Tales from Harvey: Houston-area recruits detail storm's destruction

The footage of Hurricane Harvey spoke for itself.

Images of rain, wind and damage from the storm flooded the airwaves with even more tragic displays of rising water in the Houston area.

Had the cameras been pointed at 2019 Strake Jesuit tight end Thomas Gordon’s residence, they would have caught a pretty dramatic scene. Gordon and his family escaped their submerged home by airboat after the nearby and rapidly overflowing Buffalo Bayou invited itself inside.

“The interesting thing was, the water started coming up as the rain stopped,” he said. “The reservoirs screwed us, basically. When it stopped and the water started coming up to the front door, we just looked at each other like, 'Uh oh, this is not good at all.' ”

The Addicks and Barker reservoirs, filled to the point that water was making its way to neighborhoods on higher land, were released to alleviate that threat. Those living along the bayou suffered the consequences.

Just before Gordon and his parents hopped on the airboat - which also carried another dozen or so of his neighbors - they had to wave off a rescue helicopter mistakenly directed to their house. That could have been a fateful decision, considering the fortune and urgency of that airboat happening upon them.

“When that boat came through, we were just thinking that was our only chance to leave,” he said. “We just had five minutes to pack. We didn’t think that it was going to happen, and then the power went off … We were trying to pack more stuff, but the guys on the boat were like, ‘We gotta go. Now.’”

The whirlwind in which everything took place didn’t allow for many pleasantries. Gordon said he doesn’t even know the names of those who delivered his family to safety.

“My dad asked if they were in the Cajun Navy,” he said. “They just laughed and were like, 'That’s funny,’ and that was it. They just said that they were volunteers.”

About 20 miles northeast of Gordon, Humble, Texas, wide receiver Bryson Jackson was one of those anonymous rescue agents. He helped as many as his jacked-up GMC Sierra (with an eight-inch lift kit and 35-inch rims) would allow.

Jackson guessed that the trio of he, his father and a friend, were able to assist around 30 people out of dangerous water during the storm.

“The second day when the storm got bad, I was sitting inside watching the news and it was hard just sitting there watching people needing help,” he said. “Me having a big ole’ truck, I knew I was able to make it through a lot of water … We just headed out to Homestead, Summerwood and as close to downtown as we could.

“We saw a lot of people with cars stuck, so it was kind of scary, but I thought if I didn’t do it, nobody was. I was willing to get out of my car to see if someone was trapped in theirs.”

The most harrowing moment for Jackson came while patrolling Summerwood in a boat with a friend. After spotting a head bobbing above the water on what was a street just days earlier. He jumped in what he called ‘upstream,’ to use the water flow to push him toward a distressed ATV rider.

“There was one kid, looked like he was maybe 17, 16 (years old) that had a four-wheeler that I guess he thought was going to make it through the water, but he got to one point where it got deep,” he said. “It got real deep and his four-wheeler cut off and the current was starting to push him and his four-wheeler at the same time.

“Luckily we were able to get him and his four-wheeler up on to some dry land. That was scary, because walking out to that kid, the water was like neck-high.”

The two together were able to pull the vehicle through the water. The riskiness of doing so didn’t register with Jackson until afterward.

“I was thinking to myself that my parents would have killed me if they found out about that,” Jackson said. “But I couldn’t just sit there and let something happen if I saw it happening. I had to figure out a way I could help out.”

Meanwhile, numerous other Houston-area football players sprung into action to assist with recovery from the storm. Class of 2019 Clear Springs running back Todd Hudson and his teammates split into surrounding neighborhoods to deliver appliances and rip out waterlogged carpet, wood floors and insulation of affected homeowners. Class of 2018 Pearland-Shadow Creek wide receiver Malik Rodgers had been volunteering with a variety of local cleanup and repair efforts right up to the announcement of his commitment to Air Force on Friday afternoon.

Jackson has continued helping as well, starting his own #BeSomeone group - a reference to an iconic graffiti mural painted on a bridge over I-45 on the southside of town - to collect and distribute clothing, shoes and supplies to those in need.

Even for those in the unfortunate position of having to rebuild a home, the constant between all players in the battered city seemed to be the desire to get back to playing football.

“I'm itching to get back on the field,” Hudson said.

“I really want to go back this week because we’re playing our rivals, St. Thomas, at NRG Stadium on Friday,” Gordon added. “If we can’t go to school, then we can’t play that game.”

While the Week 1 schedule quickly became an afterthought in the wake of what has already been projected as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, there is optimism that some can take the field as early as next week.

However simple, helping bring communities back together through football is just another way prospects look to lend a hand as their city recovers. Once the first kickoffs in 2017 leave the tee, they’ll be looking to give those cameras something else to broadcast.