David Lowy

David Lowy was born in Pasadena, Texas and grew up in Meyerland, where he lived until flooding from Hurricane Harvey forced his family to leave their home. Lowy remembers the impacts of Hurricane Carla in the 1960s and Hurricane Ike in 2008 but says that in his neighborhood damage was minimal. He also recalls that during the Memorial Day flood and the Tax Day flood, his neighborhood was spared from the flood waters.

Once water entered his home, Lowy and his family evacuated to a neighbor’s upstairs apartments, where they stayed for several days before moving into a hotel room paid for by FEMA. After the flood, Lowy explains the emotions he felt when he returned to his house and saw the damage. Volunteers helped Lowy remove damaged material from the house. He was also given money by FEMA to make repairs on the house. He and his family had no warning about the storm, as they did not watch the news. When asked about the impacts of the storm on the Jewish community in Meyerland, Lowy describes how he thinks most people will stay or return if they can afford it. Personally, Lowy wonders if he wants to return to his house, which his parents bought when he was a child and where he has lived since. He also laments the fact that the synagogue where he had his bar mitzva did not survive repeated flooding, yet the one where his father celebrated his in Europe managed to survive World War II. To end the conversation, Lowy talks about how, being Jewish, he comes from a family of survivors and that he believes most people will be able to make it through the moment of crisis.