I don't know how else to process the events of the past week and a half other than to write about them. I recognize how absolutely fortunate I am to have gotten through the worst flooding event in American history with the scantest of trouble. I do not write any of these things to complain, merely to process. I am only choosing to share this publicly with the hope that my working through some of these things may help someone else.
Tonight at 6pm I finally mustered the will to head out to the grocery store. The sky was mostly cloudy, which was a bit unnerving. I headed to the store closest to home. It's a fine grocery store, but I typically shop elsewhere with better prices and/or selection, but I really didn't want to go any farther than I had to. Thankfully, in the wake of Harvey they actually had everything that was on the list in my head: coffee, kombucha, pizza, breakfast. I didn't have the wherewithal to make a more useful list, but it got the job done.
When I went to check out, the lines were a few people deep, many with full carts. It was fine, though. We all just survived one of the worst natural disasters in American history. I can wait a few minutes to check out. The lady in front of me noticed my one basket compared to her full cart and told me to go ahead of her. I tried to decline her offer, but she politely insisted and I graciously accepted. I don't know if she realized it, but we were kindred spirits stocking up on essentials like kombucha and ice cream. But we are also kindred spirits because of what we have just lived through.
As I walked through the parking lot to my car, a tiny drop of rain fell on my nose. "NO!" I shouted internally: a command, a plea, a prayer. A few more sprinkles fell on my car, but thankfully that was it. I am not mentally prepared to see rain in the near future. And furthermore, I'm not sure there's anywhere for it to go.
This is what the past week and a half has looked like for me.
Wednesday 8/23/17 - One of my rabbits died. It was sudden & unexpected. And heartbreaking. I haven't even had time to process it because of the events that followed.
Friday 8/25/17 - Harvey makes landfall. I know Houston has dominated the news, but Rockport and Port Aransas need help. They took the brunt of a category 4 hurricane.
Saturday 8/26/17 - We got notice that our storage units may flood. The storage units that were holding stuff we had cleared out of the house as we prepare to move. We spent the entire afternoon and evening clearing them and moving things around in the house to make room. All of this during intermittent wind, rain, and lightning.
Sunday 8/27/17 - Roads are too flooded. Church is cancelled. That night we get notice that our neighborhood has been put on mandatory evacuation due to expected catastrophic flooding from the river. We spend half of the night moving most of the items we just retrieved from storage to the second floor. While we're working on that some dear friends also offered us, our cats, and my remaining rabbit a place to stay. We were lucky in many ways that night. Not every neighborhood had as much advanced warning as we got.
Monday 8/28/17 - Pack up and evacuate. As we left the neighborhood several National Guard trucks moved in. That was surreal. We arrived at our new temporary home and unloaded everything we could think to bring, not knowing how long we'd be there. It rained the entire day long.
Tuesday 8/29/17 - A break in the rain for the first time in over 24 hours. In the late afternoon the clouds finally break up and the sun peeks out. That was some good soul medicine!
Wednesday 8/30/17 - We stood outside in our pajamas, eating breakfast and soaking up the sunshine.
Thursday 8/31/17 - Even with the rain gone, the river remained the real threat. Thursday, and all the days prior, were spent receiving news and information primarily through official Facebook and Twitter pages for local authorities. And obsessively watching the river gauge.
Friday 9/1/17 - I couldn't sleep most of Thursday night into Friday, I refreshed the river gauge website every time I woke up. In the morning, it seemed as if the river may have crested. I was elated upon hearing the official word. Friday afternoon the mandatory evacuation for our neighborhood was lifted and we packed up to go home. We returned home to a house with no damage!
It doesn't even feel like that was yesterday. I never knew it, but you completely lose track of time and days when faced with a natural disaster. I'm hoping church in the morning will be the beginning of resetting my concept of time.
Other things that happened throughout the week: I learned more about rivers and levees and rainfall than I ever knew I needed to know. I learned what an inundation map is. I learned that the inundation maps for my county had been calculated up to one foot shy of the projected river crest. They thought that height was an abundance of caution. Thankfully it was as the forecasted crest was lowered 3 times and then the actual crest was even slightly lower than that.
From last Saturday to today I missed 45 hours of work. That's a lot of hours not to get paid for, but God has also been teaching me a lot lately about trusting the Provider and not the provision. I know He will take care of me. I am not worried about that.
My cat did not take to evacuation well. She was freaked out, hiding, and trembling for the first 2 days. That scared me. Thankfully on the 3rd night she finally purred a little and snuggled with me a bit more like normal. Last night, our first night back home, she was super snuggly and slept like a champion.
One of the bridges that I use on a regular basis that was already under emergency repair is now closed and expected to collapse. That is mind blowing and terrifying. Other roads are also badly damaged. It will take awhile to find new routes. It will take even longer for the old routes to be rebuilt.
The week was also spent watching heartbreaking destruction, sadly necessary yet heroic water rescues, the absolute best of mankind, and miracle after miracle in the midst of disaster.
It will take months, years even to recover. That's what it's time for now. Those of us who have been spared the worst, it's time to get to work lifting up our fellow Texans. Proud to say my church has already been doing that work. Amazed to say that many who weren't spared the worst are also helping in that work. Overjoyed to say that churches from other states, including my home church, are sending help.
Harvey was big. Texas is bigger. My God is even bigger. ❤
Hello hurricane
You're not enough
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows boarded up
All your dead end fury is not enough
You can't silence my love
- Switchfoot "Hello Hurricane"
Tonight at 6pm I finally mustered the will to head out to the grocery store. The sky was mostly cloudy, which was a bit unnerving. I headed to the store closest to home. It's a fine grocery store, but I typically shop elsewhere with better prices and/or selection, but I really didn't want to go any farther than I had to. Thankfully, in the wake of Harvey they actually had everything that was on the list in my head: coffee, kombucha, pizza, breakfast. I didn't have the wherewithal to make a more useful list, but it got the job done.
When I went to check out, the lines were a few people deep, many with full carts. It was fine, though. We all just survived one of the worst natural disasters in American history. I can wait a few minutes to check out. The lady in front of me noticed my one basket compared to her full cart and told me to go ahead of her. I tried to decline her offer, but she politely insisted and I graciously accepted. I don't know if she realized it, but we were kindred spirits stocking up on essentials like kombucha and ice cream. But we are also kindred spirits because of what we have just lived through.
As I walked through the parking lot to my car, a tiny drop of rain fell on my nose. "NO!" I shouted internally: a command, a plea, a prayer. A few more sprinkles fell on my car, but thankfully that was it. I am not mentally prepared to see rain in the near future. And furthermore, I'm not sure there's anywhere for it to go.
This is what the past week and a half has looked like for me.
Wednesday 8/23/17 - One of my rabbits died. It was sudden & unexpected. And heartbreaking. I haven't even had time to process it because of the events that followed.
Friday 8/25/17 - Harvey makes landfall. I know Houston has dominated the news, but Rockport and Port Aransas need help. They took the brunt of a category 4 hurricane.
Saturday 8/26/17 - We got notice that our storage units may flood. The storage units that were holding stuff we had cleared out of the house as we prepare to move. We spent the entire afternoon and evening clearing them and moving things around in the house to make room. All of this during intermittent wind, rain, and lightning.
Sunday 8/27/17 - Roads are too flooded. Church is cancelled. That night we get notice that our neighborhood has been put on mandatory evacuation due to expected catastrophic flooding from the river. We spend half of the night moving most of the items we just retrieved from storage to the second floor. While we're working on that some dear friends also offered us, our cats, and my remaining rabbit a place to stay. We were lucky in many ways that night. Not every neighborhood had as much advanced warning as we got.
Monday 8/28/17 - Pack up and evacuate. As we left the neighborhood several National Guard trucks moved in. That was surreal. We arrived at our new temporary home and unloaded everything we could think to bring, not knowing how long we'd be there. It rained the entire day long.
Tuesday 8/29/17 - A break in the rain for the first time in over 24 hours. In the late afternoon the clouds finally break up and the sun peeks out. That was some good soul medicine!
Wednesday 8/30/17 - We stood outside in our pajamas, eating breakfast and soaking up the sunshine.
Thursday 8/31/17 - Even with the rain gone, the river remained the real threat. Thursday, and all the days prior, were spent receiving news and information primarily through official Facebook and Twitter pages for local authorities. And obsessively watching the river gauge.
Friday 9/1/17 - I couldn't sleep most of Thursday night into Friday, I refreshed the river gauge website every time I woke up. In the morning, it seemed as if the river may have crested. I was elated upon hearing the official word. Friday afternoon the mandatory evacuation for our neighborhood was lifted and we packed up to go home. We returned home to a house with no damage!
It doesn't even feel like that was yesterday. I never knew it, but you completely lose track of time and days when faced with a natural disaster. I'm hoping church in the morning will be the beginning of resetting my concept of time.
Other things that happened throughout the week: I learned more about rivers and levees and rainfall than I ever knew I needed to know. I learned what an inundation map is. I learned that the inundation maps for my county had been calculated up to one foot shy of the projected river crest. They thought that height was an abundance of caution. Thankfully it was as the forecasted crest was lowered 3 times and then the actual crest was even slightly lower than that.
From last Saturday to today I missed 45 hours of work. That's a lot of hours not to get paid for, but God has also been teaching me a lot lately about trusting the Provider and not the provision. I know He will take care of me. I am not worried about that.
My cat did not take to evacuation well. She was freaked out, hiding, and trembling for the first 2 days. That scared me. Thankfully on the 3rd night she finally purred a little and snuggled with me a bit more like normal. Last night, our first night back home, she was super snuggly and slept like a champion.
One of the bridges that I use on a regular basis that was already under emergency repair is now closed and expected to collapse. That is mind blowing and terrifying. Other roads are also badly damaged. It will take awhile to find new routes. It will take even longer for the old routes to be rebuilt.
The week was also spent watching heartbreaking destruction, sadly necessary yet heroic water rescues, the absolute best of mankind, and miracle after miracle in the midst of disaster.
It will take months, years even to recover. That's what it's time for now. Those of us who have been spared the worst, it's time to get to work lifting up our fellow Texans. Proud to say my church has already been doing that work. Amazed to say that many who weren't spared the worst are also helping in that work. Overjoyed to say that churches from other states, including my home church, are sending help.
Harvey was big. Texas is bigger. My God is even bigger. ❤
Hello hurricane
You're not enough
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows boarded up
All your dead end fury is not enough
You can't silence my love
- Switchfoot "Hello Hurricane"
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