The rain persists and I forgot what the sun looks like, but the worst has finally passed. Harvey is set to travel through Louisiana now, where it will eventually fizzle out into just rain. It's been four or five days, I can't even recall when it started. I know I've only left the house like four times since then. I currently have six cats in my house, because my best friend's apartment is ruined. A couple family members' houses are also gone. Most of the city has no power. When I leave my house, I have no cell service. All the local radio stations are down.
After devastating Corpus Christi, Rockport, and Houston, Harvey made another landfall during the night, and this portion of the storm proved to be the worst for us. Last night, the highways were blocked off, guaranteeing one thing: if you were still here, you were staying. This morning, the area looks terrible. Debris is everywhere. People are being rescued by boat. Some roads are still blocked off, some people still being evacuated because of rising water. People have died. Children have drowned, and that really breaks my heart, seeing as they have nothing to do with the choice to leave or stay or a say in where they live. Kids who were thinking about what to wear on their first day back to school are now worried about their belongings, pets, and homes. So many people have lost their homes. And we’re still due for more fucking rain. People have thigh-high water in their neighborhoods and homes. Stalled vehicles are floating through the streets like toys. I just waited 30 minutes outside a Walmart in the wind and rain to get into the building. On the plus side, this is the coolest day we've had in, like, six months.
The hurricane experience is always an incredibly humbling one. It reminds us that physical things don't matter; they can wash away at any moment. Its greatest lesson is that we are at nature's mercy. There is nothing you can do except leave (while your property is destroyed) or stay and brave it (while your property is destroyed). In the midst of natural disasters such as these, it's important to highlight our duty to protect our Earth, because mistreating the environment will never be in our best interest.
This shit is scary, it's sad, and it's eye-opening. In my area, it seems that there was no back-up plan. Most of us stayed here. People were moved to schools, civic centers, and arenas, most of which also ended up flooding. Houston will be rebuilding for some time, and it seems that Corpus and Rockport will be rebuilding even longer. In my area, Southeast Texas, it looks like a few hundred thousand people have been affected by this disaster.
Regardless of Charleston or the Nashville Statement or the amount of hate that has been brewing recently, the people of every community in Texas have shown great compassion and dedication to each other. People are out here risking their lives to rescue folks just because they have a boat or a truck. They are offering strangers' shelter and supplies. They are showing up to volunteer with the Red Cross even though they themselves have also been affected by this storm. I’ve seen so many posts on Face Book like, “I have a boat, let me know if you know anyone who needs rescuing.” It has humbled me and provided a new appreciation of a city I had been eager to leave for as long as I could remember. These disasters show our humanity. Reduced to a natural state, with details stripped away, we will assist our fellow man. This is true almost every time. Don't let people convince you that hate (always) overpowers love here.
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