Hurricane Harvey

A while back I promised a post on Hurricane Harvey.  As usual, things have been busy around here and I've slacked on updating.  However, another weather phenomenon (SNOW IN HOUSTON-more on that later), reminded me of it.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas on August 26th.  We had been following the storm for days and were prepared as we listened to weather reports with increasingly grim news.

Harvey sat over us for 4 days pouring constant amounts of water onto our state.  School was closed for two weeks, Jordans office 

still

hasn't reopened, friends evacuated in the middle of the night and neighbors lost their homes.

It was a terrible time for our community, but it was also a beautiful time.  Strangers came together to help; we gutted houses, donated supplies, organized childcare and offered our homes to those in need.  We waited in lines at the grocery stores for hours while the lights flickered and we proudly waited in lines behind our neighbors waiting for our chance to donate what we could to those who needed it.    

On August 29th we came together to give Harvey a big F-YOU send off.  It was nice to bring back a sense of normalcy and be with each other but it was also hard because we all felt so guilty.  The city of Katy was hit particularly hard, yet our small niche of the neighborhood managed to escape unscathed.

In the weeks and months that followed our city has started to rebuild.  I can finally say that I when I drive around I don't see sheetrock and waterlogged furniture sitting at the end of driveways waiting to be hauled away.  Our district came together and welcomed students from schools that were totally flooded and uninhabitable for at least a year.  We organized fundraisers and donated our time and efforts.  The Astros even brought home a World Series championship for this

AMAZING

city.

I recently saw a photo of street art on a friends Facebook page that showed the city of Houston with the words "The City that Refused to Sink".  Truer words could not be spoken.  Harvey poured between 40-61 inches of rain over the city of Houston, yet the people refused to give up.  We were Houston Strong.

I couldn't have been more proud of this place that we call home.  Harvey was something that we will never forget.  It will be the storm that we compare all other storms to.  It really is true - EVERYTHING'S bigger in Texas...

we passed the time with Scrabble, practical jokes/pranks (Isla), movies and lots of drinks.  Dad worked from home for two weeks and was able to help out - even if that meant accidentally dressing Holden in Isla's clothes...

the line at Kroger and a donation line at one of the Highs Schools set up as a shelter

Ramen makes everything a little better, even a two hour wait at Target 

F*@? YOU HARVEY!  Going out in style...

Jordan and our friends Mark, Ben and Eric helped gut this special needs teachers house.  She taught Holden in Summer School...