Latest news with #SafeHorns
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
SafeHorns headquarters flooded by severe storms
The Brief SafeHorns recovering after HQ was flooded by severe storms West Campus building got close to three feet of water inside Monday's flood was the second time SafeHorns has suffered water damage from severe storms AUSTIN, Texas - The nonprofit organization SafeHorns is recovering after its headquarters was flooded by severe storms over the last 24 hours. Their building in West Campus received close to three feet of water inside. What we know SafeHorns moved into the basement of the Congregational Church of Austin in February 2024. Monday's flood marked the second time the organization has suffered from water damage caused by severe storms. "When I got here, I was shocked to see the line on the door of how much water. Over two and a half feet I'm guesstimating, and then once I opened the doors, it was just all throughout," said SafeHorns president Joell McNew. McNew says she spent hours Tuesday morning cleaning up the aftermath. "It's been an all-day event of cleaning it out, airing it out and, and we need the rain, but it's concerning because of the area that we are in in West campus. This is an area where people are using it as a restroom, so there's human waste. We have feces right there and trash and we try to keep up with cleaning it all the time, but it's a daily occurrence. All of that water is going into our creeks and the trash and now that's obviously what I was cleaning up today," she said. She added that there were not many items ruined in the flood, but the water did damage the floor tiles. Dig deeper The Memorial Day weekend marked a decade since the 2015 floods that took the lives of more than a dozen people and damaged hundreds of properties across Central Texas. Ten years later, the city of Austin says there have been capital improvement projects that enhance local drainage systems and infrastructure in flood-prone areas, but McNew says there is still work that needs to be done on the infrastructure in West Campus. "We know that West Campus has serious issues with drainage in the area. It's just really shocking at times because there's so many drains around us. When the city votes on June 5th for the expansion of Uno, which is going to bring a tremendous amount of density, more density to this area, which is already one of the most densely populated in Texas, that we look at the infrastructure," she said. What's next More rain in the forecast is also drawing concern for McNew. "After we leave today, we're going to try to barricade the door and get some plastic up and hope that, you know, we need the rain so badly, but we don't want it in the wrong place. We need to keep it out of our space and our property, and we're going to do the best we can to try barricade the door hoping that it'll prevent more flooding," she said. The Source Information in this report comes from reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin's Tan Radford.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Haruka Weiser: Safe Horns continues to fight for improvements 9 years after UT student's murder
The Brief It's been nine years since the killing of UT student Haruka Weiser In 2016, Weiser was raped and killed on campus Since then, an advocacy group of UT parents has been fighting to make safety improvements on campus AUSTIN, Texas - It has been nine years since University of Texas student Haruka Weiser was brutally killed on campus. Since, an advocacy group of UT parents has been fighting to make safety improvements on campus. The backstory A body was found in a creek on campus in April 2016. "It's hard to believe it's been nine years. Sorry, it makes me emotional," Safe Horns President Joell McNew said. McNew remembers that day. "Around 10:30 in the morning, my son was a freshman at UT, and he called me asking me to look up, search for what was happening on the UT campus. He wasn't describing it, but I could tell something bad had happened," McNew said. RELATED: Slain UT student Haruka Weiser remembered Eighteen-year-old UT freshman, Haruka Weiser, had been raped and killed. "For her family to entrust our city and our university with her, and for her to fall in love with UT, and for this brutal, brutal tragic murder, it was just too much," McNew said. Meanwhile, Weiser's father fights to ensure his daughter's killer never gets out of prison. "We will never know how many women he planned to rape or murder but the resting conviction of Mr. Criner means that he will never do this again," Haruka's father, Dr. Thomas Weise, said in 2018. The backstory McNew said a group of UT parents wanted to make a change. "It was really a call to action for us. We can't just sit there and keep talking about it, we need to do something," McNew said. The advocacy group, Safe Horns, was created. "First thing we did was parents and students came together, they looked at lighting on campus, vegetation, door locks, all the physical security and what caused them fear," McNew said. From there, they went to work. Dig deeper In 2020, the University of Texas System Board of Regents allocated $8 million for improvements to the West Campus neighborhood. Since, lighting in the area has been overhauled to eliminate dark areas that were crime hot spots. The West Campus Ambassador Program, which consists of a safety, cleaning, and hospitality team, was also implemented. Safe Horns opened Safe Horns Place on campus to host self-defense workshops and crime prevention sessions. "All of us making these small victories along the way leaves a legacy for future students that we will 100% with pride say, yes, your students should be proud to go to UT, it is safe to go here, we are watching out for each other, we are committed to that," McNew said. She said she hopes they can be guardians for others. The Source Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis
