Houston Van Rental Processes Harvey Disaster

In a series of updates on Hurricane Harvey, Yaz Irani, founder and CEO of Airport Van Rental (AVR), has been checking in with Dallas Kay, his manager at the company’s location in Houston, for up-to-date news on the Houston area.

As of Thursday, Kay was able to make it to the AVR location near Houston International Airport. “I did not see any water in the building or any traces of it,” he says. “I was able to start up a few vans, and they started up fine. Internet is still down and only one phone works.”

On the way to the AVR location, Kay passed 250 to 300 cars floating in water along the side of the freeway.

“When I passed entrance ways of subdivisions, you see people on boats and then all you see is water,” says Kay. “There’s dozens of military vehicles and helicopters in the air. Dozens and dozens of people on boats are still searching for people. It’s good news that help is here.”

Employee Sharde Buchanen was able to receive word that a rescue team made it to her mother’s house and was able to pull her family out and get them to safety, according to Kay.

As of Friday, Kay and a few of his team members planned to go into the office. "I'll be washing cars trying to prepare for opening next week," he says. "I'm also checking fleet inventory and making sure we are getting most of the due backs closed."

Currently, the city of Houston is under a mandatory curfew between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The airports have reopened but are only operating at limited capacity.