Where do I start, the relief my home wasn’t destroyed like so many others, the relief that so many loved friends and family are alive and well? The sorrow I feel that so many of my fellow Texans were hurt and left homeless by the storm?
I will get to all of that, but let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first shall we? During the onset of Hurricane Harvey on land, to the persistent flooding frustration and anger were and are normal for a lot of us. Twitter, Facebook, and other media outlets saying we deserved what we got, editorial cartoonists decided to express themselves in lovely and condescending ways. Charlie Hebdo, infamous for a cartoon of Mohammed that made some people angry decided to cultivate even more good will with this cartoon:
Obviously, the French still have no idea what Nazis are, and probably still upset our state is still bigger than their whole country. But, the show of intelligence, from this fellow at Politico, although singled out by the media, is far from the only commentator about how others felt about my home state, and it’s citizens getting such lovely weather, but let’s get him out of the way too:
Ole dude there thought he was funny, like a rubber crutch, or a screen door in a submarine, but between Politico making fun of Texans, from other cartoonists we get plenty of people who have things to say about us.
But here in the real world, we see this
When the storm first hit the wind and rain made me a little nervous, and when it hit Category Four, I had to start considering plans for possible evacuations for, Pasadena, TX, a suburb of Houston. We had already purchased some provisions from one of the local warehouse stores and filled up the wife’s Yukon XL, but the storm lost hurricane power winds and we breathed a sigh of relief. That was until the rain stayed and turned Houston and the surrounding areas into this:
People were trapped in their homes and several died, drowned in their cars and where they lived. The news sites and social media began to share the images and hurt that Harvey brought with him.
We began to wonder what could we do under this weight, some of us helped grand mothers who needed food and medicines for the babies that were with them or cleaned out the neighborhood drains to keep the waters from overtaking heir streets.
Others pulled drivers from flooded cars, arranged emergency shelters, and helped out their neighbors, even the ones they didn’t know. And then this began to show up in the media.
Mattress Mack opened up Gallery Furniture stores to those in need, the NRG and George R. Brown convention centers and local churches, schools, and even some businesses opened their hearts to those in need and good deeds both great and small became the norm. Texas showed its heart in a way that few other states could match.
And to my delight, the editorial cartoonists had taken notice as well.
And God bless the folks at KSBJ, even when their over the air broadcast ability was lost due to flooding they have stayed on, bringing updates and uplifts through Christian Music and words of hope, as well as traffic and road access info, shelter, and helpful info, and links to help others that want to help directions to do so.
The next wave of relief was short lived, however, when my old stomping grounds, The “Golden Triangle”, the area of Beaumont, Orange, and Port Arthur were under water. Old friends and family were now in the relentless waters cross hairs. And it was nerve racking, to say the least.
Even the links between the towns of Lumberton and Silsbee weren’t safe from the water. This close to where my parents live, and a route that hey need to get to Beaumont , TX , where the major hospitals in the area are. This bridge collapse leaves thousands of people ptentially cut off from medical care and help.
Although many have survived this onslaught, I really hope that in the rush to save Houston and its areas, especially with all of the celebrity attention, that those little towns, the places that shaped me and are home to my parents and my oldest friends aren’t forgotten like they were before. Blue tarps at Spindletop and The Piney Woods are not acceptable anymore, but, because I am a Texan I have hope. We are tougher than anyone ever realizes and we will get through this, too.
