Just this past week, my husband and I visited our favorite bagel shop, Kingwood Bagel, for the first time since Hurricane Harvey flooded our area of Kingwood. It had been 7 months since we were able to order our favorites :: The Stack and a chocolate chip bagel toasted with cream cheese. And since it was a breakfast date, our kids still haven’t been back {and they were not too happy that we went without them. Sorry, guys!} Harvey flooding affected Kingwood deeply, but it’s exciting to see our town bouncing back and celebrating every Grand Re-opening!
The Devastation
Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in August of last year, just 8 months ago. The hurricane may have been downgraded to a tropical storm when it came through, but the flooding it caused has been called everything from historic to apocalyptic.
It certainly felt apocalyptic to my parents and grandmother. My grandma, Abuela Mamin, had just come to visit from Puerto Rico the summer before Harvey. She was staying with my parents in their apartment in Kingwood and ended up having to evacuate in a boat with the Coast Guard. They lost everything, including my dad’s Steinway grand piano, a family heirloom over 100 years old he had inherited from his father.
I don’t think we’ll ever get over the emotions of that loss.
The Miracles
We have seen in these past 8 months more kindness and more miracles in these past 8 months than we could have ever anticipated following such an unprecedented event.
A woman from my parents’ church felt like God wanted her to give something to flood victims. She hoped it wasn’t her beloved dining room table, but she told God that if someone needed it, she’d be willing to give it up. This same woman also had a baby grand piano that was an almost exact replica of a mini piano figurine that my dad had for years. When she heard about my parents’ loss, she decided to offer her piano to them. I don’t think she’ll ever know, and I don’t think we’ll ever be able to express how much her kindness meant to our family. {Her piano was a blessing AND she got to keep her table!}
My co-workers Heidi and Kasey opened up their homes for a few weeks to provide a place for my parents, my grandma, another co-worker and his family {shout out to the Chicagos!}, my husband and our kids to stay while we waited for the flood waters to recede.
There was no time to prepare guest rooms. We were genuinely concerned about food supply for a couple of days. Kingwood was unreachable and we couldn’t get out. But miracles still happened!
We were all stunned, trying to make the best of a truly crazy situation. And honestly, while some may consider them small, these were some of our miracles ::
- My parents, grandma and the Chicagos stayed in the house that had cats. My son and I are allergic, but we stayed in the house with dogs! No problem {and bonus, the kids got a new canine friend!}
- My daughter is allergic to dairy and nuts, but {miraculously!}, our friend Kasey’s daughter had a friend with allergies, so she had SUNBUTTER in her pantry!!! It’s like God was saying, I’ve got this down to the details. Y’all will be fine. {I’ve been in Houston long enough that sometimes I hear God with a Texas accent.}
And honestly, there are so many more MIRACLES! I could ask around and find plenty of other Harvey flooding victims who have experienced their share of miracles.
But there are also more Harvey flood victims than we could imagine who could still use our help.
The Work Still to Be Done
There are almost 20,000 people {19,770 last I checked} in a Facebook group called “Flooding Kingwood with Kindness.” The resources on the page include everything from mental health resources to how to document your losses to home improvement recommendations.
As I browse the group posts, people are sharing successes {a wonderful renovation and successful move back home !}, but they’re also sharing heartache. One lady recently posted a heart-wrenching comment about hitting her “breaking point” with so many delays, cancellations and backorders that keep affecting her ability to move back home.
One the one hand, it feels like we’re celebrating many wins ::
- Kingwood High School just reopened in March!
- The new HEB is BACK, baby! YEAH!
- My close friends know I have to give a special shout out to Torchy’s Tacos in Kingwood, too! SO glad they’re back! Is it Taco Tuesday yet?
There’s a LOT to celebrate! But you can still drive around and see homes being rebuilt and businesses that are not even close to re-opening {Berry Bar and King’s Harbor, we miss you!}
I share all this as a reminder that we’ve come a long way, but there’s still more to be done. Ask people you know how you can help. Volunteer. Give back. You can even check this list of resources. Maybe the next miracle comes delivered by YOU!
