Hurricane Harvey

I have to write this down.  We went through Hurricane Harvey, evacuated on the day it hit, but I truly have never in my life been through anything that has managed to devastate so many people.  Our house was so well built by Al Johnson in Rockport that we managed to get through with our house still standing.  It’s not to say that we don’t have damage, because we do, but it survived beyond all expectations of what a Category 4 direct hit can do.  Neighbors down the Ridge have suffered and lost absolutely everything except whatever they took with them as they left.  Their house and everything in or around it are gone.  Our house is still standing and I consider it a miracle beyond a miracle.  Wind driven water did come in under our doors and in some of our windows so all flooring that wasn’t tile will have to be replaced.  Even our drapes in our bedroom soaked up and stained up to a foot at the bottom.  Next time, if there is a next time, I’ll put those up on something off the floor so they won’t be a sponge soaking up that nastiness.  Two area rugs soaked up much of that water as well and will need to be replaced. Our generator failed and had to be repaired at an exorbitant cost but now we have the whole house generator working to cool us off and the refrigerator is running well, too.  Then the a/c wouldn’t work, got them out here too and they fixed it and it’s running like a champ after Randy sprayed it with Corrosion X – something he swears he’s now buying stock in.

The work outside is absolutely horrendous.  So many trees down, lost two huge palm trees, the Bougainvillea was bent over into the pool but Randy and Jasper managed to get them pulled back enough and braced to get them out of the pool.  All that money we spent on all that fabulous landscaping, most of that is gone and we’ll have to start over. The pool is the nastiest of nasty with so much debris in it I thought it’d never be cleared.  Still not sure about that.  Animals are drinking from that nasty pool water, I hope they survive.  The hot tub, well, it’s just as bad.  And during all this devastation our pool guy had a heart attack and died.  He’d lost everything he owned and Randy talked to him the day before he died on the correct procedure for the pool to be cleared.  I know Allen is in a better place than here.  May he Rest in Peace. 

Let’s talk about mosquitoes for a minute.  I kid you not, they are the biggest SoBs you have EVER seen.  And if one lands on you and you manage to slap it before it bites you, it splatters blood – someone else’s blood, mind you.  I shudder to even imagine the disease they are spreading even as I type this.  I hate them.  And I don’t hate easily.  I wish God had never created them.

Also outside, the cleanup of other people’s house debris is the hardest thing you can imagine.  There is wind blown insulation, you know the pink kind, absolutely everywhere.  All over our house, all over our driveway and under our overhangs.  It’s like glue y’all.  And you have to wear head to toe gear to work out there, sunglasses, hats, long sleeves, pants, not shorts, face masks, and gloves.  And you have to literally douse yourself with Deep Woods Off – it’s the only thing that keeps those gargantuan suckers off.  And it’s HOT, not a breeze to be found.  So with all that clothing you sweat like never before.  Hydration, and I mean a LOT of it, is mandatory or you will pass out.  And any drink that has electrolytes in it is mandatory as well.  But Randy and Jasper are doing so much work it’s truly remarkable.  I can’t believe how hard they are working, but what choice have they?  We are forever indebted to that sweet Jasper.  He is a good man.

And to top all of that off, I have survivor’s guilt.  Our house is still standing and so many others are not.  I look around and fluctuate between happy to still have a home and utter desolation at all the surrounding destruction, to guilty our house is still standing.  My emotions are all over the map.  I keep praying for those less fortunate with absolute gratefulness that our home survived.  It’s a weird time and one I hope to never, ever again have to experience.

God bless those that have survived.  I pray our sweet little town will someday recover from this.  I know it will, but it will take some time.