Harvey Stay Away!

Oh I am praying and praying for it to just disappear and not come here. When I hear 12 to 16 inches it's terrifying. I have been working on picking stuff up from the floors and making lists for each room. I don't know if I can do it again. I really hope we don't lose power.

My poor neighbor who is our contractor still has not finished his house.

Keep thinking positively!

We've made plans to go to Houston for the weekend for Ken's birthday with the family. DD just called & said we need to talk soon about the storm predicted to come in about then. Never know with Houston how much rain, wind, etc. the town and outlying areas will get hit with.

No you sure don't. I would probably put the plans on hold. With the front moving down from the north and Harvey coming in from the coast the 2 hitting could be a terrible combination and if it stalls we are doomed.

It's just sickening. And unfortunately we don't know what to do till it's almost too late. I am doing as much as possible right now to lessen the craziness of what has to happen in the flood.

Lots of prayer and positive thoughts are always appreciated!

Praying it will avoid you.

Nope. I wouldn't come to Houston this weekend.

I'm going to lunch with dh in a little while and then we are running to the store. The bread and milk cravings are starting to hit.

Terilyn, Raven, and all others in the Houston area, my prayers have been said for you.

Sending lots of positive thoughts to all of our Texas friends.

Terilyn, Adella, Raven et al.: Do you have an automatic standby generator?

Good gosh, Raven, you must be totally stressed out! I'm praying for you all!

We have a generator which was in water the last flood.

If predictions for the storm and rainfall amounts and time frame are right there's not much doubt we will be flooding.

I am doing as much as possible right now. Clearing space to pull out all of the lower drawers to stack them higher. Doing any laundry. Getting everything gassed up. Loading up the wagon with things that must go to the rv to be safe. Stores are already packed with people stocking up. I have plenty of food in the freezer and pantry. I just hope we don't lose power. That was a blessing that we did not in the last flood. The heat will be deadly.

Thanks for all the prayers and the push it away thoughts! I have been telling everyone to visualize it just disapating and disappearing poof gone! It can't hurt!

Wish I could be like Moses and part the waters so those possibly affected could remain on dry ground

We have a generator. Apparently, it needs a tuneup to work so may not have it to use. We just made a run and got some of the containers to keep drinking water. I think we have everything else. If we lose power, we will survive without internet. Lol!

Our neighborhood hasn't flooded yet so I think we will be fine. I think the biggest threat for our house will possibly be the wind.

My neighbor is currently having his roof replaced! Right now it's stripped. They have been working at a snails pace for days. They better get to moving moving moving!

Our biggest problem with no power is our septic system does not work. We have the rv but if the water gets deep enough outside the septic tank will get filled up with water and we cannot dump the rv either.

I will have the hardest time with the heat. My asthma has been very bad lately and that would kick it up. Breathing is essential.

I am in list making mode.

We have a stand by generator, unfortunately, we only have propane where we live. The tank stores enough for about three days.

I'm a couple hundred miles south of you, Raven. Local forecasters are changing their minds about strength, place of landfall, etc. Flooding isn't too much of a concern where I am, but loss of power could be in high winds. Son has a generator, so if power goes out, I can stay with them for a few days, I hope. I'm trying to decide just how much preparation to do, I've gotten very lazy in my old age, I hate going through all the prep & then having to undo it in a few days. Biggest concern is making sure anything that can blow around and become a flying missile (garbage containers, potted plants, etc.) is secured. We need rain, but don't need the winds! Praying we do get rain, no damage, and y'all don't get the flooding!

Turn around Harvey, no one wants you! ! !

Rusty

My son living in Houston called tonight and asked if I thought he should leave town. I'm praying this doesn't flood Houston. I was in Houston when Allison devastated the area in 01.

Sending up prayers for all of you in the affected areas. I am so sorry you are going through this fright yet again.

I have not been concerned about the wind or the actual storm. My concern is that they are thinking it's going to stall because of the 2 fronts trapping it in this area and dropping tons of rain. The non stop rain for several days is a flood here. No where for the water to go. If we do not have bad wind I am hoping we will keep power like last time. The waiting is difficult. Do we move stuff or not. I am like you I don't look forward to moving everything then moving it back.

One of the local channels is now showing one model that just continues out west through Mexico. That would mean less rain here.

We are all hoping and praying your are spared this time, Raven!

My DD's house north off 59 flooded in '94 and again in '98. First time had 6 ft. of water in house and furniture was floating. Storm happened on a Monday; we live in East TX and the roads around her were closed till Thursday and we couldn't get to her and her family till then. So worried! Amazing how many people pitched in to help, not only with cleaning out the house, but bringing meals, doing laundry, etc. Red Cross came around giving everyone helping tetanus shots. Fortunately, her aunt had an empty house in an unflooded area which she, husband and one year old got to live in till theirs was rebuilt. Again in '98 "only" 12 inches of water in the house, but still had to rip out flooring, baseboards, sheetrock, etc. and rebuild again. Back to the aunt's house they + a new baby went. Now DD and her DH are divorced, and she bought a house that she was certain was not in a flood plain...so far with the bad rains she's stayed high and dry. What a relief! Hope all of you in Houston area are not affected. Stay away, Harvey!!

Raven, I wish y'all would pack up the RV and go.

Now they are predicting it will be a category 3 at landfall with 115 mph winds that will make power outage more likely and more wind damage to deal with. It will sit for 3 days right over the area dropping rain. Very bad news. They actually did suggest getting stuff off the floor and begin the flood process. That's what I will be doing today and tomorrow. I wish I had an empty freezer so I could freeze a bunch of water bottles. My neighbor said they had to wait in long lines at the ice trucks last time they were out of power. Tomorrow my husband will be home from work so he can help and see if our generator will work after being in water last year.

This is not good for the nerves or stomach!

Stay safe everyone! I hope we are prepared for nothing.

Thanks!

I am south of Houston. Have brought in the patio set, loose garden decorations, etc. The sustained rain they are predicting seems like it means it is going to flood seriously here. I plan on moving away from the coast soon, can't take these hurricanes any more, I hate them. So much work, so much worry.

I have been sick all day with my stomach from the stress. I just found out that my mortgage company has severely screwed up again and never paid for the additional contents coverage I added to my fema policy way back. It all gets paid through the mortgage company with the rest of our insurance. I have no idea why they did not pay it when they got it like they were supposed to. I asked if I could pay it myself today by credit card, sure I could, but they have a 30 day wait period before it goes into effect. This was all done some time ago and should have definitely been in effect. I am just devastated. So once again we will only have coverage for the structure no contents covered. I hate Bank of America!

The weather channel just said now that we were looking at over 25 inches of rain or more. This thing is just growing like crazy.

Raven: The same sorta thing happened to my parents about 25 years ago when their cleaning lady tripped and fell in their yard, and then SUED them. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal because that's what insurance is for--except their mortgage company, GMAC, had failed to pay their homeowners' renewal premium!! Long story short: since GMAC was at fault for the lapse in coverage, it was they who fixed it. I can't remember if my parents had to sue GMAC to get it to work out, but, in the end, they did prevail. Hopefully this gives you some peace of mind...hopefully. :/

It will be a huge fight. Just getting our own money last time from them was war.

These numbers are frightening!

To all of you in the path of the storm, I wish you Godspeed.

30-40" is over three years of rain for my area.

I hope everyone in Harvey's path can stay safe.

If there was ever doubt...life is not fair. I'm so sorry for this dreadful strain on you and your DH.

Are they comparing this to Hurricane Ike? My brother is in Galveston. He had a new house built after Ike. Are they advising evacuation yet?

Sending up prayers for all of you in the affected areas. I am so sorry you are going through this nightmare yet again. Keep us posted if you can.

Raven- everything I'm seeing seems like you should really evacuate! I hope you and Marilyn and Lucille and anyone else down there stays safe!

We live in NC, and have seen our share of hurricanes. I can't even wrap my head around 30-40" of rain. I hope you all prepare what you can, then head to higher ground.

Sending prayers to those in the path of Harvey. Raven, I am especially praying that you are not flooded again. Hugs!

Continuing to pray. I am so sorry you are all going through this.

Raven, I am extending the same invitation as last year. You, Mr. Raven and Mia are welcome to come to GA with your RV and stay at our house. Your holding tank can be emptied into our septic tank. Our house is handicapped accessible and we have a fenced in yard where Mia could run. If you get that much rain, your RV would go floating. I'm praying for you and all of our members in that area. Even if you don't want to travel to GA, please get to higher ground somewhere.

Just saw the news on this. Scary! Praying for all.

"Hit the road Harvey, no one wants you to visit!"

Thanks everyone! Keep thinking of it just going across Mexico where they need the rain and away from us. I am at Kroger and it's insane here. The shelves are totally empty. No bread no water no nothing. We have been in line for gas for almost an hour.

To keep things in perspective this hurricane is coming aground as a category 3 at this point. Hurricane Katrina and Rita were both category 3 hurricanes. We should not have a tremendous amount of wind here but the water is going to be horrible.

Thanks for the offer again Linda that is a very generous offer. We have considered leaving and if we were on the coast we absolutely would. Being at the house to try to salvage things is also important. It's an extremely stressful decision.

If you change your mind about leaving ( not just Ravencajun, but all of you in the affected area) I live just north of Fort Worth on a dang hill where it will not flood. C'mon up, I have one spare room, plenty of towels, hot water, electricity, and good old fashioned Texas hospitality waiting at the end of the journey. We are expecting some weather too, but we have the hill on our side.

This is a serious invitation if you come you'll be welcomed. Please be safe!

Stay safe everyone!

Thanks PK! Very generous of you. It's very tempting to get out of town but being here is also important. If only we could see the future! I hope Marilyn is doing well and OK. I have not heard from her. She is very close to the coast. But she does not usually flood.

This just looks awful. I hope it's being exaggerated. I understand the need to stay with your home and possessions and do what can to protect them. My thoughts are with all of you affected. Stay safe.

I too am concerned about Marilyn. Even though her area may not usually flood I do recall how she was saying that a past rain left the pasture slippery and muddy, and from the forecast of many days of rain I think a dangerous situation for her and the horses is going to arise where she or they may well slip and fall if they try to walk.

While you're all on my mind, Raven, you're on it the most. I'm so worried right along with you. I don't know if you can weather another incident, but whatever we can do, we're here for you. And for everyone else too. You're in my thoughts and prayers.

I am so, so sorry you are having this terrible worry. I sure wish there was something we could do to just make it stop. Keeping the prayers going,

double time....please try to rest...a little anyway...you need to keep up

your strength and keep well. Dear Lord, please watch over Raven and everyone in the path of this awful storm.

Stay safe everyone. Maybe Harvey will dissipate, wishful thinking. Hope they are wrong about the rain fall & praying for no flooding.

Sending good vibes.......And keeping all of you in the zone, in my thoughts. Stay safe!!!

We are working together today in the house and outside. Hubby is getting everything picked up outside that can get blown away and doing clean up. He is also working on the atrium drain because it had clogged recently and we definitely don't want that to happen.

At this point we are just trying to get everything that could go under water up. Pulling all lower drawers is important because if they are in and go under they swell up and you can't get them out. I found out the hard way last time, but I know now.

I have some folding tables for stacking stuff on. Yesterday they gave a good idea on TV. Pull your doors off, inside doors, and they can be used as tables.

Some gas stations are already out of gas. Not surprised after seeing the lines yesterday.

Thank you everyone for the thoughts and prayers they are very appreciated.

So sorry that you all are dealing with this again. Sending best wishes and prayers for everyone in the path of this storm.

I'm very sorry you are having to deal with this again so soon after the last time.

Hoping that the worst of the weather goes around you and that if you have any flooding or damage, it is minor.

Best wishes to all KT members who live in the storm's path that you stay safe and that the aftermath is not too severe. Will be thinking of all of you as you ride out the storm. Let us know as soon as you can how you are doing.

Raven, I can only imagine your anxiety level. I know friends around here who flooded in the 2016 Great Flood get extremely anxious with any big rain event.

My prayers and good thoughts for the safety of all who are in the path of Harvey.

Stocked up on some things last night. Am stuck at work and want to go home. I just feel like I should be at home doing something. :(

I'm baking bread to stay busy, I can't really concentrate on any kind of project, I'm too worried. I took the dogs out around 10 minutes ago, it is raining but not hard yet, but the tree branches are waving in that ominous way they do before a hurricane.

To update it's now a full blown category 3 hurricane according to the weather forecast. There have been a few small Tornadoes spinning off from it around the coast. We are just having some rain nothing more here now.

I have a brisket in the oven smelling great so that's good! We have been accomplishing quite a bit around here.

Lucille your bread sounds wonderful! Keeping busy is keeping me from getting stressed out.

I love your positive, stay-busy attitude, Raven and Lucille. Hareball, I'm sorry they won't let you leave from work yet--must be frustrating. Sure do hope Marilyn checks in soon. I'm so sorry to see how big this darn thing is and am keeping you all in my prayers.

I'm hoping that Marilyn checks in soon too. I'm worried about her, Jody, and all of the animals.

As soon as I get home I'm cleaning to keep busy too. Putting all of my flower pots and stuff in the garage, try and do some laundry and dishes in case the power goes out for more than a day.

I will be making chicken and dumplings :)

Lol list our hurricane cooking! This big brisket will provide lots of sandwiches!

I really wish Marilyn would check in but I have not seen her post in a while. I will try to get in touch with her.

Let us know please, Raven. I've been thinking about her as well as you - wondering how she will make out with the animals, where their boat is. Hopefully behind an island, in a little cove, someplace.

I got no response from her as of yet.

I saw a couple of Marilyn's Facebook friends ask about her. As of yesterday, she had no concerns of flooding. Maybe she'll check in.

OK then. Everyone else hang on and stay safe. This storm is making even me uneasy and I'm 2300 miles away. Hopefully the rain and wind will have been overstated.

I told Marilyn on Facebook to come here as her KT friends are worried about her. I hope she sees my message to her.

I tend to lurk, but just want to let Raven (I've followed your story), Terilyn, Marilyn and all others in the path of this terrible storm that I am thinking of you and you are in my prayers. Stay safe and check in with your GW family when you can.

To all of our Texas friends, sending lots of hugs and positive thoughts. Hunker down and stay safe.

The wind is starting to pick up. The trees are doing a bit of swaying, but nothing frightening.

The eye is expected to hit near Rockwall in the next hour.

I'm worried for all of you. It sounds so stressful to have to worry all the time about things like this. I'm so sorry.

Well unfortunately it has now gone up to a category 4 hurricane! We are getting in the huge range now. Winds 130 sustained mph winds. Landfall should be very close to happening. The coast area there is getting pummeled. They are now saying that area may be uninhabitable for weeks to more. That generally means scorched earth nothing is left. When Rita hit Cameron, Louisiana a few years ago it did just that there was nothing there, no houses, no slabs, no streets, absolutely nothing but sand like it had never been inhabited. That kind of thing is very scary. This is just along the coastal areas where it comes ashore with those high winds and surges. They are saying up to 12 ft surges. I feel very badly for those who live in the areas. Lots of prayers. Not much sleeping tonight. We are supposed to start getting heavy rain here around 10 pm to 4 am.

Thinking of all, especially Raven who just got "redone" after another storm.

This is a before and after picture of Cameron Louisiana with hurricane Rita a category 3.

In 1957 hurricane Audrey hit the same area but there were not many warnings then. It was catastrophic, hundreds of people were killed. The house I and my family were in, grandfather's house, the entire top story of the house was torn off with all of us inside. I was very young but remember that vividly.

Just saw that on the news...cat 4, 130mph winds.....whoa........Raven, Marilyn and all others in it's path....please be safe....

Oh my! I am thinking of all of you tonight. They said birds were trapped in the calm air in the center of the storm and it shows up on the image like debris. I hope all your preparations help. Why does the rain and wind have to come in the night?! Be safe friends.

I did it again. I brought a toad into the house when I brought my plants in. We noticed the cat was fascinated with this potted pineapple.

So far there is a bit of lightning, some rain and light wind, no flooding anywhere I can see in my neighborhood. So not a big deal yet.

It's raining hard here now. The creeks have begun to rise slightly. Pretty calm during the night. It has not moved much at all and still looks very intact and intense. The outer bands that would be hitting us with heavy rain seem to be building looking at radar. It is pulling in the gulf water. This is what we need to watch carefully. It is down to a category 1 now. 6:42 am

Be safe! Praying for you!

Barely raining at all here, dogs had a nice 10 minutes outside. No rain has collected or puddled anywhere.

Lightening and thunder with heavy rain. Scared poor little Mia she was sound asleep.

Talk about bad luck. My next door neighbors air conditioner went out last night around 10 pm. I offered our little window unit which is not being used. Hopefully they will be able to get it fixed today but with the rain and lighting I don't know. Of course I told them to come over here but they have 2 large dogs. They are welcome too.

Raven, is Mia wearing her Thundershirt? I hate it that y'all are having to go through this!

Rosie

Hubby has an "I Love Texas" group on his FB. He used to live in Houston and Dallas and has very, very fond memories of TX. Anyway there are numerous postings of people offering livestock and people at their ranches; people with room for 40 people evacuating, the Governor has waived all state and local taxes on hotels, meals, etc for evacuees. This is all amazing.

My heartfelt thoughts and best wishes are with everyone in the midst of Harvey's wrath.

My husband said the rain gauges in the neighborhood measured over 8" of rain. He is out looking at the drainage ponds right now. I'm not sure if the sun is out, but it is bright outside and not raining right now.

Checking in regularly for news.......hope you all survive this with little to no damage!

We continue to get lots of rain. Our creek behind us has now come up considerably it went from lowest level to midway levels. That's not good. It's at 88 ft now when it gets to 90 we usually get flooding. Many bayous are already out of their banks.

Lots of damages where it hit landfall.

We had a pine tree that for some reason the entire top broke off and it is now down on our power line. The power line is on the ground under the tree. My internet cable is down on the ground also. We still have power and internet, not sure how. It has been reported so hopefully they will be here soon to get the power line off of the ground. We will not be going out there at all it could become energized and dangerous.

I don't think there's any way we will not flood again at this rate.

Here's a picture of our creek levels. This is directly behind my house.

Our thoughts are with you, Raven.

Keeping you in my prayers, Raven.

That is terrible Raven! Praying it stops before flood stage.

Raven I'm praying for you, that you do not flood.

Here south of Houston where I live it has pretty much not rained for three hours just a sprinkle here and there and the wind is minimal. So far all I will have to do is sweep the deck because a bunch of leaves fell when it did rain in the early AM.

I am so sorry, Raven. Prayers, hugs and hope to you, your family and neighbors.

So glad you are doing well there Lucille! I hope everyone is doing well. There's some really bad damages on TV in various areas. Thank God we are doing well. We just discovered a couple of wet spots in the ceiling which appears to be leaks. We have a new roof so not sure what is going on there.

Power company is here now. They turned our power off. It was a very dangerous situation. The main ground from the pole had snapped but the live power was still coming to the house. We are very lucky we didn't burn down or lose everything electric. Thank you lord!

It is not raining right now, these poor men have to get up that pole and deal with the electrical issues. So thankful they have responded. We had no idea how serious it was.

Thanks for the prayers and good wishes it's working!

Does somebody know how the weather is where marilyn c lives? Isn't she somewhere in the area too?

Yes she is down closer to the coast. I am north of Houston she is south. She is on chocolate Bayou. She usually doesn't flood when we do but this is a different situation. I think she was on Facebook and said she was OK yesterday???

So glad you're okay! Power and storms are a bad mix. Prayers continue.

Raven are you still ok? I've seen what think is your area mentioned in the tornado warnings these last few hours.

We had a wall cloud come through near us, but not overhead.

We are OK. These tornados are freaking popping up all over. Some serious damage for these poor people.

Right now here it's raining and lightening and thunder. 9pm

No kidding. There is one area near us that may have been hit twice.

Raven

• We just discovered a couple of wet spots in the ceiling which appears to
  be leaks. We have a new roof so not sure what is going on there.

If it if a normal single type roof, they are designed for rain falling more or less straight down. With strong winds the rain can be blown up under the shingles and some of that can then drip down onto the ceiling. Either that or if some of the shingles blow off then water can get in there.

Good luck and stay safe.

Just woke up to pounding rain, non stop lightning. Harvey was just late getting here but he has arrived.

I hope you got some good sleep. The alerts kept waking me up last night.

We're watching the news right now. How often do people need to be told not to drive on flooded streets and roadways? We just watched some idiot drive through and stall out. They are watching some other streets. The people put their hazards on and drive through. People have died in these situations in every single flood we've had.

Well unfortunately the creek is at the top of the bank so it looks definite that we will be flooding. We have been working like crazy pulling out drawers and moving furniture and doing everything we can in the house to protect what we can. I have stuff ready to go to the rv. I am just sick, actually nauseated.

I hope you are all OK in the area!

Raven, I'm so sorry. We feel so helpless with nothing we can do to help, I cannot imagine how you must feel. Please don't let yourself get sick - if you are able, get some rest. Both of you.

(((Raven)))

We had another tornado alert wake us up so got everyone out of bed to watch the weather.

We have water in the house! We are wet vacuuming as fast as we can. We are too old for this crap.

Oh no Raven I am so sorry.

Raven, I have been thinking of you....worried about you and all the others affected by the flood. I'm so sorry.

The bayou was still within the banks yesterday and even fell a little. I don't know what it is like now...won't know until daylight. No water in our house and except for puddles, no water in the yard.

Animals all okay. I got a baby squirrel yesterday...but don't know if he will make it. I am sure the wildlife center has literally hundreds that blew out of trees. I think they had 1200 after Hurricane Ike.

Jody thinks he is going to check the boats when it is daylight but I don't think he realizes how flooded every place is. One boat is on Gum Bayou and the other is in Seabrook. They should both be okay but need pumping out.

Marilyn I'm glad you and the critters are OK. Please tell Jody to be careful out there.

There is a lake at the end of the street where the street used to be. Further rain and I will be flooded, the garage first, because the house is pier and beam and is higher.

And it is raining.

Edit:

Just saw someone's mailbox, it is floating past the water in the street in front of my house.

Marilyn, good to hear you & your animals are doing alright. Here's a website showing how much rainfall our areas are getting: https://www.harriscountyfws.org/.

Unfortunately the bad news... they're predicting much more rain for the next 4-5 days :-( Although, I'm dry (I'm not home, staying at mom's apt. on 2nd floor), my house is flooded by now. If not, it will be with more rain coming.

The good news... I received a text from Verizon giving their customers in our area an extra 3GB to use in case of power outage. So, we would be able to receive weather alerts & warnings :o) I hope the other cell phone services are doing the same.

I wish that we could take some of the rain from you all down south. Prayers for all affected by the storm.

Marilyn, I am soooo glad to see that you posted. You, Jody and the animals stay safe.

I am glad that you let us know how you are, Marilyn. The rain just don't seem to let up. Have been hanging on the weather channel for two days now and wish I could do something, one feels so helpless. A couple of groups around here are planning to head your way as soon as it is advisable to to help with clean-up, but they need abler people than me. Keeping all of you in my thoughts.

I was amazed at the city official's warning to those that didn't heed advice to evacuate (Not sure what city he was in): Put your social-security number on your arm in indelible ink so that we can identify your body (those weren't his exact words, but the message). So frightening!

It's so good to hear from you, Marilyn. I so hope you will stay high and dry but if you don't, do you have a plan to get yourselves and your animals out? I can't even fathom what you all are going through. It seems Jody must be well enough to be moving around now--that's a good thing. Sending loads of prayers for everyone.

Raven.........thinking of you all the time.....checking in regularly for reports.....hope and pray so much that your beautiful "new" home doesn't get flooded!

This is my first hurricane. Apparently, the advice to write your social security number on your arm with a Sharpie has been given in past storms also particularly closer to the coast in places like Galveston. I thought it was a bit morbid when I heard that a couple of years ago, but it makes sense. The rescuers really can't help in many of the situations.

Glad to hear from you, Marilyn!

I hope that your situation continues to remain as it is now and that you come through this with no major problems or flooding. Take care.

Will you all check in please when you can? ntt_hou, adellabedella, Lucille, bossyvossy, Hareball, evatx, Terilyn ...and everyone else that I missed.

I read that Ravencajun had to be rescue evacuated and that Marilyn had knee deep water on her property. I am so worried about you all.

We've been lucky so far. Our ponds are getting higher, but if we can get a break in the rain, they may go down a bit. We are at one of the highest places in the area. We're just waiting. Some of my children's friends houses have been taking on water tonight in nearby neighborhoods. Their roads are flooded so they can't leave. Most have two story houses so they can still move up. So far, we do not have flooding on the roads in this neighborhood. The runoff areas are getting full. We have a two story house if we have to go up higher. We're just waiting and watching.

We tried to get one of dh's friends here earlier because his house is below two dams that will release water at 2 am. They couldn't make it, but did find a hotel with a room on an upper floor. They are safe.

I realize more and more that many people there are dealing with illness, dependence on medical equipment, medicines etc and how difficult it must be to obtain these things under your conditions. Saw a picture of elderly folks in a nursing home, sitting in water to their waists while waiting for evacuation.

Praying that you all receive the help and comfort you need, grace to deal with your situations.

Raven, I can't stop thinking of you. I wish we could help you out. Still praying.

PK ponder, any more news on Raven? Where did you read about it?

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4829202/dire-straits-for-the-people-in-the-houston-area?n=87

I'm not positive, but I think I've been hearing boats from a neighborhood north of me.

One of the local high schools has become a shelter. They are going to feed people from the school breakfasts and lunches that aren't being used this week. Other shelters that have opened up haven't had food.

I'm ok! Thank you for your concern. The hurricane was actually supposed to hit between here and Austin but shifted and headed toward Houston. There have been people and reporters asking people in Houston and near there why they didn't evacuate. Um because they didn't know! That storm shifted last minute and the poor people in those areas had no time to react. And the worst part is the storm is supposed to loop and head back around and dump more rain in those areas. There are so many helping each other. Getting their boats and rescuing people and pets. People and businesses opening up for people in need. Texans help each other out.

A lot of people evacuated and came here so it's a good thing the storm has not affect us with the exception of some rain off and on. Schools are starting today as scheduled. I told my mom and husband why not have some of the middle schools and high schools go volunteer at the shelters here in town and have the younger kids make toiletry kits at school for those in need?

well 56 hours before landfall, Harvey was merely a tropical depression. This one moved and changed fast. Glad to hear from you Hareball, Adellabedella, Raven and Marilyn today. If I feel sick over this so far away, I cannot imagine how you all feel.

Well, I've live in the Houston area most of my life, the worst I saw was IKE that wiped out our beach houses on Bolivar. No one has ever seen such flooding like this. Usually the flooding comes from the storm surge and the islands are evacuated and coastal neighborhoods. These people live inland and never expected it to rain and rain and rain and rain some more. I'm sure that every house that I'd ever lived in except my childhood home was flooded today. These are houses and areas that have never ever flooded before. So why didn't people evacuate? Because they didn't know it was going to do all this! This is unlike anything us Texans have ever seen before! You have to remember that us Texans that live around those areas have lived through many many storms and have never left our homes before.

Sending thoughts and prayers your way. I hope everyone gets to a safe place, including animals/pets.

Yes people east of where the hurricane originally hit did not know until the last minute. Harvey was supposed to hit San Antonio and Austin but shifted towards Houston and nearby, then just sat there. It has been a slow moving storm so it just sits and dumps rain.

I tried sending a tweet to some local weather stations reminding them to tell people to also look out for their pets. I just hope everyone and their pets are ok.

For those that didn't see my other thread. I am OK. My husband and I and Mia were rescued by boat yesterday. Currently we are at a neighbors house that doesn't flood. We have no vehicles they are completely under water. Our house is now under water to the roof, total devastation. The Rv also took in water and is probably pretty full.

The instructions given to all of us from the beginning was not to leave not to evacuate because we would cause road blocks and the ones on the coast being directly hit needed to be able to get out. This was not the track it was supposed to follow. This is of historical proportion we have reached the 800 year flood level. We passed the 500 years flood level. Last year we hit the 500 year level twice.

We are dry, have food for now and safe. We have no idea what our future holds. We have no vehicle so we can't leave. Moving won't take much because we have zero stuff.

So great to hear everyone is doing well. Terrilyn has anyone heard from her?

My phone died in the rescue so I lost my phone numbers.

Thanks everyone!

ravencajun Zone 8b TX I'm so glad you are ok. I'm sorry you've lost everything you spent the last year replacing. But you and your family are alive, safe and dry and that's what's important. I will keep you and your family and the lovely people providing shelter for you in my prayers.

Here is a Houston news station if you want to watch what we are watching live. https://www.click2houston.com/

There has been a lot of emphasis on pets. Some of the shelters are not taking them. The news station said even some shelters not taking pets are allowing them to stay in a covered area at the shelter and you can go stay out with them. Many people are donating extra kennels.

https://youtu.be/QZqZ5ruVCT0

Just to see the amount of water we are dealing with. And increasing by the hour. News just mentioned biblical proportions!