Dickinson family gets help with Harvey debris removal from in front of home

HOUSTON – Almost eight months after Hurricane Harvey floodwaters ravaged their Dickinson home, Taylor Beaty, her boyfriend, Austin Heald, and Austin’s father, Mark, are still cleaning up and clearing out storm debris.

Even with help from close friends, the hardworking family has struggled to put their shattered lives back together.

The floodwaters took everything they had.

“We lost everything. We lost four vehicles, everything in the home from the floor to the ceiling. You know, family heirlooms, jewelry, pictures -- things that you wake up and work hard for every single day and they are just gone. Just all gone,” Taylor said.

The water came crashing into Taylor and Austin’s home in the Fox Trace subdivision at midnight on Aug. 26, and within a matter of hours, the water was almost 5 feet high.

To make matters worse, Taylor’s sister-in-law, her husband and their four small children were in the house at the time.

Everyone was scrambling to get out of the floodwaters, fighting to stay alive as the waters rose.

Taylor was afraid they might all die in the house.

“It started getting to the point where we started finding Sharpies to write our Social Security numbers on our arms, with babies in our hands,” Taylor said.

“I prayed to God that my children would make it out safe, that he could have everything I owned, just bring my children and my grandchildren home,” Mark Heald said.

Taylor and her family thought they had just about put this tragedy behind them when they learned the city of Dickinson was no longer picking up storm debris in front of people’s houses.

Not only that, they suddenly received an official violation notice on their door from the city telling them they had about 10 days to clear that mountain of flood debris from in front of their home or face “further action.”

“It just feels like the city walked away from a lot of people after this storm and I don’t understand why,” Mark Heald said.

That’s when Taylor called Bill Spencer and Spencer Solves It.

First, we found Dickinson Mayor Julie Masters.

We asked her why the city had stopped picking up storm debris from in front of houses.

“Why would the city not pick that up?” Spencer asked.

“We stopped debris pickup a couple of months ago because the majority of the debris had already been picked up. It’s been seven months since the storm,” Masters said.

That’s when we brought in the junk-hauling pros at 1-800-gotjunk, the Houston West franchise.

Right away, a team of eight men, including Spencer, quickly began what would turn into 10 truckloads of storm debris removal.

The work was long and back-breaking.

But after five grueling hours in the sun, the job was done and Taylor was all but speechless.

“It’s been fantastic, it’s a huge weight lifted off, not only my shoulders, but my family’s as well. We appreciate you so much, Bill. Thank you so very much for your work,” Taylor said.

If you need help with a problem you can’t possibly solve by yourself, contact Spencer Solves It at 713-223-TIPS (8477) or email us at solvesit@click2houston.com.


About the Author:

Emmy-winning investigative reporter, insanely competitive tennis player, skier, weightlifter, crazy rock & roll drummer (John Bonham is my hero). Husband to Veronica and loving cat father to Bella and Meemo.