Recent Disasters Impact Employees

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX - It's been about a month since Hurricane Harvey left it's mark on the Coastal Bend and some City employees are still feeling Mother Nature's fury.
A Call Center Representative who lives in Bayside in Refugio County said the raging winds literally ripped her mobile home apart, leaving it in pieces and her family's belongings scattered about. The family is now staying with relatives.
Solid Waste Director Lawrence Mikolajczyk lives in Aransas Pass where his five acre property lost 14 oak trees.

"We have to replace three roofs, but I am thankful because it could have been a lot worse," said Mikolajczyk.

He and his family have spent a lot of time cutting up trees and brush, digging out stumps and setting it all out for pickup.

Facilities and Property Management Director Edgar Leonard has two sisters living in the U.S. Virgin Islands and three sisters and three brothers living in the British Virgin Islands. He said Hurricane Irma severely impacted homes, causing electrical outages. A week later, Hurricane Maria and her brutal winds whipped its way through the same area leaving even more devastation.

Public Information Officer Gabriela Morrow and Environmental Programs Executive Assistant Itzel Ojeda monitored online news coverage of Mexico's deadly earthquake.

“Most of my family lives in Mexico City,” Morrow said. “They had to evacuate as soon as the seismic siren started to sound and within minutes they were out in the street.”

“Everyone in my family is OK,” she said. “It was just an ugly experience.”

“It is a horrible feeling when you are so far away from the ones you love,” adds Ojeda. “But in your heart, you feel you need to be there.”

The powerful quake left more than 200 dead and took place on the anniversary of a another quake that killed thousands in Mexico City in 1985.