I'll Remember Harvey

By Friday morning the rain started in earnest.  Little did I know it would be late Tuesday afternoon before the sun would peek out again and display blue sky.  We were told to just stay home.  So we did.  By Saturday the rain was off and on but we saw the devastation taking place down in the Gulf.  It wasn't raining too hard so we went to church and out to dinner with Terry and Carol.  We had to use umbrellas but it wasn't too bad.  Terry and I ordered Hurricanes, the drink of the day, mostly because they were $3.  They were too sweet so one was enough!  The restaurant was closing early by the time we left.

By Sunday we were tired of non-stop coverage but it was hard not to keep up on what was happening. We realized even if we wanted to go somewhere, we couldn't get more than a mile or two in any direction.  Stores were closed and they continued to tell us to stay home.  Ted went to check the RV and found it okay.  We had read some surrounding streets were under water so we didn't know if he could even get there.  

Monday things got a little more concerning.  They were going to begin releasing water from Lake Conroe and two reservoirs so the dams would not fail.  They talked of many more homes being  flooded.  We didn't know just where this released water would go.  

I gathered my insurance policies, some other papers, my dresses and shoes for the two weddings  plus two changes of clothes.  Kara's friend invited us to their house in Temple if we needed to evacuate.  Luckily for us, the water released north of us flowed to a river that took it west to Lake Houston which flooded complete subdivisions.  People went to bed and woke up to step into water!  The rescues on Monday continued all day with some absolutely nail biting situations.  By the end of the day I think there were 16 confirmed dead.  I really dread what they find when the water recedes. There are so many abandoned cars and houses with water to the eaves that can be harboring dreaded finds.  

Tuesday was pretty much more of the same.  Ted went to the grocery for me and Carol.  There was no bread, chips or peanut butter but he got what he could from our lists.  By dinner time the sun was shining a bit and eventually blue sky was visible.  

We have not had mail since Thursday, probably because the trucks could not get into or out of the city to deliver the mail to outlying post offices.  Eventually it will catch up with us.  

I cannot begin to tell you how proud we all are of the coordination of the rescues during the flood.  So many citizens both locally and from across the country worked shoulder to shoulder with first responders from many different agencies.  My favorite photos appeared under the heading "What happened in Charlotteesville is not America.  What happened in Houston is!"

Our new sod behind the deck was damaged by sod webworms.  They sprayed it right before our portion of the 11 trillion gallons of rain came down.  Right now I don't know what is going to do it in first - the sod webworms or rot from it sitting in water so long.  I guess we wait to see how it turns out. Maybe we will need new sod.  If that is our entire loss from the storm I will consider us very lucky.

Here is one more great photo showing Houston's spirit.