I don’t know how many of you out of state have been following the news to see how bad it is down here, but let me tell y’all, the devastation is SO real. It is astounding how many people have lost EVERYTHING. I actually read something today that said that during Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans got about 6.5 trillion gallons of water, and that Houston got about 14.5 trillion gallons from Hurricane Harvey, just to put it in perspective. Our shelters are overwhelmed and overcrowded, but it has been truly heart-warming to see the city of Houston come together and do everything they can to help each other during this time.
Update:
We are still safe and dry. We are so thankful that the flood waters only crept into our neighborhood and never even came close to reaching our house. A neighborhood less than a mile north of us completely flooded yesterday, and ironically, it was one of the neighborhoods we strongly considered moving into last year. We lost power on Sunday night around 10:30 and still don’t have it. The rumor going around is that workers are unable to get to the necessary place to repair it due to the flooding in the neighborhood I mentioned above. Yesterday we were unable to get out of our neighborhood very far, aside from a short 3 minute drive to some friends’ house, where we went for a few hours to let our kids play, eat some dinner and charge our phones. This morning the waters had receded enough for us to make it to my parents’ house, so we headed there as soon as we woke up as they still have power.
How You Can Help:
- You can donate to the American Red Cross by clicking this link or texting HARVEY to 90999.
- You can donate to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
- You can donate to the Texas Diaper Bank. Diapers are not provided by disaster relief agencies, and I know many shelters here are in need of them.
- You can donate to Americares to help people are in need of aid, medicine, and basic supplies.
- If you are in the Houston area, the shelters are in need of many items. I have heard many specifically need baby items like diapers, wipes, formula, and infant clothing. They also need toiletries, wheelchairs, bottled water, individually packaged foods, pillows, towels, blankets, toys/books, socks and undergarments, “comfort clothing” for adults (sweatpants, sweatshirts, etc., and I have heard they really need larger sizes right now). You can find a list of shelters and more about items they need here.
Thank you all so much for all of your thoughts, prayers, and sweet messages you have sent me on social media. Please help where you can. Even a $10 donation makes a difference.
xo, Loren
