Harvey and the Hurricane Diaries
“Aren’t you glad that you left Houston when you did?” I was asked recently. In the wake of hurricane Henry’s devastation, perhaps that was a valid question - not an insensitive one. However, on further introspection, I realized that I was neither glad that I had left Houston when I did, nor could I wish that I was still there. Au contraire, I was pensive about family, friends and former work colleagues having to deal with this newest water-related calamity of Houston. That Houston is flood-prone is not news to me. During my 15 year-long ‘sojourn’ in Houston, I had to deal with several flash floods and hurricanes. Allison, Katrina, Rita…. I can rattle their names off in my sleep. In June 2001, within a year or two of moving to Houston for graduate school, I confronted Allison, a ‘freak’ tropical storm that dumped so much rain on Houston in just a night that I was flabbergasted. I woke up to find my car flooded and the apartment complex grounds in disarray. At that time, I ...