Page 7 - Texas811 Magazine 2018 Issue 2

Texas Task poree 1, an urban search said wlule no disaster plan is periert, hm, bod‘ a pm respond” and a mum
and rescue program that Mike they will learn irom the event and be 0, gm mm dhafitzx

also participated in that works in even more prepared for the next stonn.

conjunction with the Texas Military All in all, residents were kept sate, and "I had damage to my home about
Department As part ofT)<-TF1, Mike the initial recovery ettorts went pretty $30k worth. We are blessed tu have
responded to disasters throughout smoothly innirnneei and ability to rebuild with
M us, ,,,dud,ng ,,,,,1.,p1e pm‘, and "mm Wm mm a “M dun“ very little mtonvcnlnnctt,” he said. "we
‘°’"“d°“"’ ”‘° 1999 °""“l’”" °‘ “ "°““‘° the stoi-in that I felt we made 1iad gm " "iew ‘mm “id '°°f’ “ad I” ‘°"“
structure at Texas A&M and tollowing dam“ but We an flmw Him trees l m blessedi he said Nineleen
the events oi september 11, zutn in * ' l_ ‘i ‘; * d ,j M kc of my eo-workers lost everything-

Nm Yolk imgmvemen s going orn ar , i Open for Business

Mike was nne of the rm»! prepared ongoing ,.em,,e,.y power was restored to the city aiter
and erperieneed inrlivirlimls in the about 14 days, and many at the streets
state going into the histoi-ie stoi-in and A lot ot the tacilities Mike oversees 7 Wm mmpmmmd , ,,',m,,m, mom“
helped to coordinate response eitorts lioth underground and above ground made wmc of mg mp”, Mn mm
throughout the town. — ~uffcmd signiheant damage during d|fficulL Every mm Sign and mm“
At each ot the disasters he responded ‘h_‘_ ”‘f’"‘_‘‘ H§ ‘”°”‘°“ ‘“"‘1‘.FE_’f1" enniinl device in lown was damaged

to in the past, local residents called the ::e:;;‘;u‘:c ;‘::;“::ifi§‘|“']’” :0 ffm in snme way Mike's crews are shll

iirst responders and disaster response dhwfl mm mmjm mmfiwhm he repl-wring street signs sir mnnihs eiier
teams "1\2mL‘~” tor their monumental ’d ’ M}; f lhe slomi» The‘ en“ mnke il e lillle
eitorts to return lire back to normal ‘“ ‘ °“ ‘ ‘ ""'“ tricky to find your way around lnwni
atter extraordinary events Mike is During the recovery a lot or calls are espeeinlly for loiirisls

no stranger to that word and the being made to Texassll to make sure i.T,,_,,gm ,5 W, numb“ om ,nd,,SWa
seniimeni from nppreeinlive members Mike said. ”Wn have tstm hotel rooms,
ofa ravaged community Bu| he doesn't 5 In _ E about 500 am amlagk mm and R

see himselt in that light in regard to the I E s 5 ,0, m m M by ‘he Wmkm who am
Harvey respnnse _ _ , yr _ helping us rebuild.”

"l don't see myself as a hero” Mike E ‘* “ 3 3 1 ! “ ‘ J ‘\ Z J‘ But Mike and the rest of the my leaders
said ’“Hern’ is nherd title to enrry- My ‘ i ‘ wanted everybody to know that despite
employment allows me to do the things I '~—, I { ‘J 3 i 4 I F E 5.1 some ehaiienge, The my at Rgckpnfl
l dn Biii l iell everybody everything . ,.‘ is open tor business.

I've done hasn't been a ‘mt’ thing — it's 1,» , V ; L7 2, \) r v 1

a twat .},,..E y,,., dour. an a,.y.},,..E by e r - '- — r "Wc’m asking toui-ists to come back
yourself or you’rr: endangering yourseli ., ,, .‘ . s V, -, H\ l , we have a lot of testivals that will go
and your team. You go in and come out l 2 'i 2 2 2 t E ‘r, T E , on as planned," he said. "Come to the
as a mm, The }.ma, m me People m D e _ § Texas coast and stay as close as you can.
‘1r1a[Eomn1un‘[y_/I } it sg ~ Hg ; ;; 3 3‘ E g Watch us rebuild. we are coming back

I i stronger. The mayor says we are getting

That teamwork is leading to a swiit mm mm dayyi

recovery in Roekport. The entire any work pertormcd doesn't disturli '

community is pulling together to get underground facilities in the area. lt can with the direction or Mike Donoho,

the tonm hack to normal. be easy to overlook a one call during workers, xlroludntccrs anld uglier

. . . munici a an count’ ea ers are

N°""“‘3”‘ ‘°°“'“5 ‘°’ “““‘““‘“° °’ can turn one disaster into two » or bettu than it was betore the storm
‘““’$“‘“°"r “’1‘“‘ W“ “‘°i W‘ 4" “ erha s more with the good cooperation and
together as a team," he said "it's times P P’ ‘ Phnmng Sm m ‘hm am that W,
like these where cvsrybody drops their Mike said city Hall and the aquimc “ms dmmgh admvgglz

egos and leaves their titles at the door center were compmmiscd, parks

Everyliodyis working hard irom the were blown away Trees and liallfields N0 regrets

ground up and doing physical labor were mangled during the category st when hm‘ if h had my second

Our mayor, country judge and other event. All 40 of the city s wastewater dmughh mm stepping out of
elected oiticials have put in their blood hit stations were damaged in some mmmml and mm H Posmm that
sweat and tears into this vtrnrk." way, whether lushl the ienee, electrical “mm mm a mm Emmy efim’
Their ettorts paid uff — more than 1'“ d Mike responded rihriiir the way yinikl
7“ P““°"‘ °‘ '5‘ ‘“°‘“‘°"" *‘“°d“‘ Corpus Christi came in to help rebuild ‘‘'’°“‘‘ ”N‘’“ '”1‘",“°°“°”” h‘ ’“'d
“"“‘“““°“ ‘’‘‘‘’‘“r ““ ‘}‘‘‘‘‘ ‘“'*“‘ “° the urn s wmmi and electrical anels H‘ 1°“ “h” I d” ' "‘ ""'°”"d"d b"
deaths in Rockport directly related A‘ P P ” ’ 11 mm P wnnderfiil pevple» This is such a areal

L}. mm “mm, 1, two mid“, 0"“ P°“"r '“°’“ "“ '“°‘“°" community, and rm blessed to have

“’ ° ‘ r F5 were working in the coastal hand area,

Pa,,.1,ad day, hie, m ,.q,m.a hf ma great coworkers and an amazing team.
lnndences where the stoi-in may have " l’rn so hieky in be ii pm of their biii l'm
been a eoirtriliuting tartor. Arid Mike handled all oi this while liisl one spoke in the Wheel" fl

The mm 1 Y 1 d managing the damage to his own

S““‘—‘’ P ““ “ “’ ““l’ “"‘““‘° property This was the tirst time he'd
and exeeuted appropriately and Mike 2015 !ssue2 Yexsssll . 5