Cape Breton call centre fields harrowing calls from flooded Texas

Employees at a call centre in Sydney, N.S, have become an unexpected point of contact for thousands of victims of Harvey, fielding harrowing pleas for help as parts of Texas remain under water.

The company, ServiCom, has a contract with OnStar, General Motors' subscription-based vehicle communications service that allows someone to call for emergency help with the press of a button.

The Cape Breton call centre typically makes outbound calls, such as to renew memberships, but after Hurricane Harvey bore down, GM asked if ServiCom could begin taking calls meant for the American Red Cross.

"We are not a 24-hour call centre but we turned into that overnight," said ServiCom manager Todd Riley.

There's no hard data yet on the total number of calls since the crisis began on Friday, but agents answered 3,000 calls on Tuesday alone.

Recent calls have typically been from people looking to donate to the American Red Cross. But early calls were often from people desperate for help, trapped on roofs or looking for loved ones.

Call centre employees offer what advice they can. They tell people waiting to be rescued to stay visible, and give them phone numbers for agencies. Ultimately, they try to be a reassuring voice.

Sydney OnStar adviser Evelyn Leadbeater said helping storm victims is so important, she's working double shifts.

"I had a couple and their two kids. They were in a hotel room and she said they can't get out of there and it's filling up fast and she said, 'To be honest with you, Evelyn, we're hungry, we're starving,'" Leadbeater said.

"I could hear the kids in the background and I thought, 'What a sad thing to go through, to be a parent and not have food for your children, and listening to them cry.'"

OnStar agent Brenda Lamson has similar stories.

"I've had several death calls so far, people looking for loved ones that are still missing," she said. "I try to help them remain calm. I try to provide as much emergency information as I can for them to get up high, stay safe and that help will be there." 

ServiCom's GM program manager, Cathy Harris, said people in the Sydney area have been offering to staff the phones and the company has been recruiting to fill overnight shifts.

"We're definitely paying these people but we've had people saying, 'I want to volunteer,'" she said. "You know Cape Bretoners. We like to help out. We do what we can."

Harris said some of the calls have been heartbreaking, and the company is trying to give its staff as much emotional support as possible.

"A lot of them are taking a call, getting off the phones, having a little breakdown, crying," She said. "As we're saying to them, 'Do you need to take a minute? Do you need to go home?' they're saying, 'No, I'm fine. I just need to get back on. I need to help.' "  

Leadbeater said not all the calls have been emergencies.

"The first call that I took, I had a woman whose mother had died on Friday in the storm, and she was calling in to donate her mother's belongings just to give back. She said it's what her mother would have wanted." 

Lamson said there's been calls from people looking to volunteer.

"We've just had some people from Florida wanting to offer 100 acres for farm animals if they can get rescued. " 

Lamson is now organizing a clothing drive to help out.

Riley said ServiCom is still looking to take on even more people to train to answer calls as the crisis in Texas continues. He said the call centre will continue to operate 24 hours a day, as long as necessary.