Editor’s note: These Beryl heroes were an honorable mention in the 2024 Houstonian of the Year awards.

As with every major storm, Hurricane Beryl this July certainly produced its fair share of main characters (ahem, CenterPoint), but the majority were thankfully of the Good Samaritan variety. Honorable mentions for Houstonians of the Year go to these locals whose deeds particularly impressed us this hurricane season.

CrowdSource Rescue

The night Hurricane Harvey hit, a handful of neighbors sprung into action to rescue fellow Houstonians trapped in their homes by the rising waters. Seven years later, CrowdSource Rescue is still entirely volunteer-run, but you wouldn’t know it. The nonprofit has assisted in every single hurricane since—not just locally, but in other states and countries, too, from Florida to the Bahamas. The crew has also lent a hand during wildfires on the West Coast and throughout the pandemic.

These days, for a big, worst-case-scenario storm, up to 5,000 volunteers sign up to help CrowdSource Rescue, although executive director Loren Dykes says that number of volunteers is unusual—thankfully. “The best thing is that we’re not needed,” she says. “That’s the best part about community overall. We don’t always see it, but if it gets bad enough, people will just come.” When Hurricane Beryl hit in July, they mobilized about 1,200 volunteers across the region.

Leading up to a storm, the organization’s meteorologist keeps track of the situation, volunteers begin checking in, and the team monitors who goes where and fine-tunes the website to the specific storm so everything’s ready to go by landfall. While the group is primarily meant to be a rescue mission—it’s in the name—recovery has naturally become an important part of what it does.

This includes many wellness checks; when family members out of state are unable to reach loved ones in an impacted area, they often request that CrowdSource check in on them. Dykes says low-income areas are often the hardest hit, and senior housing and nursing homes are also a high priority. People need all sorts of items in the aftermath, from a tarp to insulin. CrowdSource partners with other nonprofits to distribute food and personal hygiene items. And in the wake of Beryl, the biggest requests? A generator and someone with a chainsaw, please.

Indeed, Beryl was the hurricane of downed trees. Volunteers are asked if they own certain power tools when they sign up. CrowdSource has a relationship with a rental tool bank, which came in handy for this storm in particular. The group also worked with the city and county to distribute generators, prioritizing people who rely on life-saving machines like ventilators.

Even with the main event in the rearview mirror, CrowdSource continues to work through its smaller requests months later. So if you’re still waiting for someone to come clear that tree, sit tight.

Search Homeless Services

As a nonprofit that’s been serving Houston’s unhoused individuals since 1989, Search has a keen understanding of what that vulnerable population needs during a storm. On a normal day, the organization’s different teams are out in the streets making initial contact, helping people with paperwork and accessing resources, and moving them into stable homes. On a day when the city is hit by a hurricane, Search program manager Kelly Ward explains that their goal is to have as few disruptions to their services as possible.

“Unsheltered individuals are particularly impacted. They’re out there in the elements when storms hit,” she says, but seeking immediate shelter isn’t the only concern. In a storm’s aftermath, services they typically access on a daily basis are impacted—a doctor’s or mental health appointment rescheduled, public transportation not running. “They’re still trying to meet their needs in the same way that we are,” Ward says.

For a week following Hurricane Beryl, Search’s street outreach team went out into the field and connected with about 90 people per day, identifying their immediate needs. That started with distributing basic items like bottled water, as well as providing information on where to obtain food and other resources, and offering transportation to cooling centers. Meanwhile, other staff members visited apartments where the organization houses its clients, to deliver food and help them apply for disaster relief as needed.

Even though Search’s office building lost power, the team set up a makeshift operation outside the front gates on Congress Avenue to keep normal operations going as much as possible. The housing navigation team was still assisting people with moving into apartments, even calling landlords repeatedly asking if the power was turned on yet. And when it was, they wasted no time. Search even had a couple people move in during the week Beryl hit.

Killen’s Barbecue

Houston’s restaurant owners are always quick to help out the community during a disaster, even when their own businesses are impacted. Before a storm hits, Ronnie Killen and his team make sure the ice machines at all their restaurants are full and there’s a backup plan for the freezers. “We can buy time with ice,” he says. But time runs out quickly.

The Pearland location of Killen’s Barbecue, the empire’s flagship, sustained some roof damage and, of course, lost power completely. So Killen did what he’s done countless times before: He threw all of the restaurant’s meat on the smoker and got cooking. Over the course of three days, the team handed out almost 10,000 free barbecue sandwiches to their neighbors. For Killen, in times like this, it’s all about the essentials.

“What do you need when you have a hurricane? You need water, you need shelter, and food,” he says. “If you have those things, you’re going to be all right for a while.”