I honestly can’t believe it’s already been a year since one of the most devastating hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast. No one expected all the damage Hurricane Harvey would do to Texas and the surrounding areas. I figured I might as well write about our experience so that we will always have an account of the unthinkable catastrophe that occurred in August of last year.
On Friday, August 25, 2017, Category 4 Hurricane Harvey began its barrage against Texas. We live near Houston and no one expected it to get bad here since it was due to hit Corpus Christi and Port Aransas which are about 200 miles southeast of us. Little did many know that we were on the “dirty” side of the storm and would receive an onslaught no one ever expected.
I remember preparing on Friday since I knew our electricity could get knocked out by bad rain and wind. Since we have a water well, no electricity would mean no water. I filled up as many bottles and jugs of water as I could and even filled the bathtub at one point. By some miracle our electricity never actually went out so we were very lucky, but I definitely can’t say the same for the thousands of others who lost way more than just electricity.
I remember it raining Friday night and Saturday morning before it stopped for a little while. The yard was a little flooded but it had been flooded much worse before so it didn’t seem bad. I remember a few people joking on Facebook that the little bit of rain and wind we got wasn’t that bad and it was not much of a hurricane. Little did they know, little did we all know!
It turns out the rain we got on the 25th and 26th before a short lull was just the beginning. The rain really started while everyone was sleeping during the night of Saturday, the 26th. We knew we were expecting more rain since Hurricane Harvey decided to go inland and then turn around and move southeast again…toward us. We put everything away in the yard that we thought could get blown or swept away by light flooding and then parked the car on our patio since it was fairly new and we didn’t really want it flooded.
Saturday evening, I also remember installing the two carseats for our kids in my husband’s jacked-up truck (it’s Texas, remember?!). Matthew was supposed to work Sunday for some reason and had asked the priest at our church in the heart of Dickinson, Texas if he could serve an early 6am Mass on Sunday morning so he was still able to go to church. So his plan was to drive his work vehicle to church early in the morning and then head to work. Since I knew we might have a little high water, I decided I was going to take the truck with the kids to church. I really didn’t want to be stuck in our little car in any flooded areas especially with me being a few months pregnant with Gabriella and taking care of a 2 year old and a 1 year old.
We went to sleep with it raining and I woke up a little after 5 am with a phone call. It was my husband’s brother, Chris, who lives just a few miles from the church. I don’t remember exactly what he said, I just know he asked if we were flooding. I was like, “what, flooding?” We have a two story house so I wouldn’t have known if the house was flooding until I went downstairs. I looked outside and sure enough, the water was up to the bottom step and up about 2 inches on our car tires. It still had a foot or two before it would get in the house so I wasn’t really too worried. The rest of the yard, however, had about a foot of water and really looked like a lake. Who would have ever thought we would have lakefront property? Haha.
Chris said we weren’t going to be able to get to church because his street had a few feet of water in it and water was knee deep around the church. I told him I had planned to drive the truck there and he said we weren’t going to be able to go anywhere.
It turns out a different brother had called him early that morning. He and his wife had gotten up early to get ready for Mass and stood straight into ankle deep water after getting out of bed. That was definitely not expected so he called Chris who, in turn, kindly called to check on us. I’m still not sure why he called me instead of Matthew, his brother, but it doesn’t matter. We were up by this time and obviously, after looking out the window and hearing that the roads were flooded, realized we weren’t going to make it to church for Mass. In fact, there were only a handful of people who were able to make it to Mass that day and that’s because they got there by boat!
Matthew wasn’t going to be able to get to work so he decided he was going to take his truck out and see how bad it was and if anyone needed help. His truck is a few feet off the ground so it was the perfect water vehicle. Our yard only had a foot or so of water in it anyway. At this time, it was still early and dark and after he left, I realized the tree across from the house that leans over the neighbor’s property had hit the power line and started sparking. Pretty soon, there were flames in the tree! I was worried but then I wasn’t really worried because if the tree fell, it was just going to fall in what looked like a huge lake and the fire would go out. I just made sure to stay out of the water since I didn’t want to be electrocuted! I did end up calling the power company and they ended up sending firetrucks out just to look and everything was okay so they left.
I couldn’t do anything but stay where I was. I called my parents and asked if they were okay and tried to contact whoever I could. The kids were still sleeping so I turned on the news to get what info I could from there. I just remember seeing pictures of the flooding everywhere. Many friends of ours lived in Dickinson and their homes were just destroyed by the water. The main road we drive down to get to church in Dickinson became a river with 5+ feet of water. Boats were up and down that road for many days!
My husband had driven the back roads and at one point found this family who was desperately pleading for help. They were flooded in and couldn’t go anywhere so he picked them up in his huge truck and brought them to a safe place where they could meet up with family. Months later, we tried searching for the house where he rescued this family and it was hard for my husband to find since it had all been under water the last time he saw it!
Pretty soon, Matthew was out driving down the main roads of Dickinson. People were waiving him down and he was giving them rides wherever they needed to go to be safe. At one point, he actually dropped off the carseats that were still in the truck at Crowder Funeral Home on the corner of 646 and 517 in Dickinson. That was a dry place and he needed more room for people and they agreed to keep them in the office. Actually, Crowder was one of the places that everyone tried to get to so they could get rescued since it was one of the last places a jacked-up truck could reach before you hit downtown Dickinson which could only be traveled by boats.
People were riding jet skis, kayaks, whatever floating thing they could find. It took some people and hour to walk just a few blocks in the high water. Two of Matthew’s brothers had boats so they did what they could to get those in the water. They are just a few of the thousands of volunteers who rescued hundreds of the people of Dickinson and other flooded cities near Houston. My sister-in-law (married to one of boat owners) called everyone she knew from our parish that lived in Dickinson and made sure they were alright. If they were flooded in, they were put on the list to be rescued by one of the brothers in boats who could reach them. Many of the Matties’ boys joined the boat crews and before you knew it, they were rescuing fellow church parishioners and random strangers who were stranded on their roofs or in their flooded homes.
My husband’s parents live on the outskirts of Dickinson and were fortune enough that the water didn’t get close to their house even though they are not far from the bayou. They took in over 50 parishioners and friends who their sons rescued since they had no place to go. We are grateful to them for their charity and also for all the people who donated food, diapers, and supplies to them and the families that stayed with them for a few days before the water receded.
It truly was amazing to see and hear all the tales of those who were rescued and did the rescuing. So many people were so grateful for my husband helping them. Although many had just lost everything, they still donated what money they could so he could pay for diesel to continue going. It was truly a remarkable thing to witness. I say witness although I wasn’t with him. I was really freaking out at home praying and hoping he didn’t get swept away by the floodwaters. At one point, he did come home to eat but then right back out since he knew there were many more people who needed help. Sunday night turned into Monday morning and it was 2am before he actually made it back home to get some sleep before going out again the next day.
Sunday afternoon, the rain had slowed and water had actually gone down at our house. My mom came and picked us up in her truck so the kids and I wouldn’t be alone just in case the water started rising again. She lives in Santa Fe and their brand new house was not in danger of flooding. Later in the day, I actually came back to my house and was able to get my car out to bring it to higher ground just in case the water rose again.
By this time, the hurricane was moving southeast back toward the Gulf of Mexico and it looked like it was going to turn around and hit the US again in a few days time. In just a day
, Dickinson, Texas and the surrounding areas had received 50+ inches of water! It was insane!
For the next few days, we were all worried about water rising again after some of the cities had a little relief. My husband went out day after day for four days, helping put boats in the water and rescuing people until late at night. It was definitely emotionally taxing for me since I worried about him every day driving through water that could sweep him away at any point and I felt so helpless since I couldn’t go out and help anyone. Not only that, but we found out a dear friend and parishioner had drowned while trying to make his way to Mass early Sunday morning. Another dear friend had lost his father in the floods. No one expected it to be this bad, no one.
The rain and flooding continued on Tuesday and Wednesday especially in East Texas and Louisiana since Harvey decided to go that direction after recovering some strength in the Gulf. Now rivers were overflowing which meant the bayous and rivers near Houston were also overflowing since water has to drain through them to get to the gulf. It was Thursday by the time the Hurricane dissipated some and was no longer a hurricane but the damage had already been done. After people in Houston were rescued, people in Port Arthur and Beaumont had to be rescued because of the extensive rain and flash flooding. Thursday was the first day my husband actually had to go into work. Many people could not make it do to the fact their homes were completely destroyed so he was one of the first ones back.
And so began the cleanup. A majority of the houses in Dickinson had been flooded which meant they had to be completely gutted. It wasn’t just Dickinson either. Many surrounding towns had to recover since Hurricane Harvey had ravaged cities from Port Aransas and the southern part of Texas all the way to Louisiana. Thousands of people came from different states, not only to help rescue people, but also to help clean up houses. It was truly amazing to see people come together like they did to help Hurricane Harvey victims. I still get chills thinking about how amazing it was to see the generosity and outpouring of help our community received from complete strangers.
We were very fortunate to only suffer little damage to our home and property. The only thing that got a lot of wear and tear was the truck, but it had saved so many lives so it was definitely worth it. Matthew had driven that truck through water that had gone up to the headlights! Many of the donations he received went to replacing hundreds of dollars in fluids in his truck that had gotten waterlogged in the high water. The inside was also soaking wet and the carpet had to be ripped out before the mold started growing. It definitely did its duty and was out of commission for a few months while items got fixed and replaced. The “beast” is back to mostly normal now and works just fine!
A year later and some people are still not back in their homes and business are still closed. Our church was high enough that it fortunately didn’t flood but the school buildings did. They needed a remodel anyway so I guess that was one of God’s ways of getting the remodel done to the school before anyone else thought it would happen. It still took a year and it is just now getting finished but it sure looks amazing!
It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience to go through something like Hurricane Harvey. I remember hearing of a hurricane that hit this area many many years ago and hearing the stories of my grandfather going out on his airboat to rescue people in Dickinson. I definitely never expected to be telling that story myself, that my own husband and his brothers went out in his truck and their boats to rescue hundreds of Hurricane Harvey victims who needed saving. It definitely was an experience that Texans and the whole country will never forget. The heroism and outpouring of love and support will never be forgotten. Just seeing Texans helping Texans during and after the storm sure makes me proud to be a Texan. We will always be Texas strong!
