Texas Sophomore Relives Hurricane
The weather and nature of the world have seemed to be more ferocious and caused more natural disasters this year than any other in recent memory.
Many lives have been drastically changed, including those along the coastlines from the Keys in Florida to the the Eastern part of Texas and all the way to the islands of the Caribbean. Our fellow American citizens in Puerto Rico have suffered tremendously from lack of electricity, medical supplies, clean water, and evenfood due to hurricane Maria.
This United States territory has over three million citizens who are totally isolated on an island and resources and supplies going into Puerto Rico will be limited and arriving at a dangerously slow pace.
In Texas, though supplies can arrive with more ease, there is still terrible devastation from Hurricane Harvey.
A city similar to our own, Houston has had many difficulties with the effects of hurricane Harvey.
A sophomore student at Episcopal High School in the center of Houston, Hallie Grimes, has had a first hand experience with the effects of the hurricane. I recently sat down with Hallie and asked her about what happened and how things have gone since the hurricane.
Q&A with Hallie Grimes:
How were you affected directly by the hurricane?
“My basement was flooded. We had to rip out some of the walls, but we were very fortunate compared to most.”
What was the overall feeling in Houston?
“Nobody was on the streets, but all the stores were out of food. It was very difficult for some of the people I knew because, for a little while, parts of Houston were having a shortage of food. Everyone wanted to conserve energy because we thought we were going to lose power. Fortunately, my family did not.”
Who do you know that effected the most by the hurricane?
“My friend Zoey’s house was completely flooded and she is still living in a hotel. We do not know when she will be able to move back in or if she will ever be able to. So far it seems like it will be a very long time. My friend Reese made it out of her house with her dogs, some school books and one of her parents cars. They still don’t know what’s going to happen to their house, but they are just happy everyone got out safely. My school football coach’s house flooded about 4 feet and they had to evacuate, he then used his friend’s monster truck to rescue people from their homes. Houston is lucky to have people like him who are able to help in a moment of crisis like this.”
What was your school’s reaction to the hurricane? What did they do to try to help?
“My school volleyball and football teams set out and helped a lot of our community affected. They spent a lot of time going from place to place to help others. One of the main issues was that Houston has a large population of homeless people. When the streets were flooded, there was nowhere for them to go especially since the homeless shelters were filled. We were very lucky to be a really resilient community in this time. We have made a lot of improvement in the community since the hurricane, but many people are going to have to deal with the aftermath for a very long time. I am very happy that many lives were saved and everyone close to me was brought to safety early on.”