In response to Hurricane Harvey tempestuous rainstorm, public facilities, businesses and schools have been grounded.
Said to be one of the largest disasters America has ever faced, the rainstorm has left Houston and much of the Gulf Coast region waterlogged.
Being a large city, Houston is a home to an estimated 2.3 million people. It has the highest population of Nigerians living in Texas, most of whom are affected by the ravaging flood.
Many believe one of three black persons in Houston is a Nigerian, making the Nigerian population in the city as one of the worst hit.
With roads underwater or washed out, and basic services, such as electricity and water supply knocked out, most of the people in the city have been homeless, and many of them still do not know if they will have homes to return to after the disaster.
Some of the Nigerians affected by the Hurricane Harvey shared their harrowing stories with The Nation last night, describing their experiences as traumatic.
Funke Kesington has been forced to be indoor for six days in the wake of the torrential rains. The expectant mother said she and her son had no choice but to be drinking tap water since the disaster began.
She added that her host, whom she identified as Adesuwa, had not returned home.
“She has been stuck at her workplace,” she said.
Ayokunmi and Fisayo Ayodeji, two siblings living in Southwest Alief area of Houston, have remained in their apartment for five days. The greatest fear, they said, is the shortage of food in area. They said most of the grocery stores around the city have closed. Many residents searched for food in panic shopping.
According to Ayokunmi, the food items they have in reserve may not sustain them if the hurricane persists for another three days.
Fisayo said:
“We are safe in our apartment as I speak to you, but we are running out of food and water. We bought large quantity of food items last week before the flood got to our area. There was stampede at the store we bought food, because there were many people scrambling for food to store. On Friday, the emergency service warned from going out.
“We have been indoor since them and we have almost finished the food we bought. We cannot go out to get food again, because most of the stores have closed. We don’t know what is going to happen when we consume all our reserves when the flood has not subsided.”
Telecommunication services have also been grounded by the flood, making it difficult for Nigerians living in Houston to make calls to their loved ones and families back home. Many now depend on data service to communicate with their family members through WhatsApp, Facebook messenger and other instant messaging platforms in the social media.
A former Editor-in-Chief of National Mirror and former Editor of Nigerian Tribune, Abiodun Raufu, who now lives in Texas, shared a picture of his flooded street in Richmond, Texas yesterday morning on Facebook.
The picture showed houses on the street being partly submerged by the flood water.
Raufu said the hurricane had kept him immobile and imposed a “forced leave” on him.
He said: “If I become fat, blame it on Hurricane Harvey. Sequestered involuntarily by a chest-level street flood and with nothing to do than watch TV, my only exercise has been the frequent visits to the kitchen.”
[Report Credit: The Nation]

Mon
August 30, 2017 at 2:40 AM
May God be with you people..
prince of Ijesha
August 30, 2017 at 2:52 AM
What are they still doing there. Tell dem to evacuate
osas
August 30, 2017 at 4:17 AM
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all… Amen
Big Aunty Koks
August 30, 2017 at 6:26 AM
May God protect you all. It must be frightening watching the street and premises water rise while food supplies run low, but we are praying that the weather improves soon and gives you relief. E go better. The consolation there is that the power outage will not be too strange for you people since it will only remind you of Naija.
Stay safe and God Bless!
MADAM ERANKO
August 30, 2017 at 10:10 AM
GOD CAN NOT HELP FOR WHAT YOU HAVE CAUSED FOR YOURSELF ,
WE ARE THE ONE WHO WILL END WHAT WE STARTED, AND WE WILL PAY THE PRICE OF HOW WE ARE PUSHING BACK THE OCEAN ALL OVER THE WORLD.
WE HAVE TO LOOK INTO HOW WE ARE DESTROYING THE OCEAN ALL THE TIME ,
WE KEEP ON PUSHED BACK THE OCEAN AGAIN AND AGAIN
ALL THE TIME AND THE SEA HAVE NOWHERE TO GO,
THEN IT HAS TO GO BACK TO WHERE IT USED TO BE AND WIPE YOU OFF ,
BECAUSE YOU TOOK OVER IT PLACE, AS YOU HAVE TRESPASSING AND HE WANTS REVENGE.
THIS FLOOD PROBLEM IT IS YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS, SORRY , I AM YOUR GOD, I CAN NOT HELP YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE STARTED, YOU NEED TO END IT YOURSELF .
BECAUSE IT IS WHAT YOU HAVE CAUSED FOR YOURSELVES. BY DREDGING THE OCEAN AND BUILD HOUSES THAT WILL SOON FALL INTO THE OCEAN ,
WARNING TO LEKKI IN NIGERIA.
THE SOLUTION IS TO STOP PUSHNIG BACK THE OCEAN ,
BECAUSE LEKKI MAY SOON BE HELL
IF THEY FAIL TO STOP DREDGING THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN, THE WORLD WILL SOON WIPE OUT
iron bar
August 30, 2017 at 12:42 PM
HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE JUST LIKE HURRICANE SANDY RAVAGED EAST COAST YRS AGO.GOD WILL SEE UNA THROUGH..YOU SHALL WEATHER THE STORM
christoor david
August 30, 2017 at 7:58 PM
may God see them through