Student leader Ravi Shankar Iyer tweets that “without boats it’s impossible to provide any kind of food or help.”
The president of an Indian graduate students’ organization at University of Houston wrote a letter seeking the help of the city’s Indian consulate, saying that close to 250 Indian students that are stranded on campus in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey are out of food.
“We do have hotels who are ready to give food but without boats it’s impossible to provide any kind of food or help to them,” the student leader, Ravi Shankar Iyer, tweeted the letter, tagging Anupam Ray, Consul General of India in Houston Anupam Ray. “Is there [any way] we can provide shelter to all of them or [at least] provide some food assistance to them,” he asked.
Iyer said, “We have been trying to help as much as possible and doing our best,” and wanted help in delivering food, or providing shelter to two apartment buildings the students are stranded: Stratford and Felix.
The tweet didn’t identify the location of the two buildings. But a Google search indicated that they could be Stratford House Apartments and the Felix Apartment Homes, both on the banks of Brays Bayou, close to Rice University and University of Houston. The area is one of the worst affected localities in the aftermath of Harvey.
The letter continued: “I tried everything in my control and now without other option reaching out to you for help. #cgihouston”
(See the full text of the letter below)
The Indian consulate said in a tweet that Consul General Ray has reached out to students stranded on campus.
Earlier, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet that Ray was leading efforts to reach out to Indian students. She wrote that the consulate’s efforts to deliver food was not successful as the US Coast Guard wouldn’t allow anyone to do so without boats and required safety measures.
She added that two students, Shalini and Nikhil Bhatia, were in the intensive care unit of a hospital. The minister didn’t provide any details on their ailments.
Here’s the full text of the letter:
Hello Dr. Anupam Ray,
I didn’t know whom to ask for! My name is Ravi Shankar and I’m the president of Indian graduate students organization at university of Houston. We have been trying to help as much as possible and doing our best. Is there anyway that we can deliver food or provide shelter to Stratford and Felix apartments. We have close to 250 students and a lot of them are out of food. We do have hotels who are ready to give food but without boats it’s impossible to provide any kind of food or help to them. Is there anyway we can provide shelter to all of them or atleast provide some food assistance to them. I tried everything in my control and now without other option reaching out to you for help. #cgihouston
Thank you so much for your assistance in advance!
Ravi
Ravi Shankar Iyer
Calling all Indians in Houston for help. @Jitenkaa already on it but more needed pic.twitter.com/bO58yMIXCu
— Anupam Ray (@anupamifs) August 28, 2017
Mr. Anupam Ray our CG Houston is organising the rescue operations. /3
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 28, 2017