Experienced the Harvey Flood, a rare event in a thousand years

Photo courtesy/Shu Shu

In August 2017, the days when Hurricane Harvey made landfall were really dark and dark. I completely lost the concept of time, and my heart surged with the flood. After the disaster, I calmed down, looked through the photos on my phone, and recalled this disaster that may set a record in American history...

Can there be peace in disaster?

On August 24, I followed my husband's instructions to prepare for the coming hurricane and store drinking water and food. However, I felt a little disapproving because I had never experienced the power of a hurricane. When my husband came back from get off work, he went to buy sandbags, tarps, waterproof tape, etc. with great fanfare, and worked with the children to build defense projects outside the house to protect the home.

On the evening of the 25th, it started to rain violently outside. I cooked a sumptuous dinner for everyone, because in the next few days there might be a power outage and water supply, so we would have to rely on dry food to survive. During the meal, the lights in the restaurant flickered on and off for a few times, thinking that the power was about to go out, so I quickly let the children finish the hot meals, and then quickly took a hot bath... Only when they are lacking, people will remember What we have every day is so precious. In the early morning, as soon as the husband woke up, he turned on the light and said: Thank God, we still have electricity. I thought to myself, 365 days a year, how many thanks do we owe God?

▲On August 24, I went shopping and saw so much water in the supermarket. I laughed at my husband for being too nervous.

The Category 4 hurricane has been downgraded to Category 1 as of this morning, with heavy rainfall expected over the next few days. There was almost no damage in our area, but about fifty homes ten miles away had their roofs, garages, and windows damaged, but luckily there were no casualties. We continued to receive multiple tornado warnings that day. Each time, I hid in the cloakroom while my father read out the time in an emotional voice. Along with the piercing sirens that sounded from time to time on his cell phone, I wondered if the children would play house. feeling.

In the next few days, the disaster became increasingly severe. We tightened protection at home and couldn't help but worry about our friends. The images of monstrous floods on TV seemed like the end of the world. I was moved by the government and private rescue teams who were not afraid to go against the grain in the face of danger. I was excited for the families who were rescued. I shed tears and heartbroken for the unfortunate people who died, especially the family of six, with four children under the age of 10, who disappeared into the rushing water with the truck. Sixteen years old, and two elderly people, grandparents...

In such complicated emotions, one head seemed not enough, so my husband suddenly made a joke: If you want to practice joy, God will give you various challenges.

▲On August 24, the sandbags were leaking, and the children used pillowcases to add another layer of protection.

▲On August 25, the hurricane arrived as expected. The family enjoyed time together in the house. The sound of wind and rain outside emphasized the warmth and tranquility of the home.

I'm speechless. God, a once-in-a-millennium Hurricane Harvey flood challenge my joy? This test question is too difficult!

But after calming down and looking back at the rollercoaster of emotions these past few days, I feel that in the face of disaster, I still maintained the place of joy deep in my heart—the eternal promises given by God. Otherwise, why would my husband thank me so many times - dear, thank you for always staying calm and optimistic, doing what you need to do calmly and methodically, and we didn't quarrel at all!

During the whole process, I really experienced the beautiful words of stability, peace, trust, touching, and comfort. The sentence "When the floods come, the Lord sits as King" is my greatest reassurance. However, I only gave myself 80 points - the deduction points were all on the 27th.

On August 27, water flooded the streets, approaching the front door step by step. At night, the news was that the nearby river dam might burst, so my husband began to strengthen the protection of the front and rear doors of the garage, and moved in bricks from the flower garden so that they could be used to cushion the furniture when the water flooded the mountain. For about five minutes, I was filled with frustration, annoyance, and confusion. "The bedroom and TV room have just been replaced with new furniture. My husband and the children put a lot of effort into installing the bookcases themselves. I also spent several days slowly sorting them out... God, if you had known this, you really should have If you had stopped me from going through all this trouble earlier, I wouldn’t have felt so bad if the flood had damaged the old furniture!”

▲On August 27, it was possible to sail a boat outside the house. The husband and his daughter pretended to be on vacation at the "seaside" together.

Then I thought about it again. At this moment, tens of millions of families have been forced to evacuate their homes, abandoning everything, wandering around in various shelters with limited identity documents and necessities, and some people's lives are in danger, but I am complaining about what my husband said 50% Possibility of water intrusion? People are naturally afraid of trouble. They even feel that they deserve to be spared all the troubles, big or small, and that they deserve to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the years step by step! After some reflection, I apologized to God and thanked Him for His protection and care. I believed that even if we got flooded, He would still help us deal with it. So the wave subsided.

While I was adding protection to the bedroom door from the inside, my husband came in and said to me, "I want you to know that our house insurance does not include flood insurance, so if water gets in, there is no insurance compensation..." What?! ! ! I took it for granted that house insurance would cover everything, so I just thought it would be more troublesome and I didn’t worry about financial issues yet. What should I do now? ! Do you have to pay out of pocket to repair floors, furniture, and walls? ! How much will this cost? ! !

However, my husband believes that this community is located on a higher ground and has never been flooded before, so there is no need to add flood insurance. I can’t blame him. Who could have predicted the Hawei flood that would only happen once in a thousand years like a prophet? After thinking about it like this, I began to pray and surrender calmly, and also thought that maybe God could give me a small miracle? So my husband and I made the last resort (basically knowing it was in vain): we called the house insurance company and left a message telling us that there was no water in the house, but we wanted to add flood insurance, but we had to wait ten days for the result; I looked for insurance companies online to see if I could still get flood insurance under the current circumstances, but I was told that they currently do not accept applications from Texas residents at all. Well, totally understandable, who could be that stupid?

After all we could do, we were exhausted. At that time, we let go of all our worries and anxieties, because we knew they were completely beyond our control. We prayed and surrendered, asking God to give us wisdom and strength. Face all possibilities.

▲On August 27, as the flood approached, we began to cover the front door with a tarpaulin and put sandbags on it.

Who blocked the hole in the sky?

It is truly God's special grace. When I woke up, I found that the house was actually dry. There was still a few inches of tolerance in the front and back yards. The rain at night must not have been very heavy. Mr. No. 28 has been concerned about the water situation on Facebook all day long, to see if anyone needs to be evacuated, and tells them that they can come to our house. Although we may still be flooded on the first floor, it is definitely not life-threatening and they can escape to the second floor. That night, my husband went to a sister's house to pick her up with her three children, because the entire first floor of her house might be flooded, and no one knew how to swim.

After an adventure, everyone was so tired that they slept until dawn. On the afternoon of the 29th, after I took a nap, I opened my eyes and saw sunlight through the gap in the window that was sealed with tape! ! ! In disbelief, I jumped up and ran out to tell everyone that the sun was out! Who blocked the hole in the sky? In the evening, our two families cooked a big pot of instant noodles and opened champagne to celebrate!

Instant noodles with champagne? This combination is quite strange. What you eat and drink really isn’t that important, is it?

Early the next morning, the blue sky and white clouds made people want to sing loudly. The local dam's water level was expected to drop from 57.5 feet to 56 feet. Most of the water on the road in front of our house had receded. My sister was happily picked up by her husband. Made a home…….

In the past few days as Hurricane Harvey has been raging, ground and air traffic has been paralyzed, hundreds of thousands of residents have been without power, and the warm and comfortable homes of tens of thousands of people have suddenly turned into a vast ocean, with patrol ships shuttled across it to search for trapped people... Scenes like this seem to have only been seen in TV disaster movies, but now they are happening around us. But we are on the verge of a high risk. The power has not been cut off, the water has not been cut off, and floods have not entered the house for several days. I really don't know if I deserve such grace.

▲On August 29, the clouds were still thick in the afternoon, and the sun shone on the streets where the floods had not yet receded.

touching scene

Many rescue scenes moved people to tears, especially the convoys and fleets organized by the people themselves. When the floods were flooding, when the affected people were choosing their own way to evacuate and just wanted to leave Houston quickly, they drove backwards into danger. The area saves others, and the brilliance of humanity shines amidst the torrential floods.

There was a father who had just been rescued by a helicopter and placed on a road without water. He only brought a backpack and held his son, who was about five or six years old. He hurriedly said to the interview camera in the rain: "God is so good. We Very grateful."

Interviewer: "You are like this, and you are still grateful?"

Father: "Yes, yes. Although our clothes are gone, our furniture is gone, and everything is gone, we are saved. We are still grateful and thank God."

Interviewer: "Where are you going next?"

Father: "I don't know yet, let's go now!"

When he left with a smile, I burst into tears again. When everything external to a person is taken away, the peace and joy brought by his true faith are as dazzling as gold.

▲Screen captured from TV news, a father and son were rescued by a helicopter in the rain, running gratefully towards the unknown future.

Thoughts from hurricanes

People are very small in front of the hurricane, which also prompts thinking about life. I remember that on the way home after buying emergency supplies, my husband and I were chatting and both remembered some of the teachings of the Bible. The teacher was thinking of Jesus’ parable about building a house on the rock: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice will be likened to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. , the house will never collapse, because its foundation is built on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-26) When faced with danger, the government issued many warnings and evacuation orders through television and the Internet, and most people heard them, but they were always heard. Some people hear but don't act, putting themselves in danger or even losing their lives. We read the Bible, listen to sermons, and know a lot of what Jesus said, but if we only know but do not act, then think about the plight of a house built on sand during the two days of storms.

When I saw that all the items in the supermarket were sold out, I immediately thought of the story of the virgin preparing lamp oil to welcome the groom. In order to cope with three or four days of power outage and water outage, which is only possible, people will try their best to hoard items to maintain physical life; but what about the soul that will last forever? What preparations should we make to enter the wonderful kingdom of eternity?

Today's highly developed technology allows people to predict the time and destructive power of certain natural disasters, and people still have time to make some preparations; but in the face of doomsday catastrophes that science cannot predict, without warnings , how should we prepare ourselves in every ordinary day?

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father… Therefore be alert, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come… Therefore , but also be prepared, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:36-44)

Author profile Shu Shu is a housewife who has 9 children with her husband. Anchor of the "Immortal Legend of Love" column on Houston's KHCB radio station, and operator of the self-media WeChat public account "A Beam of Light".