Harvey

[Tesla]

My heart goes out to all the people affected by hurricane Harvey.  It's still raining there today.  I can't imagine what that much water would do.  The pictures are terrible.  So many homes lost.  We are currently under a tropical storm watch here on the east coast.  If it hits, it won't be nearly as bad as Harvey.  Prayers and good thoughts sent their way!

[Natasha]

It really is sad and heartbreaking. I've seen so many people with pictures of them and their kids on roofs and it takes me back to Hurricane Katrina. I wished more people would have learned from Katrina and left before Harvey hit completely.

[CatMom]

It is devastating. Sadly, memory is short when it comes to these types of events. Also, when it happens in a different area people want to believe it can't/won't be that bad where they are. I'm hoping all are okay and the right help gets to those who need.

[MaryB]

No the memories do not go away ever.  Just seeing it all on tv brings back the smells and everything.  My heart breaks for my friends/family going thru it again... how sad for all of them AND the animals..   Just please keep praying because it's not over yet.. 

[Quiet Abode]

Something that's been bothering me is the evacuation idea.  How do working class people evacuate?  Do they own cars, can they pay for a hotel to ride out the storm?  Where are they going to go if not?  And, I know that most people absolutely had to work up until the hurricane actually hit.  Walmart wasn't going to stock its shelves with storm supplies without workers.  Church volunteers went down to help before the storm and were surprised that most places were still open. Fast food joints and all. How were homeless people supposed to evacuate?  Who was going to help them get away?  What about the infirm?  Those who were sick or elderly and stuck in bed, what were they supposed to do?  I saw on the news where a nursing home had residents in water up to their chests.  They had begged for help in getting everyone out before the storm came but it fell on deaf ears.  How do we help these people? This has been weighing on my mind because I always thought evacuation was the solution to save lives.  But, now I realize there are lots of folks who don't have that option.  What can we do?

[Tesla]

Good question QuietAbode.  I saw those elderly folk too.  A helicopter finally airlifted those folks to safety.  I also saw horses being rescued from a corral.  Once they were free of the corral there was no higher ground in site.  The horses were up to their necks almost.  It's a sad, sad situation.  You concerns are valid.  Maybe someone else can better address this. 

[PattyD]

It is quite devastating. I'm from Florida and after 2004 I think most of us learned to take it seriously. Of course it only takes a couple of false alarms to lull people back into a sense of security.


In response to QuietAbode's question, it seems there should be shelters available to accommodate those unable to evacuate, or utilize city/school buses to bus people to higher ground or out completely. It takes planning, but with storms like this, there's time to do what needs to be done.

[MaryB]

It's devastating, and there are no clear answers.   People with pets wont leave them (I wouldnt) and shelters wont take them,  and the elderly cant evacuate..  it's just all a mess.  My heart breaks for the people and animals.  so so sad.  My friends/family have been sending pics but now are saving their cell phone because there is no electric.   My heart breaks for them.  Please keep praying. Seeing the pics bring back all the memories, fears and even smells.   

[CatMom]

No the memories do not go away ever.  Just seeing it all on tv brings back the smells and everything.  My heart breaks for my friends/family going thru it again... how sad for all of them AND the animals..   Just please keep praying because it's not over yet..

There I go talking ahead of myself again! 

With my "short memory" comment, I was referring to those who have seen it from afar, not those who have lived through it. Anyone who's dealt with it will forever remember and take it seriously.

[Quiet Abode]

In response to QuietAbode's question, it seems there should be shelters available to accommodate those unable to evacuate, or utilize city/school buses to bus people to higher ground or out completely. It takes planning, but with storms like this, there's time to do what needs to be done.

I don't think the local, state, or federal politicians made that happen though and I don't think anyone can count on help.  That leaves the working class, homeless, and elderly folks out.  Heck, it would be difficult for a spend thrift middle class person too.  And for my own family, I'm not counting on help, but I'm in a better position than most others to sock away money for an emergency.  I have no idea what I would do if my grandmother was still alive because she was bedridden.  Gosh, I just pray for those people and animals.

[MaryB]

You guys are the best for caring..   Last nite at church the pastor asked for donations like toothpaste and deodorant ..   afterward my husband and I told him no, they need pine sol or lysol,  rubber gloves and such..  That is sewer water in their homes..  they need barrels of disinfectant, not toothpaste..   as far as what they do, they pull together.  If one neighbor has a generator they help each other.  Of course we went thru people stealing generators too.  They went thru great lengths to steal them.  People that can afford to leave, leave, but many cannot and stay and suffer it out.    Keep the prayers going because they will be suffering for a long long time.. 

[txzookeeper]

It sounds great to say everyone should have evacuated but many of us learned from Rita (which didn't cause much damage that I remember) that evacuation is, in itself, a huge problem.  During Rita people were stuck on the highways for hours and hours, running out of gas, having their cars overheat and having nowhere to go to the bathroom or anything.  Cars just didn't move.  It was horrible. We were told not to evacuate this time so that the people that really needed to could actually get out on the roads. 


Shelters here did say bring your pets because they knew people wouldn't come without them.  Many people that were being rescued had their pets with them in a carrier or on a leash.  Houston has a big stray animal problem too though and there wasn't anyone to take those animals with them. 


Many don't want to leave their house because you want to be able to try to prevent damage.  My son managed to stop his fiancee's house from flooding by knocking out part of her fence and digging a trench so water could drain.  It was inches from coming in her house. If he hadn't been there, her house would've gotten water in it. His house stayed dry fortunately. We stayed up all night that Saturday because the water kept rising and we were hoping it would stop. It's scary to watch it creep up your yard to your door. Our streets were waist deep. Eventually it did quit rising and actually receded.  We got lucky and it didn't get in our house.  About a quarter of our neighborhood flooded but I have friends who live in neighborhoods where every single house flooded.  It's horrible to drive around and see people's possessions all over their lawn waiting to be collected by the company picking up all the debris.  It's so sad.


Part of the problem with Harvey was that first they said we might get 25 inches of rain.  Then it went to 36 inches and it just kept going up. I live in the area that got the most.  Our rain gauge measured 54" although officially I think they said 52".  By the time they realized how much rain we were going to get, no one could get out.  Roads were already impassable.  At that point, there's not much you can do except wait it out.  We have a two story house so I knew we could get all our pets and go upstairs if we really had to. There are areas around us that flood with each storm.  I don't know that I would stay if I lived there, but I always said I wouldn't buy a house in those areas.  Our neighborhood had never flooded.  That's no longer the case for parts of it. 


It was an unbelievable amount of rain and I hope I never see that much at one time again!  We had five inches of rain in one hour. I do have quite a few friends who lost a lot.  We have a great community that has been donating like crazy though.  I was walking the dog with two of my granddaughters and we had a car approach us with some people who worked at a local school.  They wanted to know if we wanted some hot dogs!  Everyone wants to help people.  There are so many groups that people with damage can sign up with and they'll come tear out the carpet and cut your sheetrock.  I don't know if it's as friendly and helpful up in Houston but in our area it's been so nice to see everyone wanting to pitch in and help everyone else. 

[Jeanine]

Hi Tx, so glad you didn't get hurt much my Harvey. Sorry to hear about a lot of your friends though. I know it hit a lot of people and hope they are managing to get back to as much 'normal' as they can.


With Irma, it pretty much affected most of Fl. all over. One thing I have to say though is that it was really a good feeling seeing how everyone came together from all over to help out. It shows just what the majority of america is all about. Wish they would show more of that on the news. They seem to want to show all the bad stuff and make it look like that is what most of america is about.


Thanks for updating us and now let's hope we don't have any dealing with Hurricane Maria!

[Elizabeth]

Hi Txzookeeper, it does sound like it was a bit scary for you. I know we have some friends that were affected by Harvey in Texas. They were lucky that they didn't really flooded but it did come into their house a bit. Sounds like you son saved his fiancee's house and I imagine she was grateful for that!


I know what you mean though about not really knowing what to do sometimes, it's so hard for them to predict exactly what is going to happen which is the scariest part of the whole thing.


Hope things are getting back to normal (or as much as it can) for you and your friends. It does take a while to get over something like this.


Now it looks like Maria is going to be a bad one but hopefully it will miss the states? (fingers crossed)


Take care and glad you updated us.