“Dude, you brought my favorite pop tarts! YOU ROCK!!!!!”

That was a text I received Monday afternoon from good friend and Port Arthur, Texas, newspaper publisher Rich Macke.

His positive attitude and can-do spirit through the face of a seemingly boundless natural disaster is amazing.

Port Arthur, an Interstate-10 town approximately 30 minutes across the Louisiana border, suffered greatly at the hands of Hurricane Harvey’s reentry into Texas and Louisiana. The mayor said, at its worst, 75 percent of the city was underwater.

Rich’s story, which is not unlike thousands of others in his community, starts with a night at his Port Arthur News office.

Rising waters had separated Rich from his wife, children and pets. At first, they decided to spend the night separately, Rich at the office, his family at their home. As the water kept rising, a boat patrol evacuated Rich’s family to his office (hopefully for a safer night).

By 2 a.m., his office also began to flood with rising water. In the dark of night, the decision was made to evacuate. With pets in hand, they waded out the building and into the great unknown with water up to their bellies.

Thankfully, a passerby in a boat picked them up and brought them to another stranger’s house, where they were able to dry off.

When the waters receded, Rich found his home flooded, along with the vehicles used by himself, his wife and daughter. The business he runs took in water, and nearly 100 percent of the employees he leads also suffered water damage.

For a person who runs a daily newspaper and 24/7 website, he faced (and still faces) a truly intimidating set of obstacles.

Yet, he and his team are prevailing, so it was only natural that our L’OBSERVATEUR staff in LaPlace, led by Christine Browning and Candace Hemelt, funded a supply drive that I had the pleasure of delivering Saturday afternoon.

Loaded with close to 500 bottles of water, plenty of nonperishable necessities and a few snacks, I left Reserve at noon Sept. 9 and was able to return by 7:30 p.m. the same night.

A special thank you goes to my 9-year-old son, Dominick, who willingly gave up his Saturday to spend close to eight hours in the vehicle as my copilot. He brought a few portable electronics to avoid boredom and even apologized for not keeping me company when he took a brief nap.

When we stopped on the way back for his first ever Dairy Queen OREO Blizzard, he smiled as if he received a truly great Christmas gift. He really has no idea how his company kept me happy and motivated throughout the long drive.

Dominick’s good will was a precursor to the people I met in Texas. Our supply drive ended in the small town of Orange, which also partners with LaPlace and Port Arthur as part of our newspaper family.

There we met residents and newspaper employees who displayed warmth and gratitude when most would be aggravated and defeated.

When Dominick and I left, the overwhelming feeling was “I wish I could have brought more” — something I’m sure many feel when contributing to a problem so large and unending.

So it was Monday evening that I received the text I mentioned to start this column. Two days after our small supply drive, Rich reached out to again say “thank you.” With so much on his plate, his resolve impresses me greatly.

In the weeks ahead, L’OBSERVATEUR will continue to collect supplies for our friends and partners in Orange and Port Arthur, Texas. We invite our loyal readers to contribute if they can.

I guarantee all supplies will be delivered directly to small community residents who suffered through surprising hurricane flooding, an impact those in St. John the Baptist Parish know all too well.

Stephen Hemelt is publisher and editor of L’OBSERVATEUR. He can be reached at 985-652-9545 or stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com.