#HoustonFlood
May 28, 2015I’ve lived though my share of hurricanes in Houston. I’ve seen high water and the damage it brings. Through it all, my family has been lucky – the worst we’ve ever experienced is a stalled car or waiting it out on high ground.
Until now –
Mom started emailing me Tuesday, May 26 around 3 am CDT. No, I don’t know why she didn’t call me. I guess she didn’t want to worry me.
What? Me worry?
Well, that’s exactly what happened when I opened my email – my coffee grew cold as I tried to interpret the picture from Mom’s front porch.
What you shou
ld see is a curved driveway, Mom’s front yard, and a four lane boulevard separated by a median.
What you see are the holly bushes that border the front porch. The water at the holly is about a foot deep – the water in the house, ankle deep.
I’ve never seen this much water on Mom’s street. In the 50 years my family has lived in that house (it was my grandparent’s house), the water never made it inside.
Heck, it never made it to the porch.
Sure, the backyard would flood – Mom’s seasonal olympic pool – still the water was contained. You could stand under the awning and the porch would be ‘above the water line’.
Tuesday morning, it became Lake Novak.
It breaks my heart to see the house like this.
Yes, I’m being selfish.
It’s my home.
My mother.
My family.
My friends.
The stores where we shop, the shul where we worship, ‘our’ JCC, the schools where mom teaches . . .
I know, it could have been so much worse. I grieve for those who lost loved ones or whose homes were completely destroyed.
Does Mom need help? I’m sure she will.
For now we’ll accept emotional support. When I get to Houston next week, we’ll probably need all hands on deck to sort through the stuff.
Others need your help too.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, in partnership with Jewish Family Service, is mobilizing a community response to provide aid and support for people devastated by the May 26 flood. We are here to help individuals, families and our Jewish institutions, which sustained substantial damage.
Funds are needed for basic services and to help people repair their homes. Crisis counseling is also essential. There are three ways you can help:
- Able to give? Donate at www.houstonjewish.org/houstonflood
- Able to provide physical labor (no training necessary)? Email [email protected]
- Able to give gift cards for $50, $100, $200 or $500 good at groceries, pharmacies, big box stores like Target, Walmart, Lowes or Home Depot? Please drop them off at Jewish Family Service at 4131 S. Braeswood Blvd., Houston, TX 77025. M-Th, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., F, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
If you are in need of help, email [email protected].
May 29th, 2015 at 3:21 pm
[…] the wee hours of the morning on May 26th, my mother’s house started to flood. By 7 am, the water was ankle deep throughout the house and higher in the […]