As Shelton Ervin saw tragedy unfolding in the Houston area following record flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in recent days, he decided to be a part of the solution.
The Summer Creek (Texas) High cross country coach left his home -- which was safe from flood waters -- and headed to a volunteer shelter with his brother, where they helped distribute donated clothes, comforters, hot meals, and other necessities.
"People in the nearby area, they're on the water near the river and there's some low-lying areas," Ervin said by phone. "The Navy, the National Guard, FEMA, a lot of individuals, we're all out there. You see boats out there and a lot of organizations helping evacuate areas."
The school, which sits just west of Lake Houston and the San Jacinto River and about 20 minutes from downtown Houston, was hit hard by excess waters caused by flooding. Nearby residents were forced to evacuate.
At one point, Hurricane Harvey was classified as a Category 4 storm before it made landfall. Since then over two feet of rain has fallen in the Houston area. Some areas have endured over four feet of rain -- and more is still expected to come.
The death toll from the storm and its flood waters is up to 30 and the slow-barreling Harvey, which has deescalated to a Tropical Storm, has made landfall again in Southeast Texas.
Read: Hurricane Harvey Claims The Life Of Clear Creek Coach Ruben Jordan
Summer Creek and its student-athletes have been in the thick of it.
At the corner of Lake Houston Parkway and Beltway 8, an entire intersection near the school was flooded with waters up to waist-high levels. Some used kayaks to transport around the area.
"The intersection right in front of the school," said Ervin, who's been coaching at Summer Creek for seven years, "there's some insight into how my team was effected with what's going on."
Much like Summer Creek, Ervin said, nearby Kingwood High was also effected by the surging waters.
As a result, the Humble Independent School District reacted swiftly, cancelling school in the district up until September 5, even though the ongoing situation may be ongoing beyond that point.
"We're not able to access the school at all," Ervin said. "It's blocked off and we're not able to leave the area."
The cancellations also forced athletic activities to be put on hold, including the nascent cross country season, which was planning for its opening season meets.
"The ADs got together and made that call," Ervin said.
It's ultimately been a trying period for thousands of residents in Houston, many of whom have been displaced from their homes and forced into temporary situations. Some have evacuated to Dallas to wait out the storm -- which has been classified by the Harris County Flood Control District as a "500-year" rainfall.
In cross country terms, Ervin said, everything is in a holding pattern until life's matters get solved. But for those who choose to continue to run, he said, he's been advising them to hit the treadmills and has been sending workouts.
In other cases, he said, student-athletes are getting creative.
"One example is that I have a guy on my team who has 11 steps in his house. He's been going up and down those stairs constantly," Ervin said, "I have others who run in place, things of that nature."
Before the hurricane even made landfall over the weekend, Ervin was out on the high school track, trying to tarp down the pole vault pit.
"I was trying to prevent it from blowing away," he said. "In the past, it would happen where strong winds would get under the mat and flip it over. So this was one of the precautionary things that we did before we left."
Still, much of what's on the ground may be tarnished by Hurricane Harvey.
"Everything will be under water and unusable for a period of time," Ervin said.
As for cross country, Ervin said he and his team are simply waiting. A year ago, the boys team finished fourth at the UIL 6A District 21 meet, scoring five runners in the top 40, including four returning.
Ervin was hoping for an improvement in 2017.
"It's going to take quite a bit of time to dry up, and at this point, we've improvised," he said. "We definitely expect to get out there eventually and by then we'll put something together and try to make a good run at it."
Credit: Pete Borchardt -- The site of the Red Cross shelter in Houston, Texas
