Surviving Hurricane Harvey - #HoustonStrong Part One

A hawk visited outside yesterday. My family thinks hawks are a sign of good luck. I'll take it. Today the visitors have included a heron and an egret who must both be as confused as the rest of us as they wade around on land that is normally dry behind our development. My adopted city has drown in about 50 inches of rain from Hurricane Harvey over the last few days and my heart is broken. Moving to Houston from south Louisiana about 20 years ago, living on the Gulf Coast most of my life, I count Houston as the tenth place I've lived in my life - nine in America, one in Venezuela. I love this city and her people. This is my adopted home.

Surreal. Surreal is the word that has been present in my head as my family and I have lived through this catastrophic weather event. I haven't left the house in seven days now. I am not about to complain about that or about the occasional bouts of cabin fever that make me snap. We have remained dry and our power has remained on the entire time. I am so very, very grateful.

My husband and I made the decision at the end of 2016 to sell our home of 20 years and downsize to townhouse living. We are at that stage in life where we no longer want the burdens of owning a large home and the swimming pool and the yard. We didn't, however, want to leave the area in which we live. So, we are in a townhouse literally 2 miles out from the subdivision in which we lived all those years. In January, as we moved, I admit to second thoughts. Was I really ready for the change? Let me tell you - life events happen sometimes that turn out to be a gift in disguise. Yesterday, all day long, we looked out a back window as our former neighbors in our former subdivision were evacuated out via air boats and smaller motorized boats. The subdivision has never experienced that before this hurricane. Not during Tropical Storm Allison, not during past hurricanes. Sure, during times of heavy downpours, the streets would fill and water would rise and then drain off. This is Houston, after all. But not water coming up and into homes. Surreal.

The two big reservoirs on my side of town had to have slow releases to preserve the integrity of the dams' infrastructures. So, areas that do not normally flood are now underwater - like my old neighborhood. I have learned more about reservoirs and water retention than I ever wanted to learn. Houston is built to handle flooding with parks and golf courses, etc. serving to hold large quantities of water in storms. Hurricane Harvey, though, was simply too much. The level of stress as water rises is unimaginable. My mind hasn't focused properly since last week. 

The people of Houston are the best. The outpouring of support and help - neighbor helping neighbor, strangers helping each other - remind me of the goodness of people out there in the world. When you live in the world of politics, like I do, sometimes that message gets lost. The generosity of those outside of Texas has also been humbling. Texans show up for others in need and that is being returned to us in folds. We are grateful.

As this picture shows, Houstonians line up to volunteer to help others in need. 
How great is that?

The downtown convention center was turned into a shelter and these fine people were standing in line, in the rain, to go in to help out. #HoustonStrong

Local news stations have covered the storm since it began Thursday night into Friday morning. It has been 24/7 television coverage pre-empting regular network programming. It is overwhelming. This is Houston. We will get through it. #TexasTough

My next blog post will be about the politics of Hurricane Harvey. Today's not the day for that, though. 

Onward.