August 25, 2017
The predictions now show Hurricane Harvey will make landfall as a Category 4. “Once the storm moves inland, it will eventually stall and meander over South or Southeast Texas for days.” There’s a pit in my stomach. I don’t know what will be left to go home to. Will there be anything at all?
A meteorologist from the DFW area that I follow on Facebook says… “Want to understand what a Category Four storm can do? Picture an EF2 Tornado… on and off for an HOUR… over your house. #prayforTexas”
I start mentally preparing myself that we may just lose everything we own, other than what we managed to fit in our car when we evacuated the day before. I can’t wrap my head around this though. I feel sick to my stomach. I’m beyond grateful that we got out when we did, but my heart breaks to think everything we own might soon be gone and that we will have to start over from scratch. We are in no place to be able to do that right now.
My thoughts continue to go back to our kids. Our poor kids… the devastation they would experience. I can’t even stomach the thought.
A friend who has had not one, but TWO tornadoes hit her house, messages me on Facebook telling me, “I completely understand what it is like to not know if your house is standing. And I know what it feels like to lose a lot. I can vividly remember that gut wrenching feeling, and also having little money. Hang in there. Things are replaceable. You are not. I’m glad you are safe. Fingers crossed that your home is protected and you can return very soon.”
We are okay.
I have never felt like this before. To see the hourly forecast for Victoria include winds of almost 100 mph is reality slapping me in the face. My heart sinks.
We are glued to the TV all day, watching for updates. As each new piece of information comes in, my stomach turns. Predictions of 40 inches of rain… 47 inches of rain… 53 inches of rain are thrown around for the Victoria area.
Harvey went from a CAT 2 this morning to a CAT 4 early this evening. Around 9:45 PM tonight, Hurricane Harvey makes landfall near Port Aransas and Rockport. Towns we love are being destroyed by 130 mph winds and storm surges of unknown size. I’m sick to my stomach.
Before bedtime, Evan asks for his other favorite cuddle toy, Toothless. Fuck. How the hell did I not bring it? I’m finally able to convince him that Toothless is watching over the apartment and that we will see him soon. The overwhelming feeling of guilt for not bringing that stuffed dragon eats at me for the remainder of our time at the hotel.
We put the kids to bed, knowing very well that our lives could change drastically in the coming hours. I can’t put down my phone. I constantly refresh the page to see the next update. Emergency weather alerts are blowing up our phones. Tornado warnings fill the map, covering all the towns we have fallen in love with.
As if hurricanes aren’t bad enough, they have to bring tornadoes along with them.
“Rockport, TX emergency manager reports buildings collapsed with people trapped inside.” My heart sinks. I can’t take much more of this and it has just barely begun.
An endless night for the Texas coast.
August 26, 2017
Victoria has been hit. The hurricane has slowed down and is barely moving. Just hovering near Victoria, dumping rain and bringing hellish winds to the area. The TV in our Safe Haven has stayed on a weather or news channel all day. The pictures on the news are devastating.
I’ve slowly started to prepare myself for the worst. We are alive. We are safe. That’s all that matters. My heart breaks for those who cannot say the same.
Our days have been filled with staying caught up on updates, the kids playing the Wii U, eating, trying to not throw up, holding it together, playing Skip-Bo, and sleeping in separate beds (one kid with each adult, to keep them calm).
I found a couple of people who live in our apartment complex on a local news Facebook page. We promise to update each other with any news we hear about the apartments. One lady says she will most likely make it back to Victoria before me. I await word from her.
The days stretch out longer and longer. I’ve never felt days this long. The waiting intensifies the sick feelings in my stomach. We don’t know what damage has been done to our apartment. We don’t know if the windows have been broken. We don’t know if it is flooded. We don’t know if we need to replace a few things or all things. We don’t know if it’s even habitable. We don’t know the condition of the town. And we don’t know when we can go back. We don’t even know when we will know all of these things. Waiting for the hurricane to make landfall was rough, but now waiting to know what damage has been done is unbearable.
I want nothing more than to be home, in my bed, knowing that everything is okay. But I’m not… And I don’t know.
August 27, 2017
The waiting is killing me. The not knowing. The what-ifs. The what-nows.
Victoria has no power. No water. No gas.
Power should be restored by Saturday. Saturday. That’s 6 more days. 3 more days than we have left at our Safe Haven. What are we going to do until then?
Mid-afternoon we found out there’s damage around the apartment complex, but there’s no widespread flooding on our side of town. There’s awnings and carports down. There’s siding and trees down, but the apartments look habitable. I haven’t seen pictures. Just what someone told me.
More updates trickle in. I hear the tragic news that there was a shooting at a gas station in town. A reality of tempers running high in desperate times. My heart hurts for everyone involved.
Another devastating update we got today is that the “renter’s insurance” that we’ve been paying for through the apartment complex for over a year, isn’t actually renter’s insurance. It only covers damages to the building, caused by us. It covers NONE of our belongings. This is not what they told us when we signed our lease. I’m pissed. My head spins with questions.
What are we going to do? What if we can’t go back? What if there’s nothing to go back to? Where will we live? What do we do during this transition time? So many questions and not many answers.
There’s one option. The last resort. I don’t want to. I’m grateful for the option, but in this moment, having to go there would be the final straw to break me down. I can’t go back there. Why is no one else offering to help us? Why isn’t anyone acting like this is a big deal? Why do I feel I have to convince people that things aren’t okay?
The lack of support and concern from my family is devastating. Plain and simple. I feel dismissed. Neglected. Abandoned.
Breathe. Things will be okay. We will figure it out. We always do.
August 28, 2017
My Earth Angel Megan comes to the rescue. I have learned I can always count on her. She delivers the peace of mind that I am so desperately needing. We have another option. We will be okay. There are wonderful, beautiful souls out there who care. We are not alone.
Our day is still filled with listening for updates, playing cards, and waiting… and waiting… and waiting…
Houston is now getting the rain that they had predicted for Victoria. The focus of all the news channels has shifted to the Houston area and it’s hard to get any updates on Victoria now. The few connections I made on Facebook and a couple of Facebook groups/pages are my source now for local news.
Updates about our apartment trickle in. Our windows are intact. The breezeway in our building has standing water in it, either from flooding or being blown in and now the water has no way of getting out. Apartment maintenance has told a man in our building that the second floor was damaged, but the first and third floors weren’t. It sounds as though the building is still habitable. They have not gone into any individual apartment units, so we don’t know what’s going on inside of the units yet. I just hope the damage on the second floor hasn’t damaged the first floor in ways that they do not know about yet. *Fingers crossed.*
Still no power. Water came on today, but there’s a boil notice… and with no power, that’s difficult to manage. They said 95% of power will be up in Victoria by Saturday 10pm. Hopefully sooner, than later. Some fuel trucks have made deliveries, but supply is still quite low. The city ran out of bottled water today too. Hopefully more resources show up for those that are there.
The highway we would take to get back home might flood again from the constant rains and river flooding.
Maintenance is supposed to go through each apartment and write down the damages tomorrow and the next day. As long as damage from the 2nd floor hasn’t mess up the bottom floor too, we should be okay….
We are okay. Struggling, but okay.
The information we’ve gathered today is helpful, but not seeing and not being able to know the specifics is becoming overwhelming. I hope for more updates tomorrow. Our time here at our Safe Haven is running out soon. We need answers, so we can come up with a plan. I NEED a plan right now.
To be continued..
Part 1 – Harvey – A Storm Is Brewing
Part 3 – Harvey – Going Home
Part 4 – Harvey – Recovery
