PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s been a whirlwind week for Andrew Mitchell of Morristown, New Jersey.
“I’m working off of four hours sleep,” he said. “Every two minutes, I get a phone call.”
After hearing that Texas plumbers were swamped and unable to keep up with demand in the aftermath of the storms, Mitchell spent about $2,000 on supplies, then piled his wife and young son into their pickup truck and drove to Houston.
He’s been working almost non-stop ever since, repairing burst pipes mostly for free.
“It’s busted water lines — they could be in the ground, in the attic, they could be on the side of the house, in the wall, behind the kitchen countertop,” he explained.
Mitchell said he didn’t make the 22-hour trek for financial gain.
“We came across a 79-year-old lady and she wound up taking us to her cousin and she ended up taking us to her uncle and we ended up not charging them a thing, just to give back to the community,” he said.
And that giving has worked both ways, according to Mitchell’s wife, Kisha.
“I got this cute little knick-knack I was complimenting this lady on. She had an extra piece and gave it to me,” she said. “And then this other guy, he owns a stable and said we could ride horses with him.”
The family will stay in Houston and help until they run out of supplies.
“It’s just a basic need that everyone needs,” she added, “running water, and I know that it’s definitely warming my heart.”