More Than 1,100 Texas Associates Need Help After Ike By
Deborah Ball, RE/MAX Times Associate Editor
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| IKE'S FURY: Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas, suffered heavy damage from Ike. (Photo courtesy of RE/MAX of Texas) |
Watch how RE/MAX Affiliates were affected by the storm in a RE/MAX Satellite Network news clip.
When Hurricane Ike barreled into the Texas Gulf Coast, it left a trail of destruction and heart-wrenching loss behind for more than 1,100 RE/MAX Associates.
"There's so much devastation everywhere," Carolyn Einkauf, a Sales Associate with RE/MAX Space Center in League City, says before pausing and beginning to weep. "I have nothing left, no home to live in. I'm staying with friends and it's really hard right now, but you have to keep going."
Einkauf and many other Associates are faced with massive damage to their homes or offices, says Dana Tuggle, Regional Director of Broker Services for RE/MAX of Texas. Some Associates' homes were completely wiped out or severely damaged; others have no offices left to return to.
The losses are great and the need for help is even greater. That's why RE/MAX Affiliates everywhere are urged to donate whatever they can to the RE/MAX Relief Fund.
"We're trying to help our people get back on their feet," Tuggle says. "A lot of our Associates are being severely impacted financially and emotionally, and we're trying to help them apply for aid. It really breaks your heart to hear their stories."
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| WASHED AWAY: Satellite imagery shows Crystal Beach, Texas, before and after Ike's landfall. (Photo courtesy of Houston-Galveston Area Council) |
Ike also damaged more than 10,000 RE/MAX listings in Texas, robbing Associates of much-needed business as they try to get their lives back to normal, Tuggle says.
"There's a long road ahead of us."
Learn how you can help by donating to the RE/MAX Relief Fund.
Read about other Affiliates who are struggling to recover after Ike.
"Work is a diversion from the turmoil ..."
Normalcy seems like a distant dream for Einkauf, whose neighborhood in Clear Lake Shores, located near Galveston Bay, is not as it was.
The Associate evacuated during the storm, but came back to find her waterlogged home uninhabitable. Five feet of water washed her livelihood - her home office - away, taking countless personal possessions and memories with it.
But on Thursday, Einkauf momentarily put her personal suffering aside as she went to show her clients a home. Surprisingly, one of her buyers is still interested in purchasing a home in the area despite the destruction left in the hurricane's wake.
Einkauf, who joined RE/MAX in 1999, was grateful for the diversion.
"The water came rushing in ..."
In Bridge City, Wilma Horner also is taking stock of more than $200,000 in damages the Category 2 hurricane inflicted on her home.
Horner and her husband, along with several pets, rode the storm out in their home, and watched nervously as the water came in. The couple wore life jackets and prayed together after Ike's 110-mph winds ripped part of their roof off and water bowed in the front door, eventually pushing it off its hinges.
Four feet of water swallowed the floors and furniture. Nevertheless, the couple refused to abandon their home, and luckily, they survived.
"We had three rescue attempts after the storm, but I told the rescuers to help others who really needed it," Horner said Thursday. "It's really tough because our home is beat up, our RE/MAX office was flooded, and now I'm battling the insurance company. My car is my saving grace because it's wrapped with RE/MAX advertising. I can still do business from my car."
Several of her listings were heavily damaged - one wiped out completely, she says. Horner is unsure of how long it'll take for business to come back or how long her home will be in disarray, but she's not going to fret about it.
"Life goes on," she says. "I feel low about it all right now, but I'm not going to let it break me. How can I? I'm with RE/MAX - I'm with the eagles. We're going to soar again and fly higher than ever before."
Help Affiliates affected by Hurricane Ike
The RE/MAX Relief Fund was created to provide an instant response when catastrophe hits the RE/MAX family.
To date, the fund has raised $1.6 million and disbursed more than $1.2 million to RE/MAX Affiliates who've faced such crisis. It relies solely on your donations.
Easy to give
To donate online, log in to Mainstreet and find the Relief Fund section of the Premier Community Citizenship page. Then click on the "Donate Online" link to reach your profile page. Now look for the "Make a Donation" link in the left-hand column under the Events and Education bar. That link leads to an electronic donation form. To give via fax, here's a direct link to the fax donation form.
To apply for funds
Affiliates in need of assistance should download the application from Mainstreet. The completed application can be returned to RE/MAX International via mail, e-mail or fax (see application for instructions).
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Comment on this story
E-mail your comments to editor@remax.net. Please include your full name, RE/MAX office, city and state. Comments will appear below.
Comments (1)
I am heading to Texas to do FEMA work, and would love to help any fellow RE/MAX folks in need.
- Greg Hampton, RE/MAX Around the Mountains, Blue Ridge, Ga. (cell phone: 706-258-7292)