NEDERLAND — When water started flowing into homes late last August from Tropical Storm Harvey, Autumn Brown and her husband got in their boat and began helping others. In the aftermath of the storm, Brown started SETX Civilian Taskforce to help others who lost everything.

On Tuesday, The Ladies of Providence Church in Nederland thanked her for her help to the community over the past year.

“We knew there was something else we should be doing,” Brown said. “We knew we had to step up.”

Brown said her husband went out on a boat to rescue people who were trapped in their homes by the floodwaters.

“My husband went out and started doing rescues initially,” she said. “I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t want him doing it. I wanted him home with me where I knew he was safe and could protect me, my children and our home. In hindsight, if the water was going to come up, it was going to come up. There was nothing he could’ve done about that.”

Brown said her husband got home after the first night of doing rescues and told her that she was going with him. They made their first rescue together at about 1 a.m. in Groves.

“For the next two days, I went with him doing rescues,” she said. “It touched me in a way I could never explain.”

Brown went on to start her non-profit organization that still helps those who are in need.

“We incorporated on Sept 11, 2017,” she said. “Our operation doesn’t rest. I said I took a couple of weeks off to plan and get ready for my daughter’s wedding, but it doesn’t stop. People know where I live. They show up on my doorstep and I’m never going to turn people down. If I’m there and I have what they need, they’re going to get it.

Brown said they still receive items to distribute but sometimes they have to turn away items because of the lack of space.

“You can’t imagine how upsetting it is,” she said. “I take it personally when I have to tell a donor that we don’t have room for that and we have to turn supplies away. It’s the absolute last thing we want to happen. We strive everyday to get the attention to let everyone know that we are not okay here. You may drive down the streets and might not see any debris, but that doesn’t mean we are okay.”