Hello!
I would like to give my best wishes to anyone who suffered Harvey.
Now a Hong Kong undergraduate who would like to exchange to Rice University, I was told by several people that this is not a good idea due to the severe damage caused by Harvey. I’ve read news about the current situation in Houston, but I still could not get a clear picture of the situation. Are there more crimes? How unstable is the society now? Any impact on the campus?
Any description will be appreciated! Thanks
Rice had sent out an email about this, and while I can’t recall the exact language, my take-away was that the area of Houston where they are located had little or no damage. If anyone else doesn’t give you a more first-hand response, I can give you more information after the weekend since my D is visiting there. I don’t know if you realize how huge Houston is in terms of distance. It is bigger than some US states. We were shocked when we looked at the map.
The Rice campus was not directly impacted at all. Some staff and students who live outside the immediate area were affected. The campus and most Houstonians didn’t lose power. The cafeteria remained open but they advised everyone to conserve food in case of disruptions in delivery. They got new supplies long before they ran out.
Flooded areas are still recovering and rebuilding but for the most part folks have long resumed normal activities. There was never a break down in law order. Without the statistics, my guess would be that there was a dip in the crime rate.
I live in a suburb of Houston. Rice is fine! There is no unrest, no real rise in crime. If anything Harvey brought the community closer together from all walks of life. There are neighborhoods with a lot of damage still and will be for quite awhile. Most of the big businesses are back to running as usual. The infrastructure is fine. Only big issue is the pick up of debris in the flooded areas but that does not include the area around Rice. I would highly encourage anyone to come to Houston right now. The community atmosphere is almost the highest I have ever seen it here.
As a fellow Houstonian, I can concur. Rice is absolutely fine! No problems at all, come on over!
Thanks Melvin! I know Houston is large (6 times larger than Taipei, capital of my home country), yet most news only refers to “Houston”. Gotta find some other sources to read XP
Thank you for informing!
I was on Rice campus less than two weeks after the hurricane and the campus and local area was fine.
My husband and daughter agree with all the other posters. Rice is fine!
The storm and floods have made us more caring and cohesive as a community. Rice has made it a priority to involve itself in the recovery efforts going on throughout the city. If you’d like to be part of that, come and join us! The Rice community is thriving.
Rice University is doing well. The remaing impacts are on many of the students and staff who live off campus. Many students in first floor apartments, and staff that own homes are still recovering. Here is a short article about the football team. http://abc13.com/coach-12-rice-players-lose-everything-during-harvey/2380565/
I agree, Harvey brought the community closer and made the community stronger. Go Astros!
As I’m sure you know from all the previous posts, Houston’s handling Harvey quite well. Everyone came together to handle it, and it was really inspiring. Of course, there are people who have been devastated, and their lives have been radically altered. I feel like people outside of the situation thought things were out of control, but there was a heavy news and police presence throughout the ordeal. Crimes that occurred were reported. Rice was basically unaffected. If the crime rate is up, I highly doubt it’s because of Harvey. Places that have been damaged are working on repairs (which takes an insane amount of time if there’s water damage, but that’s not the point). Life is carrying on. But my point is, you’re fine and you’ll be fine. Harvey changed Houston, yes, but really brought us together. And then the Astros rose. Go 'stros!