A year has passed since Harvey the Horrible came knocking. I wrote a “play by play” description of riding the storm out back last year, but our community has had time to partially heal, lick our wounds, and reflect some.
I recently ran across this piece by a fellow Harvey survivor and felt compelled to pass it along to my readers.
When Harvey Came to Town
He came to town an unwanted and uninvited guest full of immense power, untold energy and a belly full of hate. His name was Harvey a purely evil one. He was full of rage with a lust for death and destruction, some say Satan’s spawn. He would crack his merciless cat-o-nine tails whip from early in the dreadful morning on the first day into the long horrific night and didn’t satisfy his evil lust until the next morning’s eerily silent dawn. All knew he was coming, just a tropical storm at first. Just a few palm branches blown away, some extra rain for a thirsty lawn. A day off of work to clean up the branches and chase down the trash cans that blew away.
Harvey built up his strength and went from a tropical storm to a Hurricane of level 1. The death destruction and heart ache had barely begun. Level 2 came along the locals boarded up every window hatch and door, gritted their teeth and said a prayer because they had seen this omen of death before. Level 3 came along the wind became wicked, unbearable strong. Rain mixed with salt water spray soon had their way. In short order the curtain of water and caused the bay to rise and flood. Each and every building, school yard, parks where families use to picnic, the swing sets the teeter totters the slides and jungle gyms in the parks where children use to play. The waters kept rising just like in Noah’s day. Most stay put for awhile in their makeshift cubby holes back bathrooms or hunkered down in any place that looked even remotely safe. Harvey then shifts into high gear and goes into level 4. He took a double deep breath and out of his lungs came a wind of a 130 miles per hour. Tin roof’s and sheet metal panels exploded from houses, offices, warehouses and schools and embedded themselves into telephone poles and oak trees and some 6 feet into the ground. Nary one shingle could be found. Ripping the walls off Hotels so that you could see each and every room like a doll house. A front desk that was missing every drawer and a stair case that led to each and every floor. Communication towers weren’t blown down but bent in a crescent shape over the top of the building that they once towered. Breaking most every window for 30 miles around, sending shards of glass rocketing like a meteor shower.
Harvey eventually ran out of steam. He had his evil fun, Satan himself would have been happy with the damage that Harvey had done. 1,000,000 in the area evacuated. 185,000 homes were destroyed. 43,000 emergency shelters. 200,000 without water or power. 39 lives lost. He had had his fun but at such a horrific de
Finally, when the deluge and the freight train sounding wind ended they all slowly emerged one by one. No sound of a locomotive at full speed, just a cold eerie silence. No traffic noise, no chirping of any bird, no screeching of any gull, no rustling of palm branches because there was no wind. Just silence. They came out of their shattered, roofless homes and looked all around and they saw their once beautiful town beat, battered, raped by Harvey. Like it was hit by a comet. Most wept and were numb, some raised their eyes to the heavens and gave Thanks for their deliverance. Some staggered around like a drunken sailor. Some just couldn’t take it in all at once, and had to bend over and vomit. Their eyes were vaped, vacant, empty and as if in a war zone had a 1000 yard stare.
What they saw was just as bad as what they didn’t see. They didn’t see the strong noble oaks that had stood their ground for at least 100 years. They didn’t see where they use to buy groceries, just a vacant lot where the grocery store use to be. They didn’t see the humming birds, the sparrows, the gulls, the pelicans, the deer, nor any leaf on any tree. What they did see was an ocean of debris. Refrigerators missing both doors. A single baby shoe. Eye glass frames with no glass inside. Mangled dishwashers. Cameo jewelry box without the jewels. A professional mechanics tool box with drawers bent and twisted and minus any tools. An endless field of shattered glass. Twisted pipes, downed billboards. Telephone poles at a 90 degree angle up and down the street bowing their heads not as in humility but as in defeat. A complete mans suit crumpled but still on the hanger. A tangled wad of rosary beads twisted in a broken cross. A teenage girls secret diary lying wide open and without a lock. All her dreams, fantasy, heartaches and special crush who she
Finally, when the deluge and the freight train sounding wind ended they all slowly emerged one by one. No sound of a locomotive at full speed, just a cold eerie silence. No traffic noise, no chirping of any bird, no screeching of any gull, no rustling of palm branches because there was no wind. Just silence. They came out of their shattered, roofless homes and looked all around and they saw their once beautiful town beat, battered, raped by Harvey. Like it was hit by a comet. Most wept and were numb, some raised their eyes to the heavens and gave Thanks for their deliverance. Some staggered around like a drunken sailor. Some just couldn’t take it in all at once, and had to bend over and vomit. Their eyes were vaped, vacant, empty and as if in a war zone had a 1000 yard stare.
What they saw was just as bad as what they didn’t see. They didn’t see the strong noble oaks that had stood their ground for at least 100 years. They didn’t see where they use to buy groceries, just a vacant lot where the grocery store use to be. They didn’t see the humming birds, the sparrows, the gulls, the pelicans, the deer, nor any leaf on any tree. What they did see was an ocean of debris. Refrigerators missing both doors. A single baby shoe. Eye glass frames with no glass inside. Mangled dishwashers. Cameo jewelry box without the jewels. A professional mechanics tool box with drawers bent and twisted and minus any tools. An endless field of shattered glass. Twisted pipes, downed billboards. Telephone poles at a 90 degree angle up and down the street bowing their heads not as in humility but as in defeat. A complete mans suit crumpled but still on the hanger. A tangled wad of rosary beads twisted in a broken cross. A teenage girls secret diary lying wide open and without a lock. All her dreams, fantasy, heartaches and special crush who she is sure someday she will marry are now at a loss. A foundation and front steps where a house use to be.
Then they all took a deep breath. Their short-lived tears of sadness, prayers, ignoring their needs to help others would bring them some relief. In very short order healing would begin. Every man and woman would roll up their sleeves and work together to remove massive tons of rubble. Repair their own houses and the houses of others. Unknown tons of badly needed items quickly poured in. Water, water, much needed water. Medical supplies, aspirin, bandage, baby diapers, pet food, clothing, can food, bug spray, flash lights, batteries, baby formula anything needed whether it was by the bucket, bottle, bag or by the tin. Even pies and cakes for goodness sakes. The goods came in not from the government but from anonymous Texans.
Harvey now no longer caused any stress or fright but now in some weird, somber yet joyful way caused all to unite and that is how it was when Harvey finally left town.
By Larry Shepherd
Wickedrevs Windy World 