Love's employees step up in midst of historic Houston flooding

In the midst of a historic flood in southeast Texas, our teams at Love's 419, 315, 234 and 401 are working hard to make sure Customers in the greater Houston area have somewhere to fill up their fuel tanks and their bellies.

"Well, we're under water," said Jason O'Neal, general manager of Love's 234 in Katy.

To clarify, the Love's Travel Stops location on Pederson Road, near Interstate 10, is not under water. However, O'Neal said that neighborhoods less than a half a mile away were dealing with three to four feet of standing water. It's the result of a low-pressure system that stalled out over the area. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico triggered all-day, all-night rains that aren't expected to dissipate until Tuesday.

"At this point, we have a lot of drivers who are stuck here," said Love's 419 General Manager Felix Ximenez.

Ximenez said he was able to make it into his Love's location, on the north side of The Loop, just south of Interstate 610. His trip into work, however, was filled with navigational adventure, and he packed a bag.

"I'm ready to pull an all-nighter," Ximenez said.

The rains and flooding have been so bad in the greater Houston area that officials have been urging people to stay home.

Love's 315 General Manager Randy Hamilton said that, so far, his team is faring as well as can be expected during a storm of this proportion. His team's focus is on serving Customers looking for any port in the storm.

"Customers still expect us to live up to the Love's name," Hamilton said.

Love's employee Wendy Maldonado took this photo to show she was stuck. A Love's store sign shows up only barely in the background.

"She was so close yet so far," Hamilton said. "She turned around and found another way. Thank God she made it safely."

The manager of Love's 401 in Baytown said his location was spared the most epic rains.

"We never flooded," said General Manager Patrick Gary.

Managers reported that their teams were safe and sound and that employees who needed to stay home to take care of family did so.

"Everyone seems to be in good shape," Hamilton said. "Some of these places (in Houston) don't drain like we'd like them to."

And that means professional drivers and anybody stranded by the storm are looking to Love's for a place to weather the worst. That could mean a hot shower, a cup of hot coffee or some hot food.

"We've loaded up our roller grill," Ximenez said.

We're proud to employ dedicated people at our Love's locations nationwide, and we want to send our gratitude to the crews in southeast Texas.

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