TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | o c t o b e r 2 0 1 7 20 We called 911 again to make sure we were still on the evacuation list. They rec- ommended that someone stand outside. As Matt stood on the bench in our front yard, the kids, each wearing a garbage bag raincoat, began to complain of the heat and ask when EMS was finally going to get here. It was then that the stress finally got to me, and I began to cry. I didn't want to alarm the kids, so I walked into their bath- room, cried for a minute, wiped my tears and resumed the wait. As a boat went by, we could hear EMS workers shouting to Matt, telling him we were next. I decided we would wait on the stairs with our two trash bags so we would be ready when the boat returned. Water was now at the top of the baseboards. We heard the boat and saw lights on the front porch, and for a minute there was a surge of excitement as the kids and I realized we were being rescued. As Matt and an EMS worker entered the house, a rush of water came with them. I was wear- ing rain boots, but I had to step down to get into the boat at my front porch. Water poured into my boots. The EMS workers helped us into the boat. The kids did not want to get wet, but the benches in the boat had sitting water from the rain. As we drove away from the house, we saw other people shining flash- lights or standing in their garages asking for help. They were told the same thing we were—that EMS would come back for them. It was still raining, so the water was stinging my face as I gripped my belong- ings and the children. The kids thought this boat ride was the most fun they'd had all day. Meanwhile, I was in awe of the devastation around me. I saw cars parked in driveways with water up to the tops of their wheels, water up to my neighbors' front doors. The water on the street was at least four feet deep. As we headed out of our neighbor- hood, I saw a fleet of emergency vehicles at the top of the hill. The boat took us as far as it could go, and then another set of EMS workers helped us out of boat and onto a large dump truck. Again, the kids were excited to ride in a fun vehicle. Everyone's socks and shoes were soaking. In the dump truck with us were two men and a family with a young girl and a baby. We made small talk, asking what was fast becoming the standard set of questions: What street do you live on? How much water was in your house when you left? The dump truck dropped us off at a gas station where about 30 people—and several pets—lined up to wait for trans- port. At this point, it was close to mid- night, way past my own bed time, but the children were actively talking. My young- est was fearful that one of the dogs would break free. A large S.W.A.T. vehicle pulled up, and a line of wet people climbed on. In just two hours, my children had ridden on a boat, in the back of a dump truck and, now, in a S.W.A.T. vehicle. These were the best hours of their lives. We headed to a church that was being used as an emergency shelter. We were thankful for a dry room, a bathroom and the chance to change into dry clothes. However, we would have to spend the night on a thin carpet. By now it was 1 a.m., and many people were still reeling from all the drama. Sleep wasn't immedi- ate. I slept for maybe two hours. The next morning, we found out that our neighborhood Facebook group had become a "help line" for people who needed to be rescued. People said there were five boats deployed there. The neighborhood made it into a KHOU video. By 10:30 a.m., we were on the move again, riding on a Fort Bend School District bus to a shelter in Manvel, about an hour away. The kids were not impressed by this ride. We drove near our neighborhood to avoid some flooding—how ironic—and saw our dump truck from the previous night waiting at the top of the hill. We later learned that Missouri City Fire and EMS spent the next few days rescuing many of our neighbors. Those guys are awesome! At the intersection of Highway 6 and Jackson, 11, and Daniel, 9, read to each other while the family waited for a rescue boat. W H E N H A R V E Y H I T

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