Not so Random Tuesday Thoughts

I'm linking up with Stacy.

I don't know how random this will be as I've lived nothing but images, experiences, and talk of Hurricane Harvey for the last five days.  Living half an hour from the coast where we are about 3 miles above seal level, you're not surprised when a hurricane or tropical storm develops in the Gulf, but Harvey is like nothing I've ever seen.

I also didn't realize it was already Tuesday, actually early morning hours of Wednesday now, since we're not in school.  We had the best start of school I've had in years... then Harvey showed up.

I am blessed.  For once, we didn't lose power.  This is seriously the first storm I've lived through, and there have been at least 80 tropical depressions, storms, and hurricanes in my life, where we didn't lose our electricity for at least a day or two.  First time ever.

We have a few leaks in the roof from the heavy rain, but as of now, that is all.  A few years ago, we lost shingles and a fence.

Although my area got 41.52 inches of rain, water didn't come in my house, although Saturday night I was worried it would.  I have friends, students, and co-workers who have lost their homes.  It has flooded in places that have NEVER flooded before.  No one could have predicted this much destruction.

Maybe I have survivor's guilt.  That's when someone feels like they have done something wrong because they survived a trauma when others didn't.  That's when we are asking, "Why me?  Why am I warm, dry, and safe when so many others aren't?"

And watching the news 24/7 doesn't help.  Image after image of hurricane force winds, driving rain, damage, rescues, destruction, people in need... it is emotionally exhausting.

This story was particularly distressing.  It's a rather long video, so scroll to about 9 minutes and watch from there.

It was unnerving!  I only just found out they were finally able to rescue her.  She did have some psychological issues, poor thing.

Harvey set records. Awful records. Cedar Bayou, an area of Houston, reports 51.88 inches of rain, the highest ever recorded rainfall total from a tropical cyclone in the contiguous United States.  It will likely be the costliest storm.

However, I don't think it will be the deadliest, at least I pray not, and I believe that is due to people not getting out in this rain and water.  Many more people died (about 100) trying to evacuate when Rita was on her way.  And 2/3 of deaths during a hurricane or storm happen in vehicles.  Trying to get 6.5 million people out of the greater Houston area is asking for trouble.  This article is the best explanation for not forcing evacuation before the storm, and our mayor's response was very logical.

So... We will survive.  We help each other. We pray.  We stay strong.  And when we need to, we laugh.  So I will leave you with a laugh.  Have a great week!



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