No power means no work for many in Houston after Beryl. The strain is starting to show.

In the days since Hurricane Beryl swept through the Houston area, causing widespread wind damage and mass power outages, residents have struggled to return to normal. 

The storm is estimated to have caused as much as $32 billion in damages across the United States, according to meteorology firm AccuWeather, and power outages have shut down businesses across the city, leaving many Houstonians without work or wages. 

Natural disasters can mean a long-term and overwhelming financial burden for some residents, and the time and cost of attending to a flooded apartment, losing a week of work or removing a broken tree is unmanageable for many, according to Daniel Potter, senior research director for the Kinder Institute of Urban Research. 

“This hurricane is really going to reveal the way in which there are going to be some folks that are in the position to recover from this, but there is a very large number of folks that simply do not have that reserve,” Potter said. “It’s a compounding jeopardy of not only not having the money that I didn’t have in the first place, but not being able to bring in the resources to cover these costs in the long run.” 

According to a recent Kinder survey, 46 percent of Houstonians said they did not have an extra $400 readily available to them. 

Additionally, the Kinder Institute surveyed residents to determine how many would be able to survive after losing a job. One quarter said they could go three months or more. Another quarter of participants said they could not make it for two weeks. 

Despite residents in Houston receiving aid from the city and the federal government — such as FEMA’s $700 critical needs assistance application — Potter said keeping track of that aid, having the time to apply for it and jumping through bureaucracy can deter residents from actually getting what they need.  

“There are limited safety nets in place and not all resources that are available are available to everyone,” he said. “And resources are not always going to make families whole again. People need that source of income, that flow of income to rebound and rebuild.” 

The Houston Landing spoke to several residents this week about the financial impact the storm has had on them.

Lost hours

It’s mid-morning Thursday and Courtney Warren is on his front porch at the Cuney Homes public housing complex in Houston’s Third Ward, smoking a cigarette. His home, and the rest of the complex, got power back Wednesday night. Typically, Warren would be out at the Port of Houston working as a longshoreman. The Port, however, was closed from Saturday to Wednesday because of the storm. 

“You just can’t work during the storm, even after the storm,” said Warren, 37. “We lost all our food in our fridge, too. So, on top of the job, we have to replace everything. I lost about 32 hours of work at $30 an hour. That’s a lot.” 

Warren and his wife have five children: an 18-year-old, 11-year-old twins, an 8-year-old and a 7-year-old. His wife, who works remotely, still has her job, but the financial burden is tough. 

“I have an interview for a job today,” Warren said. “I’ll see what happens.”

Car problems cost him his job

Fifth Ward resident Jeffrey Dixon’s Chrysler has broken down twice in the past two months. Dixon said his car broke down immediately after the derecho in May. Then, during Beryl’s rampage on Monday, a branch smashed into his car, breaking the windshield.

Both times, he had to call his job at a trash services company to let them know he couldn’t make it in. His boss fired him both times. After the derecho, he got the job back again for a little bit. This time, though, he doesn’t know what to do. 

“They said, yeah, you can come back when you can drive here,” said Dixon, 40. “I don’t have the money to repair my car right now, so I can’t go back. But I can’t make the money I need to repair my car without a job.”

He laughs a little about the whole thing. 

“I mean some people just have it worse than me,” he said. “It’s all relative and I’m glad for what I have now.” 

Worries about rent

Laqunna Walker immediately thought of her eight children when she learned she couldn’t go back to work at Amazon. The 35-year-old has been loading trucks for the online retailer since 2018, but said she had not returned to work as of Thursday after Beryl knocked out power to the warehouse.

“Now, I won’t get paid what I usually make. They won’t pay us the full amount,” she said. “School for the kids starts on August 12 and I got to get my kids all new school clothes. I mean, with what money?”

Walker is on her stoop at Cuney Homes with her 5-year-old daughter, Courtney, and her uncle, P.A. Courtney turned 5 on Tuesday, but because of the storm, the family planned to wait until the weekend to celebrate. They got power back Wednesday night, but Walker still feels anxious without work. She worries about making her rent. 

“What’s the government going to do about this?” she asked. “I’m going to lose a lot from being out of work.”

Not the first time

Ramiro Sepulveda, 56, has worked at Walgreens for 27 years, so it’s not the first time he has lost work when power went out at his job. Most recently, during the May derecho, the store lost power for several days. Following Beryl, it has been shut down for three days. 

Sepulveda is standing in line at a food truck on Fulton in Houston’s Near Northside on Thursday. He said he was not surprised the storm had this much impact on his life or anyone else’s, but it still was frustrating to be out of work again. 

“There’s not much you can do about it,” he said, shrugging. “You wait until everything comes back online and lights light up again.” 

‘You can’t beat up the wind’

Shawn King is buzzing Teddy Jones’ hair on the front porch of their cousin’s place Thursday afternoon at Irvinton Village, an apartment complex in Near Northside. The two men don’t have power back, but their cousin, Ashley Smith, does. It’s a moment of peace since Beryl smashed through the region. 

The pair’s barbecue food truck — called The Spot — was parked at Acres Homes Sunday night. When Beryl came through, the truck tipped over and floorboards popped out. Now, it was going to take at least four or five people to put the truck upright and several thousands of dollars to repair the damages. 

“We put a lot of money into this business,” King said. “That was the dream right there, this work. And now what? I mean you can’t beat up the wind.” 

The two started the business in 2020, selling BBQ and catering at events. Beryl will set them back, Jones said. And they still have other bills, on top of fixing the food truck and not working for the week. 

“We want to have it up and running real soon,” Jones said. “We’re trying to figure out what to do.” 

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