Hurricane Harvey

On August 25, 2017 disaster struck when Hurricane Harvey hit the coast of Texas in Rockport. Harvey was the first Category 4 Hurricane to hit Texas since Hurricane Carla. In 1961, Hurricane Carla ripped into the coastal side of Houston. This size hurricane caused millions of dollars in damages and took countless lives.

21 years after that in 1983, Hurricane Alicia, a category 3 hurricane hit the Galveston area. Then in September of 2008 Tropical Storm Ike hit Galveston, and has been one of the most expensive hurricanes to crash into the coastal side of Texas causing billions in damages and killing over 80 people.

The U.S. Census reported in 2016 that over 2.3 million people live in Houston, Texas. According to CNN, “53 Texas counties issued emergency declarations -- an area that's home to around 11.4 million people.” The director of FEMA, William Craig Fugate also admitted to CNN, “The true scale and human toll of Hurricane Harvey remains unclear.”

To some students of Lindsey Wilson College, like athletes Madison Molitor and Dayana Perez, Hurricane Harvey is affecting them greatly.

“We [the volleyball team] were going down to San Antonio, Texas to play in a tournament and my dad tells me a week-ahead of time that there is a Hurricane warning,” said Senior, Madison Molitor, “I said, ‘Texas weather’ it’ll blow over.”

Little did she know of the devastation and impact Harvey would have on the Unites States just a short week later.

“I haven’t seen my family in a while,” said Molitor, “I was excited to see my family and have them watch me play,” Molitor laughs, “there was no way we could stay down there and [my family] wasn’t able to come and see me in San Antonio... we were only there for 48 hours then we got evacuated.”

Molitor was disappointed that she couldn’t see her family, “as soon as that disappointment left my mind, I realized what was happening,” worry in her voice, “Is my family going to be okay? Are my friends evacuating?”

Preparations for Hurricane Harvey mean life or death to most residents of Texas. The citizens of the Houston/Galveston area could be stuck in their homes for four or more days so food and water are the things that are very necessary in disasters like the one Texas faced last week. “They [the news] said there was going to be a four-day period were is won’t be safe to leave the house,” said Molitor, “my family was definitely prepared but they were people who wasn’t.”

The impact of Hurricane Harvey has been felt throughout the country. Many charity organizations have taken countless donations to be distributed to Harvey victims. For sophomore, Dayana Perez a Houston native says the unity that Harvey has resonated to America is something we [as a nation] needed.

“I think natural disasters at one point does bring families very close, it’s when we depend on each other the most.” Perez says. “Natural disasters always unite people”

Perez was with her family for both Ike and Katrina, “I remember [during Ike] we all slept in the living room because we were scared to be alone in our rooms,”

Everyone comes together because disasters like Harvey affects everyone, “Cousins, uncles, could be in fights, like long terms fights,” Perez explains, “when a natural disaster happens, suddenly you’re worried about that person, 'cause you care. It’s family.”

For Molitor and Perez being away from their family and friends during this time of need makes focusing on school and athletics hard.

“When I heard about Hurricane Harvey, even though I’m up here, my family and friends are still down there so I call them everyday” Perez says, “I would be in class and they start discussing Hurricane Harvey but I don’t to talk about it because I am from Houston and that’s my family, that’s my home.”

Perez describes talking about Hurricane Harvey as an overwhelming sadness. “Not just for my family, but for other families,”

The coastal side of Houston was completely underwater and multiple homes and business have been destroyed. “I can’t believe that this category 4 Hurricane did so much damage to the coastal side of Texas,” said Perez, “Everything I knew as a child, that I saw as memories has been destroyed.”