Trae Tha Truth on Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston

From Drake to Nicki Minaj, the hip-hop community has come together to help victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, but one rapper has put himself on the frontlines to assist residents stranded due to the flooding. Trae Tha Truth made headlines Tuesday (Aug. 29) when he appeared on local TV news station Fox 26, riding in a boat to rescue victims of the hurricane, which has now been dubbed Tropical Storm Harvey. Back out on his heroic mission again today, Trae got on the phone with XXL for a few minutes to get a firsthand account of what's happening in the wake of Harvey.

The rapper, who released his Trae Tha Truth, Pt. 3 album last month, had to be evacuated from his own home in Houston on Monday. That's when he immediately went into action despite the dire situation. "I had to evacuate also," he tells XXL. "I mean, it's just a stressful situation in general because I'm at a point now I don't even want to think past today or tomorrow of doing what need to be done. When the dust settles, that's when it's really gonna sink in, when people have to think about what's their next move."

According to Trae, Tuesday and Wednesday were the most effective days for him to get out and help his fellow Houston residents because he actually had a boat to use. Using social media as a form of S.O.S., the rhymer has posted multiple Instagram messages asking anyone with a boat to join him in the rescue efforts.

Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and its neighboring cities including Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, leaving residents fleeing to shelters and in search of assistance as a result of massive flooding. Trae has witnessed the damage firsthand. "Homes destroyed, people in need," the 37-year-old shares. "People badly, badly discouraged. How can we actually blame ’em? We're going from everything was normal Thursday to you have nothing left Friday, Saturday, you know?"

"It's scattered off through Houston," he continues. "A lot of damage has been done the most close to the reservoirs, where they have to open the levees and a lot of places where they have rivers were overflowed, like all that spreads. It's a little bit of everywhere now, man. The blessing now is that the sun is shining. There are still people in need but it's a sign that the water will start to go down hopefully."

While Trae is doing his part, he's uncertain how much Houston could've prepared for this natural disaster. "I'm not sure," the "I'm on 3.0" creator admits. "I remember the last time we had a hurricane, what happened was a lot of people tried to instantly evacuate, and the freeways were clogged, nobody could move, people were dying in their cars, I'll never forget that. So it's kind of a situation I don't necessarily know how prepared we could have been or not. I don't even think it's for me to say if we could or couldn't.

"It's just at a point, I don't even know," explains Trae, who does right by his city often with his annual Trae Day event. "I wouldn't even put it on experts here, you have experts that do weather across the world, so, I mean, could they have notified us more and let us know how devastating it would be? Possibly. Or could it be a situation where, you know, nature has a mind of its own and they didn't know it was gonna be this catastrophic. So I don't know. I think at this point I'm just trying to figure out ways to get it together."

As of Wednesday, Texas officials have reported 30 confirmed and suspected flood-related deaths. While President Trump didn't visit the Houston area, he did travel to Corpus Christi, Texas, which wasn't as nearly as impacted by the storm, to address the relief efforts. FEMA is on the ground in Texas to assist displaced residents, with nearly 2,000 personnel and more than one million meals being deployed.

As far as Trae's own family, they're safe and sound. "My two oldest sons are on the opposite side of town," Trae reveals. "I try to text their mother as much as possible to make sure they OK. Worst case, if they get in need, I will be finding a boat to get to them."

While the weight of what tomorrow holds rests on Trae Tha Truth's shoulders, he's looking at the positive side of things. "I tell ’em at the end of the day I'm just blessed to be alive," he affirms before ending the call to continue his rescue efforts on a boat. "At the end of the day, we're able to fight another day."

Heroes don't always wear capes.

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