First off,
My family and I are all OK, zero water and zero damage to our home/property and thanks be to God, not anything more than a few dozen fire ant bites on my feet and lower legs can be directly attributed to Hurricane Harvey.
Next, if you want to know where/who you can contact to offer assistance, please go through VOAD. These are all some really incredibly people with a tremendous gift for both consoling the victims and mobilizing with maximum effectiveness the volunteers.
Thursday 08/24/17
Going back to during Harvey's approach, I was put in a position that I have never been in, and I'm talking going back as far as I can remember growing up in South of I-10 Louisiana. I was up in Pittsburgh, PA for business meetings the week before Harvey hit, zero chance to do any of the normal preparations.
What that changed up for me was my approach. As I was flying in looking at the outer bands close to 200 miles from the center, I knew this would be a very long lasting event.
This was the cloud cover up around Lufkin/Nacadoches on the flight in Thursday afternoon.
I decided that without time to prepare as I would normally do, and after being stuck inside offices and airports for 3 out of the last 4 weeks, that I was going to head way out of harms way for this one. I thought I'd have a nice mini vacation a weekend away up on a lake!
Friday 08/25/17
I looked into accommodations for up around Caddo Lake. I had passed through there a few years ago and knew that it would be perfect for a video that our HR asked for of us doing what we liked to do away from work. Once I got the email that Mass would be cancelled, my only obligation to stay in Houston was relieved, so I booked my room "The Grandma Room" at Shady Glades Resort up in, of all places Uncertain, TX. I booked for Saturday and Sunday night, thinking surely things would have cleared out by Monday and I could drive home then.Saturday 08/26/17
After I loaded up, between heavy showers; a few changes of clothes, one decent set (Polo and khakis and loafers, in case I had to stop for some business meetings along the way back home Monday, an accordion, a guitar, my small boat and lots of camera and video gear I took off around 7:30 Saturday morning.
Beltway 8 up near IAH was already flooded about 6-8" deep near the middle of the road, that was Gut Check #1 (I'll try to keep count!). I made it through that fine, but there was puddling and ponding on the roads up 59 and just blinding torrential rain all the way through Livingston. Keep in mind Livingston is about 250 miles from where the center of Harvey hit. TWO HUNDRED FIFTY MILES!!! That's a HUGE storm! Growing up we used to drive "only" about 80 miles to be out of harms way.
After stopping for some coffee in Lufkin, I had Gut Check #2. The Wal-Mart parking lot was half full with parked and set up camper trailers, with people glued to their screens watching for updates. Most of the drive thus far I was trying to convince myself that I couldn't take on a storm, especially one this big by myself, that all that stuff I left behind was just stuff. After seeing all those people there that most likely wouldn't have anything to come home to, I did decide and stuck with the decision to have a good weekend and not worry at all about what I couldn't control anyways. I know now that was the 2nd best decision I made all weekend, with the 1st being to leave and be well out of harms way.
I arrive at Shady Glades around mid day and that "Grandma Room" really reminded me of Maw Maw Snow White, whom we spent every hurricane with growing up whether we rode them out at her house or picked her up and went up to aunt Bonnie's in Anacoco.
I realized right away that I was among some of the nicest salt of the earth people anywhere upon learning the system for checking in (I wont get into specifics to keep it safe). When I went to ask about the boat launch fees the lady that runs the cafe was like "Are you staying here?" I replied yes. She made it seem I was crazy for asking that there were no launch fees and stated "heck, you can just leave your boat in my slip down there, 3rd one on the right, I wont need it this week."
The weather up there was gorgeous as it should be with a very strong low pressure a few hundred miles away.
I grab my camera gear and accordion and set off into the lake to scout a good spot to make some silly videos of me playing accordion with the trademark giant cypress draped with spanish moss in the background. I didn't have to go far, in fact I didn't even have to change boat lanes to find a great spot. I set up and started recording Tabasco Fisco. I noticed a party barge approaching pretty quick and kept hoping I could finish the song before they swamped me. It actually made me a little nervous as I was in the middle of the lane.
I soon realized I was foolish to already have forgotten how "salt of the earth" these people were up here. As they pull up to me they say "We got beer! All kinds of beer, you want one? Please play us another song or two! We love Cajun music and never dreamed in all our wild adventures we'd ever stumble upon someone playing accordion on the lake!"
Let's just say we reached an agreement and I tied up to them and played them some songs for probably half an hour.
I don't remember all their names, but Jimmy is the captain, and Betsy is the gal with the hat that actually somehow in some capacity works with Richard LeBeouf selling Kubota tractors..? I found out when hanging out with them at the Lighthouse Grocery & Bar that night. Rather than ruin my video, it actually makes it better, I think. After the lake good quesadillas and a few barley pops at the Lighthouse and I was good to sleep well!
Sunday 08/27/17
About oh, 4:00 Sunday morning I woke up to a ugly grinding like sound. Gut Check #3 The power had gone out and somehow the GoPro Karma grip turns on when power is lost and it couldn't stabilize because it was resting on the counter and it kept trying. That changed my plans for being on the water at Sunrise, so I moved to plan B.. try to get more rest as it made zero difference whether my eyes were open or closed, there was ZERO light and ZERO sounds.
When daylight arrived, I was able to "clean up" and get dressed and I decided after watching CNN all Saturday night seeing how dire the situation on the coast was, that I'd go to Mass to pray for the people in Harvey's path, and give thanks for me getting way out of his path! I found the closest Mass 13 Miles or so in Jefferson TX in the Mass Times website and headed over.
Back to that Maw Maw/Grandma theme. The parish in Jefferson is Immaculate Conception (The same as Morse where Maw Maw drug all her grandchildren to go to Mass growing up)
This was a BEAUTIFUL OLD parish! 1836, restored in 2013 and talk about nice people. I ended up having coffee and donuts with the pastor and 30 parishioners after Mass.
The Altar:
This is a probably 40 ft x 20 ft mural on the cieling;
This is a stained glass preserved from the original building and incorporated into the remodel
How you like that 2nd Verse!
I get back out on the lake and it was a lot less crowded, so I start working on some of my other video ideas. After all I like to go capture images of Nature a lot as well as play music.
Here's my Flickr Gallery from the lake. Caddo Lake photos
I'm pretty exhausted physically and emotionally at this point, so I retire early thinking I'll get some more lake time in the morning then head towards home.
Monday 08/28/17
The lake was as calm and quite as I'd ever seen any lake. I went cruising around and it was so quiet I didn't even start the gas motor, just cruised around with the trolling motor. I did something else I've never done. I prayed a Rosary out there on the lake, man was that a cool experience. Then while going into some spots I hadn't yet explored, I found an awesome spot to shoot some more videos. Here's some raw footage (Pardon the restarts);
As I had some how broke one of the bunk boards, I ended up having to drive 18 or so miles to find a hardware store, get some aluminum angle iron and gorilla tape to stiffen it up enough for the trip home. As I'm patching up the trailer the owners of the resort come around the corner and offer to let me stay another night after realizing I had a Houston address. Super nice folks!
After I fix that up I loaded up the boat and stopped in for lunch at the Cafe before heading to College station, which was as far as I knew I could maybe get with all the road closures. I had a MONSTER (HALF ORDER) Chicken Fried Steak that was "slap ya mama" delicious.
Once I was finished The lady that runs the cafe, perhaps being extra local on purpose goes "So, Mr. Accordion Man, you gonna play us a little? I ain't never heard no real live Cajun accordion" So I play a little and the patrons really enjoyed it. They were mostly the folks that run the nearby state park and were talking about how fast the RV spots and cabins rented out with people coming North. After I played them a little, she knew I had paid attention when she mentioned earlier that she'd love to hear Amazing Grace on accordion, so I played that too!
I ended Monday after a pretty long drive with a few detours in College Station and amazingly the rain was in all the same spots it was when I drove up Saturday, but this time most of the highway looked like a causeway as there was water water as far as the eye could see on both sides of the highway for more than half of the drive from Lufkin to College Station.
I was confident Buc-Ee's in Madisonville would have gas and they did, so I stopped there. Gut Check # 4 LOTs of boats there re-fueling or fueling up to head in. Thinking that's where I was going, some guys from Dallas come up to me "Man! That's a small boat and a small motor! Be VERY careful! We almost flipped the boat a few times and ours is much bigger! Them people are so desperate for help though! Be CAREFUL!" There was probably 30 boats and trucks, and another 20 or so horse/cattle trailers. Talk about surreal.
When I finally made it to the hotel in College Station, there was a line that never went away, in fact the same people were still checking people in the next morning when I decided to try to get home and free up the room I had.
Tuesday 08/29/17
The drive from College Station took 2x the normal time as I had to slow down for water on the road a few times, and go almost to Katy to zig zag back up to my neighborhood. Gut Check # 5 As I approach the Little York intersection with Hwy 6 I hear a Constable honking at me. I thought I was like dragging a dog or something with how frantic she was honking. I roll down the window and she says "Are you looking to help with the rescues?!?!?!" I said maybe later, officer, I was out of town and need to make sure I still have a house, first". She gives me a "OK, Good Luck Babe" and zooms off. Little did I know half a mile further down Little York when I went to turn North to get to my neighborhood, there were some 20+ empty boat trailers, Military trucks, people galore, etc getting people out of their homes just 2 neighborhoods South of mine.
Arriving back home
As I pulled into my dry streets neighborhood and saw zero damage anywhere, and my house had no signs at all that there was ever a bad storm. I must have said "Glory to God!" and "Thanks be to God" 150 times walking around looking for damage and finding none.
Shifting gears, I then unloaded all of my weekend trip gear, took the gas motor off and inflated my tube, threw the Nucanoe on top and headed down the street to help.
I searched around and found this article on CNN Money on how the Cajun Navy and similar groups were organizing and communicating.
Gut Check # 6 It was really aggravating that so many people were there to help and there was zero public officials to coordinate, tell boats where to go, keep track of how many boats were in there and so forth. But there were still people looking for "rescue"
If any public official reads this;
Learn and build from the efficiency of the Cajun Navy;
- Create a registry of boat owners willing to help
- Have a list of people, a few from each area (such as HOA presidents etc) that can coordinate efforts, having most people's contact info already
- Perhaps offer free rescue training to people willing to help
- Have at least one set of road barricade stuff stored in low lying areas
- Have Zello channels set up per zones with trained dispatchers
As the sun set, I headed home really exhausted, and still a bit aggravated at the lack of organization with so many lives at stake, but it was dinner and pass out sleeping.
Wednesday 08/30/17
Hey, At least it's better than Jim Cantore showing up!
KHOU Crew bribing boaters with water and gas to take them into the neighborhood
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I then get beyond aggravated when I realize that several people that were "rescued" simply walked to the store to buy snacks and drinks and were then wanting the boaters to take them back to their house in the flooded neighborhood! What AUDACITY! right! But before I could call it quits, I had to find out where the last boat, my buddies Bobby and Jason were. Everyone else had loaded up and left. I launched my NuCanoe and did what I honestly hope I never ever have the chance to do again.. Go kayaking down W. Little York and into the colonies.
Pushing boats is a pretty good workout though!
I guess I could say I saved a life, but it had nothing to do with water. Some young naive guy bought a survival pack/tool on Amazon, I assume and was walking around with the axe end facing his neck, zip tied to the left shoulder strap. We actually had to convince him to let me cut them zip ties so that if he slipped and fell he wouldn't cut his own head off, slice a jugular or break his neck and paralyze himself.
Thursday 08/31/17
Almost half back to normal in our neighborhood, despite most of Houston being in chaos, and those poor good folks over in Port Arthur and Beaumont getting flooded deeper and faster and yet Houston is getting all the attention. I drove up to Waco to get Baby Bear Kib and bring her back for her Dr Appt Friday.
I packed a marine cooler and filled it with groceries in College Station on the way back. There were already long lines at the gas pumps there and many of the shelves at the HEB even in College Station were bare.
End of blog.. for now.. things are 3/4 normal and relatively calm.
Stay safe, be prepared, and show love, have patience and help someone!
TK
