Flooding displaces Texans

FRISCO, Texas Tom Savage longs to hold his tiny daughter and spend some quality time with his wife.

J.J. Watt wants to do more than raise money via video on social media about 250 miles from Houston with the city swamped by floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey.

While wanting simply to be home with family and friends, the Texans are instead stranded in the Dallas area. And now what was supposed to be a home preseason game against Dallas will be played at the Cowboys stadium Thursday night.

“It’s very, very tough,” said Watt, the star defensive end who posted Monday that a fundraising effort that included selfie videos had raised more than $500,000 within 24 hours. “It’s very difficult to watch, your family, your friends, your city, go through a time like this and not be there to help.”

After losing an exhibition game at New Orleans on Saturday, the Texans essentially flew over their floodstricken city on the way to Dallas. They practiced Monday at Cowboys headquarters, and were hotel hopping because of the uncertainty over what was next.

The NFL said late Monday afternoon that the exhibition game Thursday night was being moved to Arlington “due to public safety concerns resulting from the ongoing weather emergency related to Hurricane Harvey.” The statement said the league and Texans would continue to closely monitor the situation in Houston and adjust the team’s plans as necessary.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said the Texans were planning another practice at Dallas’ facility on Tuesday afternoon.

Instead of a singular focus on his first season-opening start as an NFL quarterback, Savage was in constant contact with his wife between meetings and other team activities. At least he could say he was seeing his 7month-old daughter, Summer, in video phone chats.

“Here you kind of feel like a little handcuffed,” Savage said. “You can’t do anything and as a father, you want to be there to support her and protect her. That’s the hardest thing for all the guys. I can speak for them. We’re the fathers. We want to be out there.”

While sidestepping any specifics, coach Bill O’Brien said several coaches and players had homes in neighbourhoods with both mandatory and voluntary evacuations.