Houston publications weather Hurricane Harvey
by Joe Siegel
Houston’s LGBT publications managed to weather Hurricane Harvey, which caused massive flooding in the city late last month.
Outsmart Magazine did have to close its offices for a few days due to the wet conditions, but did not sustain any damage.
“None of our full-time staff was flooded or seriously impacted,” said publisher and editor in chief Greg Jeu. “We came out lucky overall.”
The September issue of Outsmart was delayed, however, because the entire city was shut down, Jeu noted.
“The [problem] was, even if your house wasn’t flooded, you couldn’t really get anywhere because many of the roads were blocked,” Jeu said. “Everything was closed. Our office was closed for several days.”
Jeu said residents of the city are beginning to put their lives back together after Harvey. “There’s a long road ahead for the people who were impacted, but there is a growing sense of normalcy.”
The offices of the Montrose Star made it through the hurricane with only minor damage due to rain coming in through the windows, said executive editor Laura Villagran.
“We were high enough that we did not get flooded,” Villagran said, noting the newspaper was less than a mile from heavily-flooded areas of the city.
Villagran said a lot of fundraising events were being held to help less fortunate residents.
IN THE NEWS
Volume 19
Issue 6
