With Hurricane Harvey leaving much of the Houston area flooded and many residents stranded in their homes or elsewhere, local sports radio host John P. Lopez has found a way to help.
On Tuesday morning, Lopez (whose home remains above water) began asking on Twitter for a boat he could use to rescue people stranded in flooded areas. He said he had extensive boating experience but that his boat was in a different part of the state, 100 miles away.
K'wood/Humble in need of rescue. Mine in dry dock 100-mls away. But I have truck, life vests, etc. Mssg me if you have a boat. I'll pick up
— John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) August 29, 2017
Please share… Truck is ready, lots of folks in Kingwood need help. If you have a boat, but can't drive, I've captained in every condition https://t.co/Rjjz1hXerK
— John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) August 29, 2017
Need a boat … Tweet me @LopezOnSports. I can capt. … Close to the many people stranded in KW, my boat unfortunately is 100 miles away https://t.co/8qYrPubqQo
— John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) August 29, 2017
Eventually, Lopez found someone with a boat and set out to rescue people in his hometown of Walden, Texas.
Have acquired a Jon boat, about to start rescue efforts in Walden on Lake Houston. DM me address if you need out https://t.co/YlPLOpMudn
— John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) August 29, 2017
Lopez then tweeted a video of him captaining the boat through a brutally flooded street in Walden, asking anyone in the area in need of help to message him with their address.
@ me if you need help pic.twitter.com/JdG8KKzW3D
— John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) August 29, 2017
Lopez, who hosts a show called In The Loop weekdays on SportsRadio 610 in Houston, seems to be really going above and beyond here. The scale of the flooding in Houston is tough to even fathom, and hopefully Lopez can make a small difference for those in his neighborhood.
We’ll update this post if Lopez tweets any more about his rescue efforts.
UDATE: It looks like Lopez had a quite successful day.
Tired, wet, but satisfied. Got 18-20 people, two dogs and three horses. Not sure how much it helped, but glad I was there. Inspiring. pic.twitter.com/1mqXFXJJmF
— John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) August 29, 2017
About Alex Putterman
Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.