President Trump in Pearland
Landon tracked the storm
I don't know what to say about Hurricane Harvey.... but I want the kids to look back on this one day and remember all our good times and we found some in the midst of this tragedy. I'll write our experience and emotions and thoughts so my kids will have a record of this awfully scary week.
Friday, August 25- Jason and I had tickets to see Coldplay in Houston. The storm was projected to make landfall 300 miles south of us around Corpus Christi. Since we were on the "dirty side" of the storm, we kept a close eye on the projected track like we do with all the storms in the Gulf. I bought lots of supplies, but didn't overload on refrigerated/frozen food as sometimes the power goes out. Mid day Friday the concert was cancelled. School was cancelled Friday to allow families time to prepare. They were calling for a major rain event in Houston as the storm trekked east, but no one could predict what was the come :-(
Saturday, August 26- Some areas had some minor flooding from the rain overnight, but overall everyone fared well. I actually went to work on the other side of Houston. Forecast still called for rain in the coming days, but nothing too concerning. We went to dinner Saturday night and ran into friends so we stayed for a while. After dinner we decided to run to Target to let the kids look around and burn some energy since it was drizzling out. While in Target it started to rain very hard and for some reason, we got really nervous and headed straight home (thank God!). By the time we made the short drive home, it was pouring. We actually had several friends completely stranded early Saturday night. It was a true flash flood with water rising quickly from the bottom and unimaginable pouring rain. We were home, but the thunder and lighting and wind and rain was insane. The kids all slept in our room because we were all terrified. I kept waking up all night thinking our house would flood and the kids were on the floor :( It was very, very scary.
Sunday, August 27- We woke up to devastating news reports. Major flooding ALL over the city. We watched as they called for boats or kayaks or high water vehicles to many locations and suburbs. We watched the live reports of neighborhoods UNDER water. Completely unimaginable. Only rooftops visible and helicopters rescuing many. We were so sad and so scared because it was still pouring outside. We played upstairs in the game room and texted with friends. At this point, we were so very sad for our city, but not too worried about our house.
Monday, August 28- the rain never stopped. It is so hard to imagine, but at this point it had been pouring without cease for 48 hours. The rain sound was starting to mess with our minds. The news reports were tragic, loss of life, many, many, many houses flooded. We were so sad. The rain was still pounding and our streets were full and not draining any longer. The water was starting to stand in our yard. We started to make preparations and moved all important documents to the second floor. All over the news they were reporting they were unable to rescue people and if you went into your attic to take a hammer or axe to get out. Sit on your roof and wait until a helicopter sees you. Ugh :-(
Tuesday, August 29- the rain had not stopped, but was a little lighter (maybe?) it was hard to tell. Our streets were still impassable, but the baby was out of milk and as crazy as it sounds now, I was very worried about getting food (we had plenty, but with no end in site I was scared the stores would run out.) The stores were opening for 1-2 hours each day as they could safely get employees there and there were very long lines. Jason attempted to leave. He was able to take one road to a convenient store, but they were out of milk. He picked up soup (again, crazy, but this made me feel better). It was still raining out- had not stopped since Saturday. Late in the day, it finally let up to a steady sprinkle, we decided (stupidly) to try to get out. Our streets were so flooded and it was very scary. Cars were stranded all over. Jason's truck started smoking and we barely made it back. We felt defeated, scared and alone, but looking at all the tragic news made us realize we had NOTHING to complain about and were so so very lucky. Finally, late in the day a city council member posted he had found a back way out of our neighborhood to a grocery store. Jason immediately left and it worked. He was able to pick up milk and other groceries after standing outside in the rain for an hour.
Wednesday, August 30- the rain finally stopped and our streets began to slowly drain. We had fared so much better than most of our fellow Houstonians. I can not even imagine the torment most people felt. The sound of constant rain for days and days while watching flooding all around you is maddening. Still to this day (3 months later) the kids ask if its raining when they hear any noise. We served our community by volunteering and delivering supplies. I don't think we will ever forget those days and what we saw :-(
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