Being raised on the Texas gulf coast, I have been through my share of natural disasters. Tropical storms, hurricanes, floods, divorces.
The first I can remember was Hurricane Carla in, 1961, I believe it was. We lived in a house on cinder blocks on the north side of Houston at that time. We had a ditch in front of the house with a concrete culvert for the oyster shell driveway that led up to the house. The yard had lots of trees, Pecan and China Berry. Good climbing trees for a boy of 6. We had to leave that place for Carla. We stayed with some friends of my parents that had a new brick home. Yeah, I got it at the time: "I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!"
Well, that's what Carla almost did! I don't remember much being so young. But I do remember the day after the storm going back home. The ditch was a river. Some of my favorite trees had been stripped of branches or broken down. The house had what seemed like to me, to have two feet of water standing in it. Windows had been broken and the rain flooded the inside of the house. I remember my mom crying. Dad called some friends for help to clean up. We kids went to play in the water.
This was also the single moment that put a Houston CBS newsman, Dan Rather, in the national spotlight and took him all the way to where he is now.
Since that time many storms and hurricanes have hit the Houston area and Gulf Coast close enough to cause at the least guarded concern. Tropical storm Allison of June 2001, not even a hurricane, is still in peoples minds here.
I watched the news coverage for Hurricane Charley that hit Florida on August 13th, a Friday. I had had some romantic plans of moving to Florida, living close to the beach, seeing white sand everyday for a change. I have done some rethinking about that. I don't need to leave Texas. If a storm or hurricane comes here and poses a threat to life and property, it is possible to go inland and escape the wrath of it, maybe even saving your life. Charley ripped across Florida---coast to coast. I feel for those people. Some lost everything they had.
I think I'll stay here on the Gulf Coast of Texas. I don't need to be a statistic.
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