8.27.2017
The weekend prior to school starting was a historical event - a Category 4 hurricane named Harvey hit near Corpus Christi on August 25, 2017 - specifically the eye went over Aransas Pass and our beloved Port Aransas. This was the first Category 4 storm to hit Texas in 56 years since Carla in 1961. Most would say, we had no clue 72 hours before it hit land that it was going to be this big. I even was in Corpus Christi for work the Tuesday before it hit Friday, and no one was even worried about it. That prior weekend, the weather report had called for a strong tropical depression or maybe a cat 1. What hit Port Aransas that Friday night at 10PM with sustained winds of 131 mph for a couple of hours is something we won't soon forget. But what followed for 5 FULL days afterwards east of Port A, specifically the Houston area, the whole world will never forget. Due to the specific weather patterns that week, Harvey would not move on, as normal, and literally just sat over the 4th largest city in the US and dumped 50" of rain from Saturday afternoon until Wednesday evening. The images we were seeing on TV and social media were horrific. While every single person we know in Houston was effected to some extent, we were beyond lucky that Erin and Matt, John and Colleen, our fellow co-workers, Jennifer Hickey The Holmes Family and others were lucky and had minimal water in their homes compared to so many people we heard about. It was something out of a horror movie and I am sure many thought the end had come. Even though I heard of new evacuations in west Houston, due to potential dam and levee breaks 9 full days after Harvey hit, I know that many remembered God's Promise that he would never flood the world again.
The weekend prior to school starting was a historical event - a Category 4 hurricane named Harvey hit near Corpus Christi on August 25, 2017 - specifically the eye went over Aransas Pass and our beloved Port Aransas. This was the first Category 4 storm to hit Texas in 56 years since Carla in 1961. Most would say, we had no clue 72 hours before it hit land that it was going to be this big. I even was in Corpus Christi for work the Tuesday before it hit Friday, and no one was even worried about it. That prior weekend, the weather report had called for a strong tropical depression or maybe a cat 1. What hit Port Aransas that Friday night at 10PM with sustained winds of 131 mph for a couple of hours is something we won't soon forget. But what followed for 5 FULL days afterwards east of Port A, specifically the Houston area, the whole world will never forget. Due to the specific weather patterns that week, Harvey would not move on, as normal, and literally just sat over the 4th largest city in the US and dumped 50" of rain from Saturday afternoon until Wednesday evening. The images we were seeing on TV and social media were horrific. While every single person we know in Houston was effected to some extent, we were beyond lucky that Erin and Matt, John and Colleen, our fellow co-workers, Jennifer Hickey The Holmes Family and others were lucky and had minimal water in their homes compared to so many people we heard about. It was something out of a horror movie and I am sure many thought the end had come. Even though I heard of new evacuations in west Houston, due to potential dam and levee breaks 9 full days after Harvey hit, I know that many remembered God's Promise that he would never flood the world again.
In San Antonio, we were prepared for category 1 winds on Saturday and 12-20 inches of rain, but since hurricanes are truly unpredictable, we only a steady light rain and much cooler weather compared to the typical last weekend in August. We enjoyed the beautiful weather that Friday night as we watched the outer bands of storm clouds start moving in. We got cozy and hunkered down on Friday night in the same room not knowing what to expect early Saturday morning.
The following week, the kids went through their books and donated a large box to the children in the devastated areas since water had more than likely ruined all their books.
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