So, I live in Houston, TX. I am also one of the thousands of victims of Hurricane Harvey. This storm flooded my whole neighborhood (well, with the help of the Army Core of Engineers, but that's a whole 'nother story), and we had SIX FEET of water in our house. Both of our vehicles (my truck, only a little over a year old, my wife's Murano, six months old) are both gone. Our piano is gone. My music and book collections, put together over years and years are gone. We've moved in with my in-laws (and I actually like my in-laws, so this is great) until we can repair our house, which is estimated to take six months to a year. It still has a couple of feet of water in it right now.

We rescued a lot of our belongings by moving them up to the second floor. But, we had to escape a week ago Monday when we woke up to three feet of water in our house that was still rising. We basically grabbed duffel bags, threw three or four days' worth of clothes into them, grabbed cell phones, chargers, our ids, and my laptop backpack so we could communicate with the outside world. I had a freaking kayak in the foyer of my house, which is how we floated out my daughter (who was not tall enough to wade through the water, which was almost five feet deep outside) and our three cats (all in the same carrier). My son and I gathered pool floats, balanced our meager belongings on them, and pushed them in front of us while we waded out of our neighborhood. Our next-door neighbors helped us by letting us stay with some of their family members until we could get something else sorted out.

I went back to the house four times last week -- via BOAT -- and climbed onto the lower part of my roof so that I could Spider-Man across it and break into my own house through a second-story window. I used this to retrieve the most important bits of our stuff that we managed to save (at least the ones we could carry in a small boat), like my home server, hard drives, photos, the kids' backpacks, clothes for school, etc.

I am now taking 10-12 insurance calls per day trying to get everything there lined up. I expect to be able to get back into the house this coming Monday or Tuesday to assess the final damage and begin rip-out so that we can start rebuilding in a couple more weeks.

The important thing is that we're all safe, and since we're responsible people, we have flood insurance. It probably won't cover everything, but at least it will get us enough to rebuild and get new vehicles.

What is also great is that I'm proud of the people of my city and the many surrounding areas that came together to help one another. We showed that in the most diverse city in the United States (fun fact: we have no ethnic majority here), people could come together as a community, supporting one another regardless of race, ethnicity, income, religion, etc. It was amazing to see human beings so selflessly help one another without a shred of concern for the differences between them. Houston is a true melting pot of cultures and proof that there can be peace.

This storm dropped five times the water that was seen during hurricane Katrina. That's right, it was FIVE KATRINAS. Yes, for real. This is the worst flood in US history. It's being called by many the worst disaster in US history. You simply cannot comprehend the level of devastation and how far it reaches unless you see it with your own eyes. 9 trillion gallons of water fell on SE Texas. No, that's not a typo. The pressure actually lowered the earth's crust here a couple of centimeters.

Despite the breadth of this disaster, Houston is already working to rebuild, even while there are still floodwaters throughout the city. This is a city of tough people who don't spend time crying about things, but rather get to the business of making them better. H-town will rise and it will be even better when the repairs are through. In that spirit, I thought I'd make a train to celebrate surviving this thing and to show that, even in your darkest time, there is still room to give. Always.

Hop on board here

Oh, and also I'd like to say to Hurricane Harvey, "Fuck you. Fuck you right in the asshole. You didn't win, you piece of crap. You're gone and H-town is still here."

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........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...') Eat me, Harvey.
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WE WILL RISE

(Enjoy the train, y'all. 😎)

Oh, and if you really want to help people who may not have flood insurance (that's most people, because they were told that there homes would never flood because they don't live in a flood plain), you can give to the JJ Watt foundation, which is getting funds and supplies to people quickly and directly (a lot faster than the government): Youcaring: JJ Watt Foundation