Ed Llewellyn

Ed Llewellyn is a fire fighter at Station 6 of the Houston Fire Department. Hi family moved to Houston in 1986 and he has lived in Kingwood ever since. During Hurricane Harvey, Llewellyn worked out of Station 102 because he could not safely get to his station due to flooding. HFD guidelines dictate that fire fighters should get to the closest station during a disaster. Llewellyn remembers the San Jacinto River flooding in 1994, which gave him some knowledge of how to handle the flooding from Harvey.

Before the flooding began, Llewellyn made several trips to the back to his neighborhood to check on the level of the river. He was concerned when some of the rescue vehicles located in Kingwood were called to help in south Houston because he knew they would need them at some point in his location. One fire station, 104, had to be evacuated due to high water. Llewellyn recalls that once the flooding began, the fire station was inundated with calls for rescue, and some people even walked to the fire station to look for help. The station would try to find the resources to help all calls, including those not related to the flooding. He notes the contributions of civilians who conducted rescues with private boats and mentions the overwhelming nature of the operation. Llewellyn was at the fire station from Sunday until Wednesday, but he did not participate in the rescues. Members of Llewellyn’s family contacted him and said they needed help due to high water. He says hundreds of rescues were made. At one point, Llewellyn received a phone call from a man with Florida Parks and Wildlife asking for directions to his location, as they were coming to assist with the rescues. Llewellyn describes the courage of the civilian rescuers, who put themselves in danger to help others. He says that the phrase Houston Strong indicates the resilience of the city. He details the recovery process and how people from all over the community helped each other out. At the end, Llewellyn says that he is proud of how Kingwood residents and the HFD responded to the flooding.