Hurricane Harvey has come and gone. We live in Houston, Texas. Our home was not damaged in the flooding.
I have never lived through a natural disaster of any kind. I grew up in Olympia, WA. where nothing ever really seems to happen.
When we were warned about the hurricane, my husband, Matt, was in Maine where he is currently working. He had no choice but to stay and watch and pray as Harvey continued to progress and flood our city over the course of many days. There were no flights coming in or going out. Even if he had gotten a flight in, he never would have made it home through the flooding. Watching from afar was torture for him.
Here I was, sitting at home with our six children who still live at home, wondering how this storm would affect us. What would I be forced to do alone, without the help of Matt?
Through the years we have accumulated everything that I think we would need if power went out, or if we were stuck in the house for days on end.
I sat the children down after the second straight day of rain. Houses were flooding, families were being forced out of their homes in rafts and boats. Some waited on rooftops for help to come. Seeing all of this unfolding in the streets not far from where we live, the children and I got all the backpacks together and put together our 72 hour kits, in case we were forced to leave our home at a moments notice. We have MRE's that Matt has accumulated over the years and brought home from his overseas trips. Those filled our bags, along with water, first aid kit/medicine, and some clothing. We talked about what would happen if we got flooded out of the house and couldn't get out by car. We talked about climbing the trees to get to the roof. It was a scary prospect, but necessary to hash out in order for them to be prepared for the worst.
Then we started hearing news of looting, and people bragging about breaking in and stealing from "white folks". I tried to keep the fact that Matt was out of town to a small amount of people. Mostly just my church and immediate neighbors. But we do have guns at our house that are locked in a safe.
I went through the plan on what we would do in the event that an intruder made it into our house. I had to brief Eliza (17), and Brower (13), on where the guns were, and what they would need to do. The smaller children were briefed on where they would hide.
I felt like all of our bases were covered.
Hurricane Harvey came and went. We didn't have to implement anything that we had rehearsed. We didn't have to use any of the items that we have accumulated over the years for disaster situations.
The only thing we did use was our food storage. Our church has been a step ahead in their council and wisdom of how to protect our families. I have always known, through the council of the church, that I need to have food storage, which includes water. We are also encouraged to have 72 hour kits ready in case there is an immediate need to evacuate. It has proven a blessing to our family to be prepared in these ways. No, we didn't have to use our generator or our 72 hour kits, but can you imagine me, alone at home with six children? Feeling a little more prepared than I might have been otherwise was of great comfort to all of us. I was able to encourage our children that we were prepared for anything.
After the storm passed, our three oldest met up at the church in organized groups wearing their bright yellow "helping hands" t-shirts. They worked everyday they could from early in the morning until dinner time. Eliza, Savannah, and Brower came home filthy and exhausted every night. Everyday I would ask if any of them wanted a break so that I could go out and help while one of them stayed at home and watched the little ones. Every day they said, "No, I want to work in the houses."
While they were working, the little ones and I baked cookies, passed out pizzas, made dinners for the working crews and those who lost so much in the flooding. I decided that was my part in this since I couldn't be out with the work crews.
School was out for about a week and a half. All of that time was either waiting out the storm, rescuing people, and/or gutting flooded homes after the storm had passed. There was really no time to think. Matt wondered why I didn't seem nervous or emotional at all. I knew the fear and anxiety were in there, but I didn't pay it any attention. I couldn't afford to do that during a time when I was supposed to be potentially guiding six children through the storm, so to speak.
School started up again yesterday. At 1:45 that morning there was a storm with loud thunder and lightening, and pounding rain. I used to think those storms were exciting. Now they bring anxiety and uncertainty to the surface. Nothing happened to our home or our children during Harvey. We came away completely unscathed. But while talking with Matt over the phone this morning all the emotions of what had happened here without him clawed their way to the surface.
How was I alone supposed to guide our children through those waters to safety? How was my limited physical strength supposed to save two children if two got swept away while climbing a tree to our roof? All of these things came rushing to my mind today. I held it together during the threat. I didn't let my mind go to those thoughts. I am good at suppressing feelings and fears. At some point though, they will inevitably come out. That point was today, while all at home was quiet and the children were off for another normal day of school.
Matt and I talked on the phone and expressed the fears and anxiety that are still in us. Again, we didn't lose anything. It is the prospect of all being lost, including children, that can have a profound effect on a person. It was a real possibility.
There was a lot of praying going on all around us. That's all Matt could do. Our friends and family from all over the world, of all faiths, were raising their voices to the heavens in fervent and desperate prayer for the people of the gulf coast of Texas and the Houston area.
I am so thankful for prayer, and the faith of those who lifted their voices to heaven in our behalf.
We have a lot to be thankful for. People are good. Hearts are full.
I have never lived through a natural disaster of any kind. I grew up in Olympia, WA. where nothing ever really seems to happen.
When we were warned about the hurricane, my husband, Matt, was in Maine where he is currently working. He had no choice but to stay and watch and pray as Harvey continued to progress and flood our city over the course of many days. There were no flights coming in or going out. Even if he had gotten a flight in, he never would have made it home through the flooding. Watching from afar was torture for him.
Here I was, sitting at home with our six children who still live at home, wondering how this storm would affect us. What would I be forced to do alone, without the help of Matt?
Through the years we have accumulated everything that I think we would need if power went out, or if we were stuck in the house for days on end.
I sat the children down after the second straight day of rain. Houses were flooding, families were being forced out of their homes in rafts and boats. Some waited on rooftops for help to come. Seeing all of this unfolding in the streets not far from where we live, the children and I got all the backpacks together and put together our 72 hour kits, in case we were forced to leave our home at a moments notice. We have MRE's that Matt has accumulated over the years and brought home from his overseas trips. Those filled our bags, along with water, first aid kit/medicine, and some clothing. We talked about what would happen if we got flooded out of the house and couldn't get out by car. We talked about climbing the trees to get to the roof. It was a scary prospect, but necessary to hash out in order for them to be prepared for the worst.
Then we started hearing news of looting, and people bragging about breaking in and stealing from "white folks". I tried to keep the fact that Matt was out of town to a small amount of people. Mostly just my church and immediate neighbors. But we do have guns at our house that are locked in a safe.
I went through the plan on what we would do in the event that an intruder made it into our house. I had to brief Eliza (17), and Brower (13), on where the guns were, and what they would need to do. The smaller children were briefed on where they would hide.
I felt like all of our bases were covered.
Hurricane Harvey came and went. We didn't have to implement anything that we had rehearsed. We didn't have to use any of the items that we have accumulated over the years for disaster situations.
The only thing we did use was our food storage. Our church has been a step ahead in their council and wisdom of how to protect our families. I have always known, through the council of the church, that I need to have food storage, which includes water. We are also encouraged to have 72 hour kits ready in case there is an immediate need to evacuate. It has proven a blessing to our family to be prepared in these ways. No, we didn't have to use our generator or our 72 hour kits, but can you imagine me, alone at home with six children? Feeling a little more prepared than I might have been otherwise was of great comfort to all of us. I was able to encourage our children that we were prepared for anything.
After the storm passed, our three oldest met up at the church in organized groups wearing their bright yellow "helping hands" t-shirts. They worked everyday they could from early in the morning until dinner time. Eliza, Savannah, and Brower came home filthy and exhausted every night. Everyday I would ask if any of them wanted a break so that I could go out and help while one of them stayed at home and watched the little ones. Every day they said, "No, I want to work in the houses."
While they were working, the little ones and I baked cookies, passed out pizzas, made dinners for the working crews and those who lost so much in the flooding. I decided that was my part in this since I couldn't be out with the work crews.
School was out for about a week and a half. All of that time was either waiting out the storm, rescuing people, and/or gutting flooded homes after the storm had passed. There was really no time to think. Matt wondered why I didn't seem nervous or emotional at all. I knew the fear and anxiety were in there, but I didn't pay it any attention. I couldn't afford to do that during a time when I was supposed to be potentially guiding six children through the storm, so to speak.
School started up again yesterday. At 1:45 that morning there was a storm with loud thunder and lightening, and pounding rain. I used to think those storms were exciting. Now they bring anxiety and uncertainty to the surface. Nothing happened to our home or our children during Harvey. We came away completely unscathed. But while talking with Matt over the phone this morning all the emotions of what had happened here without him clawed their way to the surface.
How was I alone supposed to guide our children through those waters to safety? How was my limited physical strength supposed to save two children if two got swept away while climbing a tree to our roof? All of these things came rushing to my mind today. I held it together during the threat. I didn't let my mind go to those thoughts. I am good at suppressing feelings and fears. At some point though, they will inevitably come out. That point was today, while all at home was quiet and the children were off for another normal day of school.
Matt and I talked on the phone and expressed the fears and anxiety that are still in us. Again, we didn't lose anything. It is the prospect of all being lost, including children, that can have a profound effect on a person. It was a real possibility.
There was a lot of praying going on all around us. That's all Matt could do. Our friends and family from all over the world, of all faiths, were raising their voices to the heavens in fervent and desperate prayer for the people of the gulf coast of Texas and the Houston area.
I am so thankful for prayer, and the faith of those who lifted their voices to heaven in our behalf.
We have a lot to be thankful for. People are good. Hearts are full.
Comments