Hurricane Harvey: My Story!

   After reading the title of the post, you already know that my family and I were affected by Hurricane Harvey and our home ended up being flooded.  The past couple of months have been quite stressful on our family. It’s hard to imagine that it will be almost a year since we went through the natural disaster.

I honestly thought we would be OK through Hurricane Harvey and only lose the electricity for a few hours, and then we would go about our business, because most heavy storms never really affected us where we live.  A few days before we filled the cars with gas, bought water, batteries and had enough food supply to last us a few weeks. 

The first day it rained off and on pretty good but, it wasn’t that serious. However it kept on raining and raining throughout the night. I started to get a little paranoid, and every two minutes, I stared out the window to see if the water was rising in the bayou behind our house. I felt nervous, scared, and had no clue what would happen next because the water kept rising.

Soon, the whole neighborhood was filled with water. As I looked out the window I saw neighbors walking through the high rising water trying to get to safety, children on air mattress being pushed by relatives, dogs swimming through the filthy water. It was a horrible sight to see from a distance. After seeing people evacuating your mind starts to wonder how bad it is outside. I thought the water has not reached us yet, so I calmed down a little and prayed that this will eventually pass.

Luckily, we still had electricity so we could see the news. I kept looking out to see the water was still rising slowly. I am so glad we had a two story home, which gave us the opportunity to still function upstairs. However, my mind was thinking, how in the world would I take my kids out of the home if we are stuck on the second floor.  So, I told my husband, if the water gets close to the electric outlets, we are leaving and we agreed on it.

“I kept in constant contact with my neighbors via text messages.  You never know who can help you out in a time of need”.  Get to know your neighbors, because the community really came together and we all helped each other. 

Two days went by and my husband and I were praying, hoping, wishing and even singing the “Rain, Rain Go Away” song for the rain to stop. Unfortunately it didn’t. Water started to slowly pour into our home. We all were bundled upstairs with enough supplies to last us for a few days. I looked outside and noticed that the mailbox wasn’t visible any longer, and  the water wasn’t going to go down anytime soon, I decided it was time to leave our home and get to safety.

I called a friend of mine who immediately contacted someone who had a boat. We packed some clothes and belongings in trash bags and backpacks, and were ready to go. Within a few hours our rescuers literally pulled a boat up to our front door to pick us out of our flooded home. My son who was 5 at the time was oblivious to the flooding and was more excited to go on a boat ride. Kids are so innocent and make the best of everything. It was a great feeling to be rescued, yet sad to see your home and everything you worked hard for to be destroyed within seconds.

A few days went by, and we weren’t allowed to go back in to our area until we were given clearance. Along with other neighbors, my husband and I had to walk almost a mile through mud and water in order to get back to our house. We ended up getting help from family members to assist clearing everything out of the home. The sheetrock was stripped out of the home 4 feet down. All you could see was the wooden frame. We made sure the home was thoroughly sanitized, used a lot of fans, and dehumidifiers to dry up the home.  We completed a mold inspection and made sure that the home was in satisfactory condition before we could rebuild.

I honestly have to say that we didn’t know the process of rebuilding a home from scratch and dealing with the process to find trustworthy general contractors. I definitely learned a lot and will  remember this time for the rest of my life. A few things I learned while rebuilding:

1. Get your estimate in writing
2. Stay in contact with your general contractor
3. Keep a record of your expenses (receipts are important to keep in hand)
4. Make sure they know what you want
5. Ask questions (how long it will take to complete the job)
6. Keep a close eye on the work that is being done on your home

Also, be prepared for anything. Make sure you have names of other contractors at hand. One can never have too many. I personally saved all business cards that were left on my door just in case I might need one to finish a project for me that wasn’t completed properly. 

We are finally done with rebuilding our home, and we are slowly getting our furniture back in the home. It sure feels good to sleep on a bed again. Plus, now the kitchen is fixed and we are able to prepare home cooked meals again. Eating out is nice, but there is nothing more special than a home cooked dinner. 

So you can finally understand why I haven’t been blogging on a regular basis.  Now, that I am finally back on track, I can share some more of my favorite reviews, feature stories, interesting craft ideas, beauty tips/tutorials, cooking articles and more with all of my subscribers again. I also will be doing a lot of YouTube videos/giveaways, so make sure you subscribe so you won’t miss out on the good stuff.

If you, or a family or friend of yours have been affected by Hurricane Harvey, please share your story with me. I would love to hear how you are doing, and where you are with rebuilding your home. 

I also, would like to thank all of my family, friends and neighbors that helped and supported us through it all.  We couldn’t have done it without you all!

Thank you for reading and allowing me to share my story with you all!