Harvey

It was the last week of August, and I was preparing for my final days at my part-time job at Total. I was wrapping up some knowledge transfer from my project role to the employee who would be taking over my responsibilities, as I was preparing our family for our move to Dubai. During my last meeting in the office, there was some chatter about a tropical storm that had gained strength and appeared to be heading towards Houston. "Be ready," I told my project replacement, who had never experienced a big storm since living on the Texas coast. "You might want to hit the grocery store and gas station soon, before the rest of Houston buys everything out!" I was only partly joking.

On my way home from work that afternoon, indeed I stopped at the gas station to fill up and the grocery store for a few supplies. I wasn't overly concerned. After all, I've experienced many of these Houston-area storms in the near 20 years that I had lived in the area. Hurricane Rita, Ike, and of course, the worst storm I'd seen, Tropical Storm Allison. While at the gas station, it appeared that others were heeding the storm warnings as well. Lines were starting to form at the pumps and in the stores. I was thankful to have beaten the rush, and I began paying close attention to my favorite weather stations and bloggers.

Fast forward a few days, it was beginning to appear that this new storm named Harvey was no longer a potential threat but a definite cause for concern. The forecast was shaping up to be quite the rainmaker, regardless of where the path would end up. As Houston has experienced severe flooding often, the usual precautions were being taken and most folks were preparing for a rough few days.

Generally when preparing for a hurricane, so much attention is given to where the storm will make landfall which is always uncertain. In Harvey's case, not only was the landfall location a question but the storm path post-landfall seemed to truly puzzle and concern the forecasters.

Computer models were indicating that the storm would hit another weather system, causing it to stall and continue dumping crazy amounts of rain over the greater Houston area. It was an unprecedented situation, and the entire Texas coast was on alert.

Hurricane Harvey was forecasted to make landfall late Friday. In anticipation of the storm, most local schools cancelled classes for the day to allow families to take necessary precautions. Since Jeff was working in Dubai and I was by myself with the kids, I considered driving up to my parents' home to escape the storm threat. After studying the forecast and talking with neighbors, I decided that I would be fine at home and had the support of friends/neighbors if needed. The kids and I went to an afternoon movie and noticed the clouds moving in. By Friday evening, we were stocked with food and supplies and we hunkered down to wait out the storm.

Friday night, I put the kids to bed and waited for the storm to approach. It looked like the worst part of Harvey would hit us sometime Saturday. I went to bed and woke up early Saturday morning around 4:00 am. The weather alerts on my phone had just started to sound, so I turned on the local news and began watching the storm coverage. As I continued watching, suddenly my iPhone weather alerts as well as the television newscast alerts began going into overdrive. Tornado warnings were hitting the area, and one particular path of tornados was headed our way.

Around 5:15 am, I heard the meteorologist on TV mention that a tornado was heading directly to WoodCreek Elementary, which was right around the corner from our house. I jumped up and began rushing upstairs to wake the kids to take them to our downstairs closet. At the top of the stairs, I paused, wondering whether I really should wake them. After all, they were sleeping soundly and how likely was it that a tornado was coming our way?

At that exact moment, at the top of the staircase, I heard a sound I will never forget. I grew up in tornado alley and have been told about the "freight train" noise my entire life, but I've never heard it in person. It was the most eerie sound -- a super loud whistle, definitely sounding like a train right outside my house. I stood there, paralyzed in fear, at the top of the stairs. It was probably only a split second, but a thousand thoughts went through my mind. Primarily, if I'm hearing this noise, then isn't it too late to get my children to safety?

I went into Connor's bedroom, and mustered up the calmest voice I could. "Connor," I said, with noticeable shaking in my voice, "Wake up. You need to get up right now. Go downstairs to my closet. Now." I tried so hard to keep the fear out of my voice. I saw that he was awake and then I ran into Kaitlynn's room. She doesn't wake easily, so I said the same thing to her and picked her up to carry her downstairs. I barely made it downstairs carrying her because my body was shaking so violently from fear. We all made it into our master bedroom closet as we could hear the wind and rain picking up outside. I kept my "game face" on, explaining calmly to the kids that there was a tornado in our area. I was worried that they would see how scared I was, so I suggested that we FaceTime Jeff to say good morning.

We waited in the closet a while and when a break in the rain finally hit, I went outside to survey any damage. Turns out that we lost a fence, and there were several other homes in our neighborhood that were impacted as well. The tornado that went through our neighborhood ended up destroying a massive RV business not far from our house. I felt so lucky to have escaped without injury or major damage!

As it turns out, the tornado was a minor event compared to the weather events of the days to come. The rain fell, and fell, and fell, beyond anything we could have ever imagined. On the 3rd day of nonstop rain, I broke down into tears seeking comfort from Jeff over our middle of the night FaceTime call. It seemed like the raIn would never end. I cried out of fear, worrying about our family and both of our homes and how they would fare in the rising flood water. But mostly I cried for the countless families all around the Houston area who were dealing with unimaginable pain and suffering. The stories on the nonstop local news coverage were so horrifying and depressing that I had to force myself to turn off the TV to save my state of mind. Luckily we never lost electricity but the days seemed endless with the incessant rain and bored kiddos trapped inside at home.

I lost track of the number of days we dealt with Harvey's deluge. Things all around us seemed so surreal: waking up to the sound of frequently passing airboats navigating what were previously our nearby residential streets; stepping outside to see a low-flying Coast Guard helicopter directly overhead in our far-inland neighborhood; seeing drone footage posted on social media showing that our neighborhood was now an island with no escape route except by boat; watching live news coverage of a dangerous and heart-stopping water rescue at our local corner Shell station.

I wasn't sleeping much due to worry, as well as the constant iPhone emergency weather alerts from tornado warnings and catastrophic flooding. The kids were sleeping in our master bedroom closet, simply so that I wouldn't have to keep waking them throughout the night when a new alert popped up. Even during the daytime, we were in and out of that closet more times than I could count. I was comforted by numerous friends and family from afar, all checking on our well-being. I think it was around Day 5 when I woke up and the sky finally seemed brighter. The weather forecasts were saying that the worst was over. We were cautiously optimistic.

With only light rain for a while, the kids and I decided to pull on our rainboots and walk through the neighborhood to see the state of the area from the days of rain. Everything was soggy and waterlogged, and some streets were still impassable. Buffalo Bayou runs right through our neighborhood and had completely flooded the recreation area as well as the roads connecting us to the freeway.

It was another day or two before our local grocery store began to open with limited hours, and it was even longer for the surrounding highways to finally clear of the floodwater which had covered our area. Story after story emerged of flooded homes, helpless families, and a community coming together to help those affected. The name Harvey has since become synonymous with flooding and devastation, as the hurricane and tropical storm wreaked havoc on the entire Texas coastline and greater Houston area. My single account of our Harvey experience can't possibly begin to convey the emotion, destruction, and toll taken on so many lives from the storm that forever changed the cities and people of the greater Houston and south Texas areas.

As the "survivor's guilt" began to set in for those of us that were mostly unscathed from the storm, I was given some of the best advice I have ever received from one of my closest friends:

"Sweet friend - let your heartbreak motivate you to action first chance you get, but don't let Satan rob you of the joy of a positively answered prayer. God spared your family and your home - what a blessing. Use it to bless others."

Such powerful words and encouragement that helped me through the coming days as our area began to recover and rebuild.