HOUSTON – There are people who see things on the side of the road and want them.
If you are a person who sees those things -- the person who loves to refinish furniture, resell items or just find things to put in your home -- this is not the time to go on a great garbage picking adventure in Houston.
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Why?
Your health
Items you see at the curb sat in contaminated water for days. What does contaminated mean? Sewage, fuel, sludge -- just dirty, dirty water.
Mold is already beginning to form on furniture below the water line sitting at people’s curbs. Do you want to bring this into your home? Think twice before you bring that kitchen island into your house. The person putting it out on the curb did.
READ: How to safely re-enter flooded homes
Your neighbors
Your fellow Houstonians lives are sitting on their lawns. A little more than a week ago, that couch, those chairs -- all those things that make up a home were in their home. Digging through their stuff -- the things they didn’t want to have to throw away -- could be traumatic.
Your neighbors may just be drying those things out on their lawns before they try to clean them further and bring them back into their homes.
Amy Tory Manchester wrote on KPRC’s Facebook page, “My mom has a big circle driveway. She lost everything. We were in the house working and had people walking all the way up to the front door to take stuff. Stuff that we had drying out because the backyard was still very wet. They took her patio chair that was sitting next to the front door. Just stupid.”
Claims adjusters might need to have damage documented in videos and photos. The piles could be part of that proof as homeowners race to get the material out of their homes.
Your neighbors need the roadways clear to get crews in to gut their homes before mold and other issues escalate. Your pick up or SUV or van you’re using to haul away your neighbors’ stuff are added traffic that’s potentially complicating the response effort.
Your safety
Tensions and emotions are running high. Many people have lost everything and are dealing with extremely stressful situations. Avoid putting yourself in the middle of someone else’s crisis. Your presence could lead to altercations with homeowners or with those helping them to clean up their property.