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Hi folks! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers, the texts and emails. Sorry to be so slow responding. As Vol Texan posted, we are okay from a safety standpoint, but the entire first floor is was pretty much destroyed. It actually came in three waves (no pun intended). My days have run together and I have to look at my phone to be sure. Everyone I talk too is doing the same thing.

Harvey made landfall on Friday and we didn't come close to having water in the house. Since it never got close during Alicia (2001) or Ike (2008), we weren't worried at all. By Friday evening, the rain had stopped and Martha and I went to dinner at our usual Mexican restaurant. It was full and everyone was talking about how it was "much to do about nothing" in our area.

Then came Saturday morning when we watched the water getting higher than we had ever seen. We got 3" of water in the house that day. The water receded, I swept it out, and we started cleanup. The power had gone out in the early morning hours, but we had water throughout the ordeal. That meant we could shower and flush toilets. Sunday and Monday we cleaned up as much as we could with rain most of those days. We were living on the 2nd floor with plenty of food and water. It was not pleasant, but we were so much better off than many folks. Having minimal communications was rough.

At 3:33AM Tuesday morning, I heard a "deuce and a half" across the street. I got up and saw our neighbors being rescued from their one story home. I knew this was bad because Barry and I talked on Monday and he said he was not leaving! I looked down the stairs with a flashlight and saw what was later measured as 15" of water. The home that had survived Alison and Ike without a drop of water was now flooded and it was a new day.

I don't recall what day the water finally receded from our back door so I could start sweeping water again. I think it was late Tuesday or possibly Wednesday. I started ripping out carpet/padding and found that to be a job for a much younger man! The church crew of 12 came on Thursday and worked about 10 hours. They were God-sent because I could never have gotten all of the drywall out before mold started to grow. They removed all of the drywall and wet insulation from the 4' level and below, moved furniture to the street, and started cleanup. Five of crew were from Dallas (in their 20's) and Joe is a construction superintendent. His knowledge and leadership was invaluable.

There is so much left to do I don't know where to start, literally. I got the priority items done and now I'm at the cleanup, throw out, reorganize and repair stage. This is going to take months.

The insurance adjuster will be here tomorrow and I'll start looking for a contractor who 1) is a Texas contractor; and 2) really is bonded. I'm going to call the bonding company to confirm. If something goes wrong, I want Texas company to sue here in Texas.

Oh yeah, both cars were flooded and are still sitting in the garage waiting for the insurance company to tow them and officially tell us they are a total loss.

In spite of this, we are alive, well, healthy and blessed by God. Through the worst of it, we were safe, dry, well-fed and had beds. So many people lost everything. I saw the best in people - neighbors I didn't even know became comrades offering food, water, shelter and strong backs. (Only about 12 houses in our 350 home neighborhood flooded.) One young girl walked up to me with tears in her eyes and gave me a hug. Total strangers became close friends in an instant. It's hard to say there is anything good about a devastating hurricane like Harvey, but I saw a small part of humanity at its best. TV reports show this was/is the same throughout this great State. God I love Texas and Texans!

I'll still be pretty scarce on the Forum for a while. I'll try to check in in the evenings, but I may be too exhausted to type. I want to express my appreciation to the Moderators for doing what they always do to make the Forum a community.

Thanks for thinking of us folks.
Chas.