I checked the forum specifically for this reason. I used to live in Mo. City. Praying for y'all

There are a couple of lawn care folks in Houston and the Woodlands areas that must be in bad shape. The Woodlands is higher ground, but 30 inches of rain in 2 days is a lot to take in.

My wife and her sister have a townhouse type condo in Rockport which lost some siding and, of course, all the rooftop equipment and antennas. It is on the third street back from the ocean, but seemed to be protected by the other buildings to the north. There was no protection from the south. My sister in law lives about 1/4 mile back from the water. She spent the weekend with us. Her house was protected by a neighborhood of gigantic live oak trees. The trees were stripped bare, but the houses are completely intact. Falling tree limbs was the cause of damage back in her neighborhood. According to the emergency worker people she knows in town, they will not have water and electricity for 5-6 weeks.

Rockport is a sleepy fishing village with some starving artists and vacation fishermen. With all the damage, it will never be the same again. The best they can hope for is urban renewal. The worst is that people will abandon the debris that once was their home and never return.

We got stuck at my brother's house a few miles from home Saturday night, hoping to get back to home today & check on everything. We're 2 streets away from the lake, so might be pretty high

Hope all of you in Texas are safe.

Prayers for our Texan friends.

Our house was spared, but the entrances to our neighborhood are impassable. My neighbor got us in using his giant jeep, but my 4x4 nissan frontier is parked at the local middle school until towne lake starts to drain away from our section. The lake did it's job & held the water away from houses, but many of our fellow Houstonians were not as lucky. Thank you all for the we'll wishes, but please send your prayers to our less fortunate neighbors from this point forward, the rivers & dams are at a critical point right now. Growing up in Katy, I lived in the shadow of barker & addicks reservoirs most of my life, as they go so goes the rest of the city

I can't stop thinking about you guys down there. Stay safe.

You never know where volunteers might come from, so I'm broadcasting this out. My sister in law lives in Rockport, so she returned to assess her damages yesterday. Probably the biggest surprise (assuming that hurricane damage is not a surprise to you) is that HEB, the Texas food giant, is giving away food in their parking lots. They have become a gathering place for volunteers looking to help. The next biggest surprise is she found people from as far away as Pennsylvania down there to help out. You may know someone with a little time on their hands and is willing to carry rubble out to the street for later pickup. All they need is sensible shoes/boots and a pair of gloves, although chainsaws would be a help, too. Gas up the car on the way in, and have a place to stay outside the area. If you might enter a building, you'll need flashlights or headlamps.

90% of humanity has an innate chord inside them to help others in time of dire need. We are all in this together, and that is neat as hell to hear.

Most of the city will be back to work tomorrow, but the reservoirs are still at risk for a while longer as they drain & release. One of my lifelong friends lives just west of the barker reservoir & has 4 feet of water in his house. They don't expect it to drain for weeks or months, so as lucky as we have been, there's still a long way to go for a lot of Houstonians.

Please keep us posted on the most helpful charities in your area. We are thinking of you and are looking for ways to help. Texans appear to be the most resilient beings on the face of the planet. You all are looking strong on the news; despite the tremendous stress, that the environment has sent your way.

And, if you have a specific request, ie boots, chainsaws and a specific address to send them to...we will see what we can do. Our hearts go out to you. Not sure how this works on a public forum.

While our condo unit was boarded and got no damage at all, the unit above us was blown out. Last Thursday we realized what was going on with water damage seeping from above. I flew down there with my SIL to get stuff out of the condo. I spent the night and continued emptying the unit Friday. Saturday I returned with a U-Haul to pack it out to higher and less humid storage. We stripped it down including toilets and light fixtures.

But anyway, that gave me some time to evaluate the relief efforts. I don't know how they cleared the streets so fast, but they did it in a couple days. Once the streets were cleared utility truck convoys showed up from over a thousand miles away. They reset telephone poles six at a time working their way through the area. It was amazing to see. Also after the streets were cleared, food trucks began to arrive. They were paid for by companies and private donations. Church trucks from all over arrived with collections of water, clothes, and stuff they thought would be helpful.

I was there for 4 of the last 5 days and never saw a baby, so diaper donations are piling up and going unused. Also diaper donations without baby wipes are not that helpful. The two go together. Wipes are about the only way to clean your hands, so those are getting used very fast.

The trees are stripped so there is no shade left. Workers need sunscreen, hats, and long sleeved t-shirts.

Workers need gloves. The outside helpers have gloves, but the locals need gloves in all sizes. XXL size is needed.

Generators
are needed until they get electricity back on. I don't know how best
to make those available. They are not cheap, but the oil companies have
them by the hundreds for oil rigs.

60% of Rockport is
immediately obvious to be a total loss. Another 20% is quickly
deteriorating from mold. The remaining 20% was protected by trees or
boarding up. There are houses side by side where one looks like it's
brand new and the one next door looks like a beaver dam of sticks.

These two houses are two houses apart from each other on the water's edge. One looks melted and the other looks fine. The one that looks fine is not perfect, but certainly they will recover quickly.

Quote: "The next biggest surprise is she found people from as far away as
Pennsylvania down there to help out. You may know someone with a little
time on their hands and is willing to carry rubble out to the street for
later pickup. "

I don't know the laws in your area, but in North Carolina, I know that people that go to help in the initial response must be "First Responder" certified. I work with our church and know we are having responder classes in the next couple of week.

I am wondering if I buy Home Depot or Lowe's Gift cards, are the items available in your area? Walmart is bragging about raising 25 million for Texas. I used to manage shopping centers...and Walmart....was about as selfish as a corporation can be. However, don't take my experience/skepticism as proof. I have lived through an ice storm that knocked out power for ten days in December. And 1989 Hugo that knocked down about every third tree aka power in Charlotte. But I have never seen the water devastation that has hit Texas via Harvey. I do think this storm has given our U.S. President pause on eliminating the FEMA devastation budget. God (or whatever higher power you pray/cuss at) please Help Us to be a kinder society. Irma is heading towards shore.

I don't know the laws in your area, but in North Carolina, I know that
people that go to help in the initial response must be "First Responder"
certified. I work with our church and know we are having responder
classes in the next couple of week.

No such thing here. Any able bodied person can help.

I think Texas is getting under control. It is incredible to see the changes on a day to day basis. From Friday to Monday, for example in Rockport, they have running water, but they don't have electricity for the sewer pumps, so you can water the lawn, as if you needed to. Some parts of the city have electricity and LOTS of house size generators have appeared.

Now get ready for Florida. If it hits as a Cat 5 storm, there won't be anything left to recover. But if it hits as a 4 or less, they will need lots of manpower to move stuff out of the roads. If you go early to work the streets, bring your own tire repair kits. There will be roofing nails everywhere. Bring your own water, Poweraid, boxes of granola sticks, jerky, sun screen, a lawn chair, maybe an umbrella to get out of the sun, and hand wipes to clean up. If you have access to a Skid Steer or Bobcat with a root grapple attachment, bring that.

Houston is pretty much back to business as usual for those of us who didn't flood. Those with flood damage are getting the help they need but obviously their lives are forever changed. It will be a while before the reservoirs stop releasing & the roads open back up completely.

Damn right Texans bounce back, it's like no place on earth & I'm blessed call it home.

First responder certification around here means you have a tall enough truck to handle the water & a reliable sidearm to handle anybody dumb enough to loot. Waders & gloves are bonus.

The local Lowe's & HD were empty for a while, but have restocked. The city of Houston has a donation site for stuff like that, but corpus Christi & Rockport definitely have more need of building materials. Thanks to all for the good vibes & I can't wait to mow my lawn again tomorrow!