36 Time December 23–30, 2019
HEROES
I
T was supposed To rain for
only a few hours. When then
21-year-old Lamar University
student Satchel Smith got
to his job at Homewood Suites in
Beaumont, Texas, on Sept. 18, he
planned to leave promptly when his
eight-hour shift was done; he had
class in the morning. But the rain
didn’t stop. By nightfall, Tropical
Depression Imelda had flooded the
highway. No one could reach—or
leave—the hotel, and Smith was the
only employee there to tend to the
hotel’s roughly 90 guests.
According to the Texas Tribune,
Imelda dropped up to 43 in. of rain in
parts of southeast Texas and caused
flooding that killed five people. But
inside the hotel, Smith didn’t panic. He
answered the phone as it rang all night.
In the morning, people started looking
for breakfast. Despite not knowing how
to cook, Smith raided the kitchen and
made sure everyone got a hot meal.
The storm set off the fire alarm; he
ushered tired guests out and back into
the building.
Angela Chandler, an educator
from Nacogdoches, Texas, was one
of those guests. She had come to
Beaumont for a business trip and
was already nervous about being
away from home. But as she watched
Smith, she suddenly felt grateful.
“Satchel was in and out of the kitchen,
answering the phone, taking care
of guests with a smile on his face,”
she says. “And I looked at him and
realized, ‘That baby is only a year
older than my son.’ ” She was floored
by his composure, and shared her
observation on social media.
As the day ticked on, it became
clear Smith would also have to
cook dinner. By then the guests had
started pitching in. Helping him cook
and clean, they made chicken and
pasta. A few people walked food and
water out to truckers stranded on
the highway. Someone brought out
playing cards.
“We all came together. They madesure I was all right; I made sure that
they were all right,” Smith recalls.
Finally, another employee was able
to get through the water in a monster
truck to relieve him.
He had worked over 30 hours
straight, and stayed awake the
entire time.
Chandler’s post about Smith’s
steadfastness quickly went viral. While
he says it’s nice to be recognized,
Smith adds, “I kind of feel like I was
just doing my job.” □A ONE-MAN
CREW AMID
THE FLOOD
By Madeleine CarlisleChella Phillips has lived in the Bahamas since 2004, and she
knows what a storm can do. When Hurricane Dorian barreled
toward her home, she got to work. Phillips has run Nassau’s
Pawtcake Refuge, which cares for homeless dogs, out of her
home since 2015. She had 82 dogs there already but searched
out more. By the time Dorian arrived, she was hunkering down
in her three- bedroom house with 97 dogs, and she dashed off a
quick Facebook post about the mayhem. Then she lost power.
It was only after Phillips emerged that she learned her post had
gone viral. Nassau was largely spared, but the storm devastated
the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, killing scores of people
and leaving many with a sense of hopelessness. Her story had
become a bit of positive news to hang onto, drawing thousands
of messages from around the world. “I [said], ‘Why are people
so impressed about this?’” she says. “Anybody who cares about
these animals would have done that.” Still, she’s grateful for the
extra attention on the dogs: in the week after Dorian, Phillips sent
68 to homes or rescue groups in the U.S.A woman who kept dozens of dogs
safe during Hurricane Dorian