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Auto Body Shop in Chicopee, MA, Helps People Affected by Hurricane Harvey
by Tashanea Whitlow, WWLP-22News
On Sept. 2, R.T’s Auto Shop, a Hampshire county auto body shop, became the center of the relief effort to help people affected by Hurricane Harvey. Trevor Bleau, co-owner, told 22News, “We honestly didn’t think it was going to be this big, but that’s a great thing. When this sort of tragedy happens in Texas, this [relief effort] needs to happen, so why not here.” Due to the outpouring of support, the auto shop has been unable to work for the last two days. “Car after car after car. I mean at one point, we had three or four cars in the parking lot
waiting to be unloaded.” Their only job now is collecting donations. One by one. Bag by bag. Vitals products such as formula, toiletries, clothing—some still with the tags on them were all collected, including water. From the oldest to the youngest, all hands were on deck. “Because if we needed it, they would probably help us out,” said Bleau. Despite being more than 1,800 miles away, Harvey victims were on the minds and hearts of people in western Massachusetts. John and Sheri Skill of Belchertown told 22News, “We’re just watching it and
Collision Repair Instructor Shares Harvey Experience
Harvey Flooded two-thirds of the homes in Jeff Wilson’s neighborhood
in Houston who started his career in education in 1995, shared his experience with Autobody News. See Instructor Reports, Page 38
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
Hurricane Harvey tore through Houston at the end of August, causing an estimated $70 to $200 billion worth of damage and taking the lives of 70 Americans. It was the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Harvey was also the wettest tropical hurricane on record in the United States, with peak accumulations of 51.88 inches. The resulting floods destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people, and prompted more
than 17,000 rescues. Jeff Wilson, a collision repair instructor at Kingwood Park High School
Change Service Requested
by Victoria Antonelli
Hurricane Harvey Wreaks Havoc on Houston, Affected Body Shops Report on Damage by Chasidy Rae Sisk
When Hurricane Harvey hit the Southeast part of Texas during the weekend of August 25–27, many small towns along the coast were utterly devastated and destroyed.
See R.T.’s Auto Shop, Page 3
More Harvey Coverage p. 18, 37, 52, 63; IRMA Next Month; SEMA Coverage p. 14, 26, 44, 52
VOL. 8 ISSUE 7 OCTOBER 2017
Credit: Patch.com
However, the most damage was sustained in Houston due to the city’s large size and denser population. Homes, vehicles and businesses were
flooded, and at least 45 Houston lives were lost as Harvey unleashed its fury on the Lone Star State. Harvey hit the Texas coast on the evening of Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds as high as 130 mph, ravaging the coastline. Houston residents awoke on Sunday to flooding that turned roads into rivers. John Kopriva, President of the Houston Auto Body Association (HABA), reported, “We normally get about 50 inches of rain annually in Houston, but during Harvey, we got 53 inches in just a few days.” Kopriva’s shop had 3 feet of water in the back of the building, but fortunately, he had moved all his customers’ vehicles to the front of the building, and neither his nor his children’s homes sustained damage. Others were not so lucky. Several See Shops Affected, Page 20
Hurricane Harvey Ravaged Cars and Trucks — Bad for Drivers, Good for Automakers by James F. Peltz and David Montero, McRee Ford, Dickinson, Texas Los Angeles Times
with his insurance carrier yet; he’s been busy helping his parents clean out their wind-damaged house along the coast. He said he doubts he’ll get much anyway and is instead hoping
Perry Smith tried to race Hurricane Harvey. He lost. Now his white Toyota Corolla sits with a broken axle in the parking lot of a Strips convenience store in Rockport, Texas. It is, he admits, probably the end of the road for his trusty car with almost 190,000 miles on it. “The hurricane was right Harvey created epic flooding throughout Houston and on my tail,” Smith said. “It southeast Texas. Credit: Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times caught me. It lifted the back of the car up and I was looking down for some assistance from the Federal at the road through my windshield. Emergency Management Agency. Still, Texans already have filed Then—bam—it slammed back down more than 100,000 storm-related and that was it.” See Harvey Ravage, Page 28 Smith, 56, hasn’t filed a claim
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