Hurricane Harvey Teamwork

Until I helped clean up areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, I had never seen miles of power lines snapped in half and mountains of rubble that were once gasoline stations. In Victoria and Gregory, Texas, my church’s “Mormon Helping Hands” program volunteered to assist any families that could not help themselves. We tore down entire walls and cleared fallen trees so that homeowners could save money on reconstruction cost to rise from rock bottom. Grown men cried because they were grateful for our help and for their greatly reduced financial burden. Initially, I was annoyed that my parents made me do physical labor. In fact, the majority of the volunteers, including me, were injured in some form. However, learning the importance of teamwork when …show more content…
On the first day, our group went to Victoria, Texas, and I was uneasy with the fact that I had to wear a face mask and gloves because it meant I would have to do dangerous work. We received protective equipment to prevent damage to our lungs and eyes from fiberglass insulation, which had to be completely removed from ruined, wet walls. Once it was time to use snow shovels to scoops mounds of fiberglass, I focused on getting one scoop at a time and on helping the homeowner in a time of stress. Because I was so focused on the work, I only felt the burning itch of fiberglass on my skin and eyes when we finished.
Two weeks later, when my church group went to Gregory, Texas, to clear massive, fallen trees that could have unexpectedly crushed roofs, I similarly ignored the pain. We meticulously cut the trees, with chainsaws, from the branches down to the roots to assure that the trees would not fall into the houses. It took time, precision, and coordination for those with chainsaws on ladders to pass the cut chunks of wood down to those on the ground. These feats would have been impossible to complete had I done them on my own; thus, teamwork was crucial to help those in