Houston cleanup has little crime and lots of helping hands

HOUSTON (AP) — After riding out Hurricane Harvey in a Motel 8 and waiting an agonizing week for the waist-high waters to recede, 71-year-old Bob Janak returned to his wrecked home for the first time to find it swarming with people.

They weren't thieves or looters. They were volunteers who took it upon themselves to clean out the modest ranch house in outlying Magnolia, pushing wheelbarrows of sodden carpet and drywall and spreading armfuls of soggy, salvageable belongings on his front lawn.

"I tried to help out, but it was pretty obvious I was just getting in the way," Janak said with a laugh. "They are amazing, I tell you. I'm so touched."

For many people in the Houston area, the real takeaway from Harvey has not been misery, but kindness.

The crime and opportunism that often follow big storms has been a notable nonfactor, at least for now. That stands in contrast to the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, when reports of gunfire, looting and violence proliferated in New Orleans.

Rescue crews from other states say the aftermath of Harvey, which has killed at least 67 people, has been marked by more friendliness than they've ever seen.

"This is the face of Houston, people who are giving in spirit," said Bill Baldwin, a real-estate agent who started the Harvey Relief Hub, a one-stop place that dispatches volunteers to assignments and provides storm victims with everything from shampoo to dry shoes. "The kindness truly is the story of the storm."

The generosity takes many forms: Neighbors wading through the floodwaters with elderly residents in their arms. Armadas of weekend boaters going door to door to rescue strangers of every race. Impromptu barbecue feasts for weary refugees. People lined up for a block outside a downtown shelter – to volunteer.