Sharon Mellert has lived in the Houston area, specifically Kingwood for twenty-four years at the time of this interview. When Hurricane Harvey hit, Mellert and her husband were out of town, but fortunately when they returned home, they found their home undamaged. The Mellerts’ son did have significant flooding damage, and he and his family lived with his parents for two months while their house was being repaired. Despite the Mellerts’ good luck, Sharon discusses the hard times post-Harvey, especially witnessing others’ hardships. Mellert recalls driving through neighborhoods and seeing multiple homes in a row completely destroyed. Mellert uses the hurricane as an example to be better prepared for future events, including preparations for her home and helping others. Given her experience with community help post-Harvey, Mellert admits to a firmer belief in Houston Strong.
Read on for the full transcript of the interview:
Interviewee: Sharon Mellert
Interview Date: October 27, 2018
Place: Kingwood Community Center
Interviewer: Samuel Phillips
Transcriber: Nella Sakic
Interviewee: Sharon Mellert
Interview Date: October 27, 2018
Interview Location: Kingwood Community Center
Interviewer: Nella Sakic
INTERVIEWER: Today is October 27, 2018. My name is Nella Sakic, and I’m here today at the Kingwood Community Center with Sharon as part of the University of Houston Center for Public History’s Resilient Houston: Documenting Hurricane Harvey project. Today we will be talking about Sharon’s experience as a Hurricane Harvey volunteer.
NS: Are you ready?
SM: Yes.
NS: Great. So please state your name, and tell me a little bit about yourself.
SM: My name is Sharon Mellert. I’m 61, and I’ve lived in Kingwood for 24 years.
NS: So where were you born?
SM: I was born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
NS: Do you have any brothers or sisters?
SM: I have one brother, who’s five years younger.
NS: When did you arrive in Houston?
SM: When I got married, we moved to Houston. I was, I think, 26. So we’ve been here since.
NS: So what brought you here?
SM: My husband’s job [0:01:00].
NS: So what job did you do? How did you transition into living in Houston?
SM: I worked as a secretary when we first moved down here for a builder and then worked for a bank and then worked for a CPA. So I’ve worked the whole time we’ve been down here.
NS: So you worked as a CPA?
SM: No, my — for a CPA.
NS: For a CPA?
SM: Secretary for a CPA, yes.
NS: So what did you do in the days leading up to Harvey? How did you get involved in that?
SM: We were actually on vacation in Ohio. And we saw it on the news, and we tried repeatedly to get back. We had driven — and we had flown up. And we tried renting a car. We tried flying out twice, but the flights were canceled. So we ended up renting a car and driving straight through. And we got as far as Livingston, Texas and weren’t able to come any further. So we stayed there for two days until we could get back to Houston [0:02:00].
NS: Prior to Harvey, you had just stayed in Livingston? And you had done any work there, like volunteer work? Or what did you do in Livingston?
SM: No, on — Livingston wasn’t as flooded. They were having some rescue efforts staged at the Walmart. But we were just still trying to get through to get back home, because our family is here. My son and his family and my mom was here. And our older son was in Houston — in downtown Houston. So we were just desperately trying to get back.
NS: When you heard about Hurricane Harvey, had you anticipated the extent of how bad the storm would be?
SM: No, but it was covered on television. And we saw how bad it was, and we heard about the Kingwood area. So we’d never experienced anything like this. So we were just desperately trying to get back.
NS: So how was your home impacted?
SM: We weren’t flooded [0:03:00]. But my son had called us and said his boss and his family were flooded out. They were very close to the water. They were on [Unclear, 0:03:09] Road — that they had nowhere to go. So he brought them to our house, and they were with us for about two months.
NS: Have you experienced a hurricane or other natural disaster before Hurricane Harvey?
SM: Not that affected us directly. I mean, we’ve been here. We didn’t — we didn’t leave during any other hurricanes, but we haven’t been — our home hasn’t been damaged, or we haven’t been affected by anything in the past.
NS: Would you like to describe the experience of having brought people into your home during Hurricane Harvey?
SM: We were just thankful that we had a place for them to go, because I couldn’t imagine losing absolutely everything. They came out by [0:04:00] boat and literally had only what they had on their backs. And they brought their animals with them — their dogs, so they really had no — nothing but what they could actually carry. So it was quite an experience, but we were thankful we had room for them on the — they had the upstairs — so there was a place for them and that we were able to help them.
NS: What was the most difficult part of that experience?
SM: Going with them back to their property and seeing the damage that it caused. You know, trying to help them clean out their home and their yard and seeing her try to lay the children’s pictures on the car to dry out. That really hit home.
NS: Were there any funny or light-hearted moments during the experience or any positives [0:05:00]?
SM: I was very thankful that we were able to help and that we weren’t — that we hadn’t lost anything. But I don’t really remember anything really very light, because driving down even to their home, you had to pass, you know, multiple homes that were just totally destroyed. So I — no, I don’t think anything light-hearted honestly.
NS: Would you have changed anything like how you prepared for Hurricane Harvey or how you stocked your home?
SM: Definitely. I’d be more prepared. I don’t know that we would flood, but I — you know, we were without power for a week the last time. And it taught us a lesson. So now, we make sure we have more available and that we’re better prepared even just to help [0:06:00] someone else.
NS: How do you feel the City of Houston dealt with Hurricane Harvey?
SM: I think I was more focused on how the people of Houston and Kingwood helped each other and came to other people’s rescue first. I think it’s harder to move the city than it is to move neighbors. I think they — I was just impressed by how many people came forward to help.
NS: So would you say that you believe in Houston Strong? Do you think that the people of Houston helped each other?
SM: Definitely. Definitely. Just thankful to be a part of this city.
NS: Thank you so much for sharing your story today.
SM: You’re welcome.
NS: In the future, researchers may look back on this recording to get a sense of what happened during Hurricane Harvey. We appreciate your participation in this project.
SM: You’re welcome.
NS: Thank you. [0:06:54]