Amid Harvey recovery, small businesses roll up sleeves and get back to work

By Henry Gass September 8, 2017 Articles, Photography

HOUSTON AND DANEVANG, TEXAS—Even for a farmer, there is such a thing as too much water.

Sweat dripping from under his red, white, and blue cowboy hat, Guy Mouelet is standing in his farm at the corner of Fondren Road and Willowbend Boulevard here, taking a break between giant hacks with his shovel at the tangled green weeds that have overrun his eggplant bed. He recalls not thinking too much of hurricane Harvey before it broadsided Houston with days of torrential rain.

“I thought maybe it will be a little rain and it will pass, but after four days, when I came back and saw the water, water everywhere,” says Mr. Mouelet, his voice trailing off.

It will take “a couple of months” to get his farm back to pre-Harvey crop volumes, but now is the time to work, he says, not make excuses.

“We need to work, because people need it,” he adds. “People lost everything, and they need to eat to grow strong.”

The metaphor is apt. As the nation gears up for another major storm bearing down on Florida – and continues to assess the damage from Harvey, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) estimated at $150 billion to $180 billion – small businesses are helping lead the city’s recovery. Even as they deal with their own losses, they are providing not only helping hands in the rebuilding effort, but a precious sense of normality to communities still reeling from the 25 trillion gallons of water just poured on their heads…

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