SAN ANTONIO – Texans near the coast are still dealing with the damage and devastation left by Hurricane Harvey, and the Bexar County Sheriffs Office is stepping up and helping out.
"It's chaos as far as the wreckage. The residents on the ground are happy to have us there, for the most part," Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
The sheriff was one of the first in his department to see the mess Harvey caused. Since the storm, he and his deputies have helped out in areas closer to the coast like Houston and Aransas County.
"I tell you on the first day of this, we hadn't even put word out we were sending deputies out yet, and I had a hundred volunteers just like that who wanted to step up and do something to assist," Salazar said.
David Garcia, one of the deputies who volunteered, is headed to help out in Rockport.
"Obviously everybody stepped up, stepped up and said lets do our part and help how we can," Garcia said.
The 11 sheriff's deputies will replace the ones currently down there. They'll be dealing with mosquitoes, alligators and even a virus. They are preparing for looting, as well.
"There are still some out there, but it's calming down because we have more officers out there patrolling, so it definitely was a problem at first, but now it's definitely slowing because we have officers out there."
Deputies said a lot of the places and cars that could be looted already have been, but it's important to be vigilant. The sheriff said Bexar County has more than enough deputies to send help to the coast and still manage our area, and it's just what we need to do to help our neighbors.
"It's just wrecked. To see boats sunk in the marina and tarps everywhere it's just heartbreaking," Salazar said.
