Harvey is going to be remembered along the Texas Gulf Coast as long as people talk about storms. The devastation wrought be the landfall of the Class 4 Hurricane just north of Corpus Christi was bad enough. Harvey has decided to remain and drop rain in biblical amounts, especially in the city of Houston, a community prone to flooding. Roads are impassable. Homes have been inundated. Many people have been left without power.
Why has Harvey lingered?
Generally, when a hurricane makes landfall, it continues inland, losing power and strength, before burning itself out a day or so later.
Ike, the hurricane that devastated Houston and communities to the south like Galveston, behaved like that. However, because of a high-pressure system, Harvey has been fixed in place. It is going to linger around for the next few days, barring some unexpected development.
Flooding has been catastrophic
While Corpus Christi and the surrounding communities were subjected to wind and storm surge damage, Houston and its immediate area are suffering rains at a rate and duration never seen in living memory. The image the reader sees along with this piece is the street outside the writer’s house. The street has not flooded this badly for decades. The storm drains, and the bayous that are in place to siphon off the water are backed up and cannot easily handle the runoff.
Streets and homes that have never flooded before or only modestly during previous storms have become inundated. Most forecasters do not predict an immediate let up of rain, meaning that the flooding is likely to get worse before it gets better. The rains and the floods mean that first responders are having trouble getting to people trapped in their vehicles on the road or in their homes surrounded by water.
Repair crews and insurance adjusters have to wait until the flood waters have receded before they can get to homes and businesses to assess and then start to fix the damage. This writer is directly affected by this. Water has gotten into his house and has collapsed the ceiling in his hall bathroom.
How can you help the people of Texas?
Once the storm has finally passed, the cleanup is going to begin and is going to take a very long time. Volunteers are certainly welcome. The gentle reader can also contribute money to organizations such as the Red Cross. In the meantime, all who read this should keep the people of the Texas Gulf Coast in their prayers. We are suffering at the hands of remorseless and relentless forces of nature and can use all the help we can get.
