We all remember the graphic scenes that unfolded before our eyes as New Orleans, and other areas of the Gulf Coast, suffered through Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was a massive storm, and in her fierce fury claimed hundreds of lives, and left thousands destroyed.
Residents of New Orleans fled Louisiana in search of shelter, and found themselves welcomed into the open, albeit hot and humid, arms of Southeast Texas. A mere three weeks later, their lives were uprooted once again, when Hurricane Rita pounded the Southeast Texas region. Most Southeast Texas residents heeded the warning from their neighbor state and evacuated, only to find themselves scurrying farther inland and still unable to escape Rita’s wrath.
That’s what my family did.
We evacuated to Northwest Louisiana, some 150 miles inland, only to find ourselves without electricity for a week, and surrounded by volunteer rescue workers. The storm we thought would surely pass, did in fact, hit us – straight on.
But, why bring this up now? Why talk about this almost two years after the fact?
Well, because little ole Hurricane Humberto blew through Texas earlier this week and took everyone by surprise. This isn’t proper Hurricane protocol. Hurricanes are supposed to sit and stew out in the ocean, inciting fear or tension into everyone along the coastlines, until it decides where it wants to go, how large it wants to become, and how fast it wants to spin.
Humberto! You didn’t play by the rules. You sneaked up on us, and one of my paesano is dead! And, that makes me sad.
Although this “little” hurricane didn’t cause the drama and devastation of its predecessors, and in fact, life is already back to normal in many areas of Southeast Texas, my heart goes out to those who lost their homes, their property, and the family members of the lone casualty of this unjust storm.
Oh my Cherrye, I’m so sorry for your loss! May I ask, what exactly happened? I had no idea that you suffered through Rita’s path.
Hi G. All of my family and friends are actually fine. I didn’t know the man who died. The poor guy was around 80 years old, and his carport roof fell on him right in front of his wife. It is just sad because they didn’t see it coming.
As for Rita, I evacuated once to my parent’s house which is about 30-40 miles more inland that I was, then the following day WE all evacuated again about 150 miles inland. We still were hit with the storm and the winds. We were evacuated for 2 weeks, and it was a month before I could return to work. While it was nothing compared to what the people in New Orleans went through, it was a trying time and Southeast Texans really pulled together to help those who were less fortunate.
The picture is of my nephew, Cole (who was almost 5 at the time) in front of a tree that was uprooted at my grandmother’s house. She lives in the WOODS and about 50-60 trees were down around her house. NONE of them hit her house! It was a miracle, no?
Wow, ok, when you wrote paesano, I assumed it was a friend of yours. It’s still sad that that poor man had to die like that. His poor wife. 🙁
Glad to hear that your family and friends are well! And you aint kidding when you say that it was a miracle that not one tree hit your grandmother’s house!
Ah, yea. I meant paesano like ‘countryman’ – a fellow Texan. Thank you for your concern, though.
cherrye…i am so sorry for the loss…living on an island i have much respect for hurricanes…and this one didn’t play fair…it was so swift in forming and moving…my prayers are for all coastal residents…blessings, rebecca
Those things are hard to live through. When the same conditions happen again, it’s so natural to go back to those feelings.
How sad for the wife who saw her husband killed right before her. It’s horrible these things happen. My prayers are with her.
Ah yes, that Humberto! We sat all night waiting as it sat just off the coast of the island here in Galveston. We only had about 50 mph sustained winds and LOTS of rain. That storm sat off the coast here for about 8 hours before moving just to the east. We were lucky to be out of the eye, but Grandmother and Pawpaw got hit pretty hard. They’ve been without power since the storm and are staying at the lake house until Orange comes back together. I’m glad to here your fam (mine too, I guess) made it through it alright. It is the end of the season though and the storms love the Gulf Coast this time of year.
Rebecca – This one really did surprise them. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
Nadine – Isn’t that sad? I can’t imagine!
Brandi – I am glad to hear you guys made it ok in Galveston. I heard ya’ll got a TON of rain. Hopefully Aunt P and Uncle J will have their electricity back on ASAP. I heard Orange/BC got it bad! 🙁