PORT ARANSAS, Texas — It took the better part of two days and countless hours in the truck, but Emma Roccaforte made sure to provide a home for a cancer-stricken woman devastated by Hurricane Harvey.

Owner of Airline Pub in LaPlace, Roccaforte suffered through a similar ordeal in 2016 when her St. Amant home flooded last August with more than three feet of water.

She ended up securing a sleeper trailer, one that she spent many nights in after the flood while her home was repaired.

“When we flooded last year the most important thing was having a place to rest your head where you are not where everyone else is, like in an assembly center,” Roccaforte said.

After seeing the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, Roccaforte knew she needed to donate the trailer’s use for someone in a similar need.

Thanks to an old friend, Roccaforte learned of Linda and Tom Simpson of Port Aransas, a coastal Texas community of less than 5,000 people on Mustang Island.

With big cities like Houston devastated, Roccaforte figured smaller Texas communities and their residents might get lost in the shuffle.

Making matters worse was Linda’s cancer diagnosis and a tree that fell on the Simpson home during the storm. With no other place to go, Linda and Tom were still living in the home a week after the storm.

Once deciding to donate the trailer, Roccaforte put out a social media call to ask for supplies to deliver with the trailer.

More than a dozen people responded.

Cancer support group Perry’s Posse saw an obvious link to the storm victim and helped pack towels, bleach, antibacterial cleaners, nitrate gloves, snacks, handmade quilts, pillowcases and personal items, organizer Joan LeBouef said.

Friends Avis St. Pierre and Tori Freemen joined Roccaforte for the drive, which started Friday, included an overnight stay at a Texas convenience store and didn’t end until late Saturday.

“We got the trailer there, and I set it up, explaining everything to them,” Roccaforte said. “They were crying, so grateful and didn’t know people were so kind and generous. The poor lady who had cancer had to be living in the house, which had mold in it already.”

Roccaforte credited the many “good people of St. John Parish and St. James Parish” for helping her deliver the relief supplies.

“I didn’t see Red Cross out there helping people out; I think these smaller towns get forgotten when the larger city gets hit,” Roccaforte said. “What I did see was more of local people helping each other out, kind of like our situation in Ascension Parish.”