The past couple of weeks have been crazy in Houston, to say the least. I’m sure you’ve heard that Hurricane Harvey caused havoc in Southeast Texas. We were lucky in that our home did not take on any water, but the streets in our neighborhood had some pretty high water that limited our mobility.
Our friends that live in the same neighborhood had higher water than we did, so rather than waiting for water to creep in their house (which thankfully did not happen), they came over and hung with us, which made the whole Hurricane experience easier to bare. The kids would put on a show with their mini piano.
…sometimes fighting about who should play/sing.
The map below is basically what we lived by! We monitored these maps to see how the area was doing and where the water would potentially be. The map below shows the mandatory/voluntary evacuation zones.
After all the dust settled, we were able to go out and help a few friends. I didn’t really take too many pics or videos of the process, but here are a few:
University Blvd. was a war zone. Cars where lined up and down every street because of people trying to get their homes cleaned out, or friends coming to help with the clean up process or random strangers providing food and drinks to those that are working.
People were constantly coming by asking if we wanted food/drink while we were working. Although this was a tragic situation, it does your heart good to see people rallying together to help one another.
I made a 4 part series of videos that would probably help better explain how things were for us. Check it out!
Sheena’s work (Second Mile) is a non-profit that works to assist people in Fort Bend County. When a disaster like this strikes, they kick into action in helping people with food, clothes and other various resources. I made a quick video about that to paint a better picture.
Also, while we were at Mom and Dad’s house for a week, we made some Coconut Oil. Its sort of a tradition that my parents do when a new baby is on the way (my brother is having another baby). The oil is used to massage the baby to give them soft/clear skin. Check it out!
To my surprise, this video received a ton of views, likes and shares on Facebook! I never knew that many people were interested in coconut oil!
Overall, the Hurricane Harvey experience was not so bad for us. Sheena brought up the term “Dry Privilege” or “Dry Guilt”. We’re soo happy that none of our belongings were destroyed, but at the same time, we feel a sense of guilt that our friends are having to deal with such loss. Particularly those that are only a few minutes away from our house. The few people that I was able to help are basically forced to rip down a great majority of their home to clean it out and rebuild again. Its just a tough thing to have to deal with in addition to the normal, everyday problems that arise.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those that are having to deal with this. We’ll continue to help as we can. Although a lot has been done in regards to the flood waters residing and demolition beginning, there is still a lot more that needs to be done.
Sajan Abraham 