Brickaveli urges la raza to prepare, unite and protect every life during disasters—including neighbors, elders and those behind prison walls.
HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES, July 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- At a disaster-preparedness meeting, leaders explained what la gente should expect when hurricanes, floods, freezes and weather hit Houston. Brian Murray of the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Brooke Campbell of United Way of Greater Houston and the Greater Houston Disaster Alliance discussed water, canned food, medicine, flashlights, radios, emergency numbers, insurance information and practiced family plans. They warned families not to wait until lights go out, streets flood or stores empty. Every household should know where to go, who to call and how to reconnect. The speakers encouraged vecinos to look out for one another, especially viejitos, children, disabled people and families without transportation. Emergency crews may be stretched thin, roads may close and help may not reach every barrio right away.
Brickaveli attended alongside Loke G, listening and asking questions from a point of view often missing from these conversations. He came as a first-generation Chicano representing the barrio, the incarcerated and the gente rarely heard. He served 10 years in prison and survived hurricanes, floods and freezing weather behind steel doors. To Brickaveli, everything came back to one message:
Unity is the way to survive natural disasters. La gente cannot wait until water rises to meet their neighbors or until lights go out to find food, medicine and clean water. The barrio must prepare before the storm pulls up. That means knowing who lives next door. Check on jefitas, viejitos, disabled people and familias without transportation. Know who has tools, a generator, first-aid knowledge or needs help leaving. Government help, insurance and emergency workers matter. But when everything is going down at once, those systems may not reach every block immediately. Insurance cannot pull a family from rising water. A carro cannot cross a flooded street.
A cellphone is useless when batteries or towers fail. Sometimes the first lifesaver is the vecino two houses away. Families should know the main numbers. Call 911 when somebody is in immediate danger, badly injured, trapped, drowning or facing a life-threatening emergency. Call 211 for shelter information, food, transportation, utility help, disaster assistance and nonprofit resources. Call 311 for non-emergency city services, fallen trees, debris, street damage and other local problems. Write those numbers down. Every household should also have a battery-powered or hand-crank radio. When internet and cell service fail, radio may be the only way to hear warnings, shelter locations, evacuation orders and updates. A solid emergency kit should include drinking water, canned or dry food, a manual can opener, flashlights, batteries, a radio, first-aid supplies, prescription medicine, phone chargers, power banks, blankets, hygiene products, extra clothes, masks, gloves, cash and pet supplies. Keep identification cards, birth certificates, medical information, property records and insurance policies protected inside a waterproof bag or container.
La familia needs a plan. Everybody should know where to go, who to call and where to meet if separated. Parents should practice with their children and plan how to help vecinos who cannot evacuate alone. Cars should be fueled before a storm, but nobody should believe a truck or SUV can beat floodwater. Water can hide deep holes, strong currents and broken roads. A troca can be replaced. A life cannot. Insurance becomes important after the storm. Homeowners and renters should know what their policy covers before disaster hits. Photograph homes, vehicles, tools, furniture and valuable property. Afterward, document damage before cleaning, save receipts for hotels, food, repairs and emergency supplies, and keep policy numbers easy to reach.
For Brickaveli, however, the meeting brought back something deeper. When Brickaveli and Loke G asked what incarcerated people should do during a disaster, they felt the question was brushed off. It seemed prisoners were not important enough to be part of the conversation. Brickaveli took that personal. He remembers what dangerous weather felt like while locked up. During Hurricane Harvey, major thunderstorms and the Arctic freeze, prisoners could be placed inside their cells and left locked down for days. They could not leave, check on their hijos, call their jefitas freely, drive away from danger or buy water, cobijas, food, batteries and medicine. Their lives depended completely on whether the prison prepared and whether the people running it cared enough to protect them.
Being in prison does not mean somebody stops being human. People behind bars still need clean water, food, medication, working toilets, safe temperatures, emergency communication and a real evacuation plan. Their familias deserve to know whether their loved ones are alive and safe. A sentence should not become a death sentence because somebody failed to prepare. Storms do not care whether somebody is rich or poor. They do not care whether a person lives in the suburbs, el barrio, an apartment, a trailer or a prison cell. When the lights go out and the water rises, money and titles may not mean much. What matters is preparation, communication and whether the gente is willing to look out for each other.
Brickaveli’s message is simple: do not wait for somebody else to save the hood. Know your vecinos. Build a plan. Gather supplies. Check on the vulnerable. Share information. Protect the children. Remember the elders. Do not forget the prisoners. When disaster comes, survival is not only about what one person has inside the cantón. It is about whether the whole comunidad is ready to stand firme together. **Unity is not just a word. When the storm hits, la unión de la raza can keep people alive.
Pablo Olavarrieta
KBT
+1 832-368-1907
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