SUGAR LAND, Texas — Wyatt Wainwright, who lives about 20 miles southwest of Houston, said he found out in the middle of the night about orders to evacuate his home.
“We are struggling with the evacuation right now,” said Wainwright, president of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association, which represents 175 dealerships in the metro Houston area located in the wake of the Hurricane Harvey. “There are large scale mandatory and voluntary evacuations going on right now. We don’t know where we can go to escape. I don’t know how I could drive three miles right now without getting blocked.”
The NADA Foundation has mobilized its emergency relief fund to assist dealership employees who have been impacted by personal property damage caused by the hurricane and flooding.
“There’s still 20 to 30 inches of rain that still has to pass through. We are not even near to the peak flooding yet,” Wainwright added. “A big issue we haven’t faced yet are rivers and streams that have yet to overflow. There is so much more of this to go which is the problem.”
Dealership employees affected by the flooding can apply for financial assistance. (Lost wages or commissions are not eligible for reimbursement from the fund.)
The NADA Foundation is also calling on dealers and dealer association groups to donate online to its Emergency Relief Fund.
Checks can be made payable to Emergency Relief Fund, c/o NADA Foundation, 8400 Westpark Drive, MS 7, Tysons, VA 22102. For more information, call 703.821.7102.
