Impact of Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey was a devastating storm that hit the Texas coast line near Port Aransas and Port O'Connor on Friday August 25, 2017. While we in the Houston area knew we would be on the dirty side, we never expected the impact of what that would mean. I'm sure you have been watching the news or have lived through it, like we did, so I'm not going to rehash all the details. I'll just briefly tell you where we stand.

My Mailbox - Laura Romero

We live on the North-West side of Houston. The water, during the thickest part of Harvey, got within feet of my home. My neighbors were not so lucky. In fact, friends down the street from me kayaked to my home to stay the night after rain water reached knee-high depth in their house and it became impossible to stay. Across the street I see carpet sitting on curbs. I was on the phone with my sister all weekend checking on her and vice versa.

We got stranded in our neighborhood for three days due to high water all around us. My husband did an amazing job of preparing for the hurricane and we had plenty of food and water. Our home never lost power or water services so we just waited it out.

Creeping up my Yard - Laura Romero

My husband works for AT&T. He could return to his garage on Tuesday but they were unable to work because all their service areas were inaccessible. The next day more employees able to return to work and they went out to assess the surrounding areas. Thursday, they tried to get some work done and return services to their customers. Friday is much the same.

It seems that the only thing lost during Hurricane Harvey is my job. It is currently three feet under water. My parent company, JEA Senior Living, could not have been more gracious. They tried place all their Houston employees in their other senior living communities. However, I made the difficult decision that commuting to either Austin or Bryan College Station is not practical for our way of life. Austin is nearly four hours away and Bryan is nearly one and half hours away. That's if I'm lucky with no traffic.

Nearly as High as it Went - Laura Romero

On the bright side, I may be able get unemployment relief through FEMA due to a disaster. Part of my personality is to plan my life out for as long as I can. I had a five-year plan. Hurricane Harvey blew that out of the water and now I'm having to reassess that plan. But I have my home, my family, and my life. So, I think I have very little to complain about.

Till next time friends...