Overnight, flood waters crept into the homes of many Akins students living along Onion Creek east of Intersate 35 near William Cannon Drive.
Austin officials have said that this natural disaster dam- aged an estimated 1,360 homes within Travis County, leaving 531 of those home unlivable. The weekend after the flooding took place, thousands of people came together to help with the cause. One group from Akins spent their Saturday morn- ing helping out. This group is known as Akins Cares.
“I feel like it’s a moral duty for myself and others on the campus to help all we can when tragedies such as this occur” Akins Cares adviser Erika San Miguel said.
Akins students, parents and alumni felt that they owed it to their peers to help out with the cause. Whether it meant that they volnteered for the clean ups at the houses of those affected, or donated food, water and clothes to the donation site.
“The flood made me think about how I need to stop taking things for granted and appreciate what I have now,” Akins Cares member Lily Landaverde said.
Many houses were completely destroyed and were not permited to be rebuilt, forcing people to get their stuff and leave because it was no longer safe to live there. It all hap- pened so unexpectedly that a lot of people, including some Akins students without a permanant home.
For those houses that could be rebuilt, The Akins Cares club was there to do what they could to get these families back on their feet and shorten the process of re-building these houses.
“I was happy to help out with the flood cleanup,” Lan- daverde said. “It made me feel good. I know that if I was in this situation, I would want my peers to help out also.”