Currently, this beautiful city that we live in is going though some devastating and heartbreaking times. Almost two weeks ago, on August 25th, Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coast.
Hurricane Harvey was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, ending a record 12-year period with no major hurricanes making landfall in the country. In a four-day period, many areas received more than 40 inches of rain as the system meandered over eastern Texas and adjacent waters, causing catastrophic flooding. With peak accumulations of 51.88 in, Harvey is the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the contiguous United States. The resulting floods inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people, and prompted more than 17,000 rescues.
Throughout Texas, more than 300,000 people were left without electricity and billions of dollars of property damage was sustained. At least 64 people were killed, though that number was expected to rise. By August 29, approximately 13,000 people had been rescued across the state while an estimated 30,000 were displaced. The refinery industry capacity was reduced, and oil and gas production was affected in the Gulf of Mexico and inland Texas. On Monday, various news outlets announced the closure of oil refineries ahead of Hurricane Harvey, creating an artificial fuel shortage. Panicked, motorists waited in long lines. Consequently, gas stations through the state were forced to close due to the rush.
More than 48,700 homes were affected by Harvey throughout the state, including over 1,000 that were completely destroyed and more than 17,000 that sustained major damage; approximately 32,000 sustained minor damage. Nearly 700 businesses were damaged as well.Texas Department of Public Safety stated more than 185,000 homes were damaged and 9,000 destroyed.
The whole thing is a blur, to be quite honest with you. Today (as I'm writing this current version) is September 5th. I'm trying to remember what I did on on August 25th and it all seems so hazy. I remember classes being cancelled and feeling like I was being severely inconvenienced because I had tons of work to do, and I just couldn't afford to take the day off. (I roll my eyes at myself right about now). People were going pretty crazy...stocking up on gas, rushing to grocery stores, preparing for the very worst. This is where I'm super bad at these things. Your dad is the only who is usually well prepared for these types of situations. He wasn't here, so I had to step in. I was overwhelmed and honestly felt a little silly giving into the hysteria of these situations. Buuuutttt....there I went. Preparing the generator, stocking up on gas, braving the hoards of crazy people at the grocery stores trying to find food for the next 5-7 days. I mean...on the off chance something did happen, how could I not be prepared. I stayed in constant contact with your dad, he talked me through what to do, what to get, what to be ready for.
As Friday came to an end and I'd put you two to bed, I thought "Well....what's the worst that could happen?"
I was wrong!
Saturday, the 26th, was probably one of the best days in the past 2 weeks. We were getting rain, but nothing major. I decided to make the best of our long 3-day weekend. We did our nails, we had makeovers, and we had breakfast and snacks in bed. This memory will be at the forefront of this whole ordeal, for sure.
The rain just would NOT STOP! For 3 days straight it rained. And when I say it rained...it POURED. All the meanwhile I tried to keep you babies busy, I really tried my best. The more I watched TV, the more scared I got. Not because of how well we'd fare. We were good, no chances of flooding and thankfully no damage. But, I knew that a lot of people hadn't gotten so lucky. This is what our wonderful, beautiful, hot, humid, frustrating, perfect city looked like.
I tried my very best to shield you two from all of this, but at a certain point, I kind of gave up. This is one of those events that pose a great opportunity for us to sink or swim...as a city, as a state...as a society. What happened next was BEAUTIFUL to witness. People came together. Regardless of race, sexual preference, social status. People showed up from EVERYWHERE to help. Neighbors helping one another, complete strangers sharing words of kindness and coming out in masses to lend a hand.
I used this as a lesson in humanity and kindness. We signed up for a few shifts at the Houston Food Bank and to our surprise...there were HUNDREDS of us wanting to lend a hand.
The next day we went again.
And while your Old Goat is away, we stepped in on his behalf and helped our Navy Families
I plan on using this tragedy to get you two more involved in volunteer work. We were truly blessed to come out of this unscathed and I think that the best way for us to show our gratitude is by not taking it for granted and helping where we can. I wish it hadn't taken something like this to happen to put things into perspective for me, but I appreciate any opportunity to be a better mother to you two.
Also...because I told you I had written this same entry a dozen times.
I found this note I wrote on my phone to you last week.
I'm still not sure if the way we approached this..and other things just in general is the correct approach. I guess time will tell, right? I hope that if you feel like we did right by you by allowing you to see these types of things, that you will do the same with your kids. After all, it's our responsibility as parents to try and raise the best little humans as possible. Right? If you don't, then by all means...shield your babies from all this craziness because, boy, is it ugly our there sometimes.
I also want to bring up another very important thing that happened this weekend. One that I HOPE you don't remember, Belly as I'm not quite ready for this conversation with you yet.
Like I mentioned before, Dad wasn't here. This made everything 100 times harder. Him worried in Virginia, constantly checking in on us. Me, here trying to keep him as up to date as I could...meaning I had to constantly replay these horrible images.
As per usual with these situations, people try to take advantage of tragedies for personal gain. After the rain had stopped, and because assholes will be assholes (I can say asshole, I'm your mom)...people started looting and breaking into people's homes. It was pretty late in the evening when I got a text warning saying people were breaking into homes in our neighborhood. Natually (sleep deprived for maybe 3 nights by this point), I started to panick. Then...this happened:
These last three hung around a little bit longer to go over some precautions with me as well as to thank us for our service. Can you imagine that, in the midst of all this utter craziness they were thanking US. Noooo...thank THEM!
I hope that there is no "Next-Harvey". I hope our city never has to go through this again, I hope none of us ever have to go through this again. But, if it does. We'll be taken care of...and in turn take care of others. We got this.