Cardude in Harvey bullseye

As to medical, a lot of people without their medications. A lot needing basic care. We have found ourselves really wishing we had our medical kits from our boats.

There are many here who need to leave. Go where it's safe health wise and where you can get care. But the ones who have stuck around won't leave. They say it's all they've got and do you tell them that all they've got right now is nothing, rubble with no repair in the near future? They're holding onto something that isn't any more.

Texas Medicaid is already overwhelmed. This will effect the medical care of kids and of elderly throughout the state. Medicaid rooms in nursing homes were already full. Waiting lists for certain programs were already months, even years.

The medical condition with the largest immediate rise will be PTSD and very few will get treatment for it.

Who will stay? Who will come back? Who should or shouldn't?

What will be rebuilt? What should be? How?

What can be done so this number of people are never hurt in the same way again? I'm only asking rhetorically as I don't want to start a political debate. I just ask that we all think about it on our own.

None of us can know what is right for anyone else. However, there's a presumption being made that rebuilding, that returning or staying is right for everyone and in everyone's best interest. It's not just questionable in that regard, it's impossible.

An example of the things people are going through. Small shops catering to tourists. Perhaps had their inventories partially insured but the building owner had no windstorm insurance.

There are many schools which won't reopen this school year. The districts are depending on having fewer students and being able to fit them in other schools.

I've talked to people who say it's their home and they'll do whatever they must to stay there and talked to others who just want to get out and go somewhere, anywhere, else.

There's an emotional and mental turmoil that is so very stressful and difficult. I talk to people and see people experiencing it but still can't possibly know how it feels to them. I've had people cry in my arms and wanted to say I understood what they were going through but instead had to say to them, "I can't possibly understand it but I do know it must be a horrible experience."

A psychologist compared it to losing a close family member and the grieving process one must go through there. The five stages of grief are:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Most have to go through all five steps and most of the people today are still in some degree of denial. Some think they know what is ahead, but in denial are making it sound a lot less overwhelming than it really is.

In a way we feel guilty leaving tomorrow but at the same time they have so much coming their way now from all directions and they're in a decent survival mode while rebuilding won't really start soon. We'll keep in touch and come back when the time is right.

We'd only been to this area once before. We know we only saw a small part of those suffering.

We thank the people of the area for welcoming us and opening up to us. You've gained out continued love and concern for your futures.

This post is from both of us.

Band and Wifey,

Were y'all able to go to any of the very small communities that were hit hard but have little or no municipal government to help out? Places like Bayside near Refugio or Tovoil near Rockport? It looks like many of the structures there were self-built and suffered big damage. Plus I think those communities have a very high rate living at or below poverty level.

Embarrassingly, it seems like the two of you have seen and done more than I have to help victims of this storm. I've been selfishly preoccupied with getting my own/sister's/parent's house back in order but really haven't done much to help others except for some donations.

cardude01 said:

Band and Wifey,5

Were y'all able to go to any of the very small communities that were hit hard but have little or no municipal government to help out? Places like Bayside near Refugio or Tovoil near Rockport? It looks like many of the structures there were self-built and suffered big damage. Plus I think those communities have a very high rate living at or below poverty level.

Embarrassingly, it seems like the two of you have seen and done more than I have to help victims of this storm. I've been selfishly preoccupied with getting my own/sister's/parent's house back in order but really haven't done much to help others except for some donations.

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That is not selfish, it's reality.

Get your own affairs above the stuggle line first.

Being distracted will make you less effective, and worst of all, when you help and aren't appreciated, it can make you resentful.

And I dont mean appreciated in the egotistical sense, just when you help and the help is mistreated, wasted, diverted, etc...... it make you feel betrayed.

True. This hurricane has been distracting. We got hit personally but not all that hard-- it's been hard for me to focus.

To add to the fun, we are moving our college-age son back to UH in Houston today to start the semester. UH is located near downtown and is next to a very low income area, so I will see how those folks are coping. Maybe I can help there.

Cardude - not selfish - pragmatic. Who's in a better position to quickly evaluate and provide appropriate assistance to your family? You or somebody with a good heart from 200 miles away?

Your efforts relieved the "recovery effort" of that amount of resources (charitable or commercial) that would have been devoted to your family members. There's a lot of systemic friction in recovery - mostly due to figuring out who needs what and where. You cut through all that - more efficient. Pat yourself on the back!

Past experience tells me you'll have many opportunities to do good deeds for others in the coming weeks and months. Recovery is a process, not an event.

cardude01 said:

Embarrassingly, it seems like the two of you have seen and done more than I have to help victims of this storm. I've been selfishly preoccupied with getting my own/sister's/parent's house back in order but really haven't done much to help others except for some donations.

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Wrong thinking.

By helping your family you are freeing up resources that can go to others that don't have family to help out. I think that the more quickly folks can get their own situations figured out, the quicker the entire region will recover. Don't fall into the common pit of feeling guilty because others suffered worse than you.

cardude01 said:

Band and Wifey,

Were y'all able to go to any of the very small communities that were hit hard but have little or no municipal government to help out? Places like Bayside near Refugio or Tovoil near Rockport? It looks like many of the structures there were self-built and suffered big damage. Plus I think those communities have a very high rate living at or below poverty level.

Embarrassingly, it seems like the two of you have seen and done more than I have to help victims of this storm. I've been selfishly preoccupied with getting my own/sister's/parent's house back in order but really haven't done much to help others except for some donations.

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You've done exactly what you should have done and what we would have done had we lived there. We just had the freedom. Yes, we spent time in the small towns and the smaller ones, often not sure where we were. We saw the type structures you saw and met many people living in poverty. We're just about to take off now and still trying to sort through what we saw and experienced.

There's an incredible outpouring from caring people now. Too bad we didn't all care more before the hurricane and tropical storm. I hope lessons are learned. While we weren't in South Florida when Andrew hit, many of the issues there were similar. No one cared about Florida City or even Homestead and communities like Country Walk were built with clearly inadequate hurricane protection. Today that's changed. As to the flooding, Houston had clear warnings from other storms. I worry now about the people there dealing with bacteria, mold and toxic chemicals. I think we'll not look at every coastal town a bit different, wondering "what if."

dhays said:

Don't fall into the common pit of feeling guilty because others suffered worse than you.

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I'd tell him the exact same except it's a lot easier said than done. There are eight of us plus two and a half who are leaving with us and we all feel guilty right now and know we shouldn't. We all need to feel lucky and blessed but not guilty as we're not the cause of their suffering. It wasn't us or them. Sounds so logical and one's wise mind understands it but our emotional mind struggles with it.

It has NOTHING to do with caring and everything to do with experience, economy, and the roll of the dice.

EVERYONE here (in Tx. and La.) cares and always have.

EVERYONE in FL cared before andrew rolled through and always had. I personally dug my father put of his house in Perrine. He damned sure cared.

Stop with the self gratification.

Yet another amazing example of what can result from courage, conviction and leadership when it really counts.

The inside story of what it took to keep a Texas grocery chain running in the chaos of Hurricane Harvey

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/insi...LKs62Rg&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=34vdUimcOTE7U1

LarryM said:

Yet another amazing example of what can result from courage, conviction and leadership when it really counts.

The inside story of what it took to keep a Texas grocery chain running in the chaos of Hurricane Harvey

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/insi...LKs62Rg&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=34vdUimcOTE7U1

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Before I opened the link I knew it was HEB. Largest family owned grocery company in the country, perhaps the world. They are great. I worked for them as a part time hobby job after retirement, in Fort Worth. Not their first Hurricane rodeo.

what_barnacles said:

It has NOTHING to do with caring and everything to do with experience, economy, and the roll of the dice.

EVERYONE here (in Tx. and La.) cares and always have.

EVERYONE in FL cared before andrew rolled through and always had. I personally dug my father put of his house in Perrine. He damned sure cared.

Stop with the self gratification.

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I'll rephrase to they and us didn't reflect the caring through our actions. Things like a stronger flood control plan and things like windstorm coverage in all homeowners policies and stronger building regulations. I personally just visited Rockport earlier but didn't see the risk that was there because I was just a tourist and not thinking of the people living there.

So, it's not self gratification as I include myself. South Florida cared but didn't turn the caring into action before Andrew. Didn't have the building codes, didn't enforce those they had. I'm not referring to the victims not caring. Certainly not your father. So, I'm not really talking about caring, but taking actions based on that caring.

I'm simply talking about actions to prevent a recurrence and actions in other areas to protect against this level of damage. I don't live in Texas and have no input into what is done there. I just hope for change. I do believe in learning from tragedies like this. They don't have to happen to the extent of this one.

Larry, when I clicked your link, linked in logged me in as you somehow... Have I ever mentioned how much I hate linked in?

LarryM said:

Yet another amazing example of what can result from courage, conviction and leadership when it really counts.

The inside story of what it took to keep a Texas grocery chain running in the chaos of Hurricane Harvey

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/insi...LKs62Rg&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=34vdUimcOTE7U1

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There were some incredible efforts from all I've seen, most of which we didn't directly witness, but some we did. HEB was one. Lowe's efforts to help were very impressive. Mattress Mack was one. Quiktrip stepped up too. There were many who took in neighbors, store owners who let people move in.

Courage, conviction, and action might be how I'd word it. People didn't wait for others. The boat effort of rescue, as well as the large trucks, in Houston is one of the most remarkable things I've ever known of. It was every agency, every group, every individual and they all worked together. We heard stories when we arrived on the coast of persons checking on their neighbors and immediately jumping in and providing help.

You cant prevent hurricanes, and you cant prevent flooding. Unless you decide to hurt millions upon millions of people living in those areas. They live there because of the inexperience when first establishing the area and economy because they simply cant uproot.

No one can afford to one up miami-dades building codes for a possible once in a lifetime event. Heck even dade county didnt have that level of code stringency until after andrew, and andrew was surely not their first.

The flooding here happened because the whole eastern part of Tx. is a flood plain. Look at a topographical map of it sometime. It's all green for a reason, it's flat lowland and lots of water flows through it. Park a hurricane on it for a week and its going to flood. Thats where the roll of the dice comes in. Will it really happen or can we take the chance it wont.

Think of the cost of demanding everyone live in homes that can withstand 200mph+ winds while sitting on 10' tall stilts. Everyone rolls the dice because no one can afford to do that.

The line of 100 or so people outside of walmart in kemah was interesting. They wouldnt let them in, and it looked like all they could get was coffee or possible something from mcdonalds in there.

My hats off to mcdonalds for staying open, all of them had lines of cars down the street. Never had a big mac that tasted so good.

WB, "Think of the cost of demanding everyone live in homes that can withstand 200mph+ winds while sitting on 10' tall stilts."

Ten foot stilts? WB, you list Kemah as home port. We had a place that we sold in Bolivar that was on 15 foot piers. Ike hit later. That was the standard there. The storm surge was 25" from my understanding. You are right, you cannot prepare for that

Yeh, dont grade me on the height accuracy. I'm not a native so my 10' might be taller than your 15.

I dont know what the surge was, we had better than 6 or 7 feet of water rise here in the marina. The dock was about 3 feet under water, and walking on it at night was fun time indeed. All I could think of was that poor lonely bull shark just looking for a nibble to get by on.

Bolivar was is exposed. The house was 200 yards from beach in Crystal Beach. There was nothing left, I am sure. I was there a year after and saw some still standing...WoW!

Did you read the story about the Navy Diver that rode Ike out on a picnic table boogie board? It was in the Houston Chronicle. He went all over East Bay.

Oddly enough bolivar and the pennisula doesnt warent the same news space as the other income areas. I still havent seen anything about them. Maybe one of the local rags will run a story next month...

I never knew about the navy diver, thats awesome. Im an ex-squid myself.
I have gotten a few giggles from these guys though.

I bet Baker knows those surfers.

I have always wanted to try that but I've never found anyone to take me out there. But I haven't surfed in about two years so I'm too fat and out of shape to do it now I'm sure.

what_barnacles said:

My hats off to mcdonalds for staying open, all of them had lines of cars down the street. Never had a big mac that tasted so good.

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I think that may have been the taste of "normal and predictable" you were enjoying. I've had that same Big Mac, and it's just as good as you say it is.

what_barnacles said:

Oddly enough bolivar and the pennisula doesnt warent the same news space as the other income areas. I still havent seen anything about them. Maybe one of the local rags will run a story next month...

I never knew about the navy diver, thats awesome. Im an ex-squid myself.
I have gotten a few giggles from these guys though.

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Here ya go, the Chronicle story was a little different but close enough.

Crystal Beach man rides out Hurricane Ike on log | abc13.com

Sorry, these are the tanker surfers I was thinking about that Baker might know.

https://youtu.be/ULT2UoVlxoE

Disappointing, I was expecting a bulk fuel tanker. Carnival Cruises tried to surf Carnival Spirit into Sydney Harbour during a storm but the Harbourmaster closed the Harbour.

There are lots of good stories out of Harvey:

Houston cleanup has little crime and lots of helping hands | Fox News

That's awesome. I got so tired of the apocalyptic "looters are everywhere" rumors that were flying around. Even in my small city people were spreading all kinds of terrible rumors about looters and how they would "shoot them on spot" and other garbage.

Cottontop said:

There are lots of good stories out of Harvey:

Houston cleanup has little crime and lots of helping hands | Fox News

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Cool!!

Perhaps the ability to carry in Texas has something to do with less crime?

"An armed society is a polite society."

The track guesses seem to slowly be shifting to the Atlantic , so perhaps we in FL might get lucky.

Not much can take 185 mph ,regardless of construction quality.