BEAUMONT, Texas — If you’re lucky enough to live as long as William Spivey, you can bet your life has taught you a lesson or two.
The man, who says friends call him “Wild Bill” has lived at his home on Beaumont’s south side for 50 years.
“This is Southeast Texas, you’re gonna get water and you’re gonna get bit by a mosquito,” Spivey said while sitting out in front of his home.
That home flooded, like many others in his neighborhood, as the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda dumped five feet of rain on parts of Texas.
Spivey and his wife woke up Friday morning to water up to their window sills, level with the bed they were sleeping on. The 20-year Army veteran said the two waded out, calling the water “cold”.
“I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as Harvey, but it was worse," he said.
Still in the process of getting his damp belongings out of his home, he still has to cut out the flood damaged walls and soaked insulation.
When asked if he needed help, Spivey said, “could use some.”
Meanwhile in downtown Beaumont, a unique search is looking for people just like Spivey. Known worldwide, founded during the Haiti earthquake in 2010, Team Rubicon is assembling in town. The group is made-up mostly of veterans, looking for a way to serve.
“We raised our right hand and pledged an oath that we wanted to do something for the country, and we get out and we go to work, we live our lives, do our thing. But, that purpose isn’t there. That purpose to serve, that need to serve, that desire to serve and help people isn’t there," Jeremy Moore said.
Moore is among those organizing the team’s effort in Southeast Texas. Working with the local emergency management officials and another non-profit Crisis Clean-up.
“Some people are skeptical at first because they’re like, you’re going to do this for free? And we’re like yeah," Moore said.
'Wild Bill' Spivey said he sure wouldn’t mind the group coming to his home in a neighborhood Team Rubicon says they are surveying.
But Spivey says the only need will be with the walls, as for his stuff, he said, “We done been through so much in life it’s only stuff. That’s the only attitude you can take.”
Guess it’s one of those lessons you learn in life.