CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Highways closed. No way off Padre Island. Compound that with what the ice and cold have caused. The people of Padre Island are in need of help and fortunately, they have some people willing to brave the elements to help them.
Paul Haynes owns Moon's Padre Shuttle he decided to put his bus to use. "It was very obvious there was a lot of people in need and distress this morning," said Haynes. "We have a lot of elderly people out here. So, I had the means and I had the bus and I had the time."
All it took was a couple posts to Facebook and people in need asked for help. Haynes said the response was overwhelming.
“More posts started coming in," Haynes said. "People in their houses couldn’t get their car started. Some people couldn’t get their garage doors open. I guess they were froze shut. A lot of people had no water. I guess their pipes had already frozen outside.”
Haynes wasn't alone on the roads trying to help his neighbors. Chul Kim McGuire also took to Facebook to offer up his help. McGuire offered up any home assistance he could provide. Most people called for help thawing their frozen pipes.
“I wanted to lend a hand," said McGuire. "That saying do good onto others and I’m a true believer in that. And, that’s my mantra in life and I’m a man of faith."
"I have generators and if I can help in any way or transport people. We do have a clinic out here, medical facility, they said they’re open through this storm.”
McGuire said the roads were "treacherous," but he's had experience driving through all sorts of conditions."
“I’m used to it.," said McGuire. "I know what precautions, but never get so over confident that—it can happen to anyone. Especially with black ice and so forth. “
When this weather passes, he hopes his actions inspire similar actions. “If I can help encourage everyone to just do one small thing for another person, we’re going to have a great community, city, state, country," McGuire said. "That’s where we need to get back to.”
McGuire and Haynes are prepared to continue helping until people are able to safely travel again. You can contact McGuire on his Facebook page. And you can give Haynes a call if you need a ride.
