Personal account
Former HS resident discusses experience during Harvey
ROCKPORT, Texas — A month has passed since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in the small town of Rockport, Texas.
Winds of up to 130 mph devastated countless trees there, including many of the mature live oaks that line Glass Avenue, where artist and former Hot Springs resident Robin Hazard chose to make her home two years ago.
According to weather.gov, a hurricane had not touched down in Rockport since 1934, so she never anticipated the event, and felt it was a safe spot to live.
On the morning of Aug. 24, Harvey was classified as a Category 1, so Hazard had made preparations to stay. She spent some time sweeping off her flat roof so water wouldn’t pool from rain, and went by the Estelle Stair Gallery to pick up some of her pieces. Residents were sandbagging and putting up hurricane shutters, but she thought perhaps the media had made the event seem more than it would be.
But while out, she learned it had been deemed a Category 3, so she knew they would have to leave the area.
She loaded up her parents, their cat and her two Aus-
tralian shepherds and headed to Johnson City, where her sister had found a hotel with a room equipped for her wheelchair-bound mother, and accepted pets.
“Just leaving Rockport, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic,” she said.
The crew made the more than 200-mile voyage, arriving at the Best Western Johnson City Inn as night was falling. Hazard said, “We get there, and the most amazing woman was working the front desk. She was so gracious,” helping Hazard’s mother into the room and even carrying luggage. “She was a heroine.”
While her parents rested in a nearby room, Hazard glued herself to the television to see how the situation at home was unfolding.
For nearly three weeks, they made their home in the hotel, and while every staff member was gracious as could be, challenges were plenty.
The hotel was filled with other families and pets who had evacuated, so taking the dogs out during heavy rains over the next days was arduous, especially since her dogs weren’t used to being on a leash. Plus, her father has dementia, so any change in environment tends to trigger his nerves.
No updates from Rockport were available for several days, and the first was photos she saw of her neighbor’s home across the street. She never was able to hear exactly what the state of her property was, so was left wondering and preparing for the worst.
After the first week, she made a day trip back to Rockport, to take care of essential needs. She needed to board Chili and Scout, and found a veterinary clinic in Johnson City. She said, “They took them in, took care of them, and didn’t charge me a dime. … Every time you said you were from Rockport, people would say, ‘Ohhhhh.’”
“Your eyes tear up,” she said. “You’ll remember these people who have been so gracious.”
As she began to approach the town, she followed advice from her brother not to dwell on what she saw, but just focus on the tasks she needed to accomplish while there.
In attempting to put words to the state of what she saw, Hazard said, “How do you describe something when things are just gone, mutilated?”
“I remember this car on the side of the road that was all smashed with a big orange ‘X’ on it. I guess they had checked to make sure no one was in the car.”
Traffic lights weren’t working, power lines were snapped, and street signs were gone, so she really had to pay attention while driving. Some areas were unrecognizable from the changes, and detours were necessary in many places, so she ended up getting lost in her own town.
But then she would see huge trailers filled with supplies like diapers and water, and again remember, “People are so generous.”
She visited her parents’ home first, seeing downed trees along the way that had made streets into single-lane passages. No utilities were functional, so sinks and toilets couldn’t be used, and the 92-degree temperatures outside made indoor temperatures sweltering. Even the mail wasn’t running.
She spent time there emptying the refrigerator and freezer, and gathering items like additional medicine for her father.
She proceeded on to her own home, and since she had prepared herself for possible complete disaster, was relieved to see it standing. “All the trees fell and protected my home. It was like they made a nest.”
A friend used a chain saw to make a path for her to the front door and garage. Upon walking inside the home, she felt a sense of peculiarity, because not a single item was out of place, making a stark contrast between that and the outdoor scene. Since she had realized the possibility of all her belongings being gone, everything she saw intact was viewed as a gift.
Losing live oaks and plants like a 50-year-old bird of paradise in her backyard has been painful for her. “Most of my paintings have trees in them, so to see these trees mangled and down was heartbreaking.” The paintings she had previously made of them are now even more treasured.
Unfortunately, she did have damage to frames and pieces she had housed in the gallery, and some of her pastel work was destroyed. Four of the framed pieces rescued from downtown she was able to salvage.
She is fortunate to have a dear friend who lives in Johnson City, who helped support Hazard, even supplying a homecooked meal, served on actual dishware while the family was hotel-bound.
The staff at her hotel and in area restaurants made her feel welcome and supported. East Main Grill even stayed open late one night, so they could provide a takeout meal for her when she was returning to Johnson City from a trip to Rockport.
Previously unbeknown to her, that area of Texas is filled with wineries, so she was able to sample local wines, helping her to relax a bit amid the chaos of her life.
Hazard was able to find solace by talking to people she met who were fellow evacuees, saying how valuable it was to share with “someone’s who’s experiencing the exact the same thing you are.”
The family was all able to return to Rockport on Sept. 10, but cleanup is still not complete. The process of finding a new normal will be a long one. Four weeks later, she was looking through a window while speaking with The Sentinel-Record during a phone interview and said, “It looks like a war zone from my front yard. It looks like people stacked up trees for a barrier.”
“I’m going to have to learn to be more patient,” she said, regarding the ongoing repairs and such.
She said she has been continually moved by those around her, seeing the sense of understanding and compassion in their eyes, and has been filled with gratitude for the people and businesses who helped her. She said the experience has given her a powerful lesson about the temporary nature of all things.
Since the storm, her perspective has changed — she has pushed herself to take advantage of life’s opportunities as they arise, instead of thinking she can do things later.
“I’m not going to have any more regrets. … You just can’t take anything for granted.”