Louisiana couple stranded, separated after boyfriend's brain surgery in Houston
Hurricane Harvey has pounded its way through southern Texas and is predicted to dump up to 50 inches of rain by the time all is said and done.
Thousands are stranded, left without power, transportation and, in some cases, even food.
But one couple from Louisiana's Lafayette Parish is facing even more dire circumstances.
Youngsville (La.) Chief of Police Rickey Boudreaux reached out to The Daily Advertiser about his niece, Tiffany Boudreaux, 23.
Tiffany Boudreaux and her boyfriend, Garrett Baudoin, 25, traveled from Youngsville to Houston on Aug. 21 so that he could undergo a serious medical procedure.
Baudoin had a brain tumor removed Tuesday at Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston and was scheduled to have a follow-up procedure Sunday morning. It’s been postponed due to historic area flooding, which has left dozens of hospital employees unable to get to work.
Deteriorating weather conditions have also prevented Tiffany Boudreaux from being by her boyfriend's side as he recovers.
She’s staying at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Houston — and right now, there’s no way out.
“The water is up to the door handles on the cars in the parking lot,” Tiffany Boudreaux said, “and the cars that parked in the underground garage, they’re completely underwater.”
She and Baudoin were supposed to head back on Monday night, but that’s no longer an option.
“It’s still flooding,” Tiffany Boudreaux said Sunday afternoon, “and we’re right next to Brays Bayou, which is completely overflowed. Cars are stranded all over the roads.”
“It’s looking the same as my house did last year,” she said. “My neighborhood was flooded, and we couldn’t get in or out. But, honestly, it seems even worse here.”
Tiffany Boudreaux, who works for the Lafayette District Attorney’s Office, said despite the circumstances, her boyfriend remains in good spirits.
“He’s ready to get out, though,” she says.
Richard Jue, 58, echoed that thought.
Jue has owned the China Garden Restaurant in downtown Houston for 48 years, and he’s working tirelessly with the Sheriff’s Department doing high-water rescues.
“It’s raining cats and dogs,” he said. “Hundreds of houses are flooded, highways and bayous are flooded. The emergency rescue departments are getting so many calls, they can’t handle them.”
On Sunday afternoon, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards dispatched more help to desperate Texas even as he kept a wary eye on worsening rainfall forecasts for Acadiana and all of southwestern Louisiana.
Edwards sent three teams of 10 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents to Texas on Sunday. They joined 10 LDWF agents, boats and trucks already dispatched to Louisiana's neighbor.
Two people from the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Advance Team in Louisiana have also been deployed. Miranda Turner and Michele Asonye will work with Texas personnel to assist in coordinating out-of-state resources.