In the path of a 500-year storm
HOUSTON — When we moved from Boston to Houston in 2005, we quickly learned to ask real estate agents one question first: “Did the house flood in Allison?”
That tropical storm dumped more than 38 inches of rain on Houston over six days in 2001, leaving thousands homeless. It was the benchmark for natural disasters in this city … until now.
My family lives southwest of downtown in a subdivision called Meyerland that suffered terrible damage from a pair of “100-year storms” in the past three years. (That means a storm of such severity that it has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year.) Harvey is being talked of as a 500-year storm.
So far, our house has lived up to the Realtor’s word. Some of our friends and neighbors have not been so lucky.
Watching Hurricane Harvey develop and approach the coast on radar last week felt a lot like watching a nor’easter bear down on Boston, but since the heavy rain began on Friday night, the differences are stark. Yes, we’re stuck in the house because the roads are impassable, but the rain is not a constant. It arrives in narrow bands flung out by Harvey: It starts, intensifies, and falls back to a drizzle over the course of an hour or two. Then it starts again.
When it’s heavy, the rain is blinding. We watch it fill the yard and approach the back door, lapping at the foundation. It hasn’t quite risen to the door’s threshold. I push water away through the garage with a wide broom and flatter myself to think it’s helping.
So many in Houston this week are truly helpless. Thousands have been rescued from flooded homes, even from rooftops, by the helicopters constantly flying overhead yesterday.
Like we would in a big snowstorm, my wife Lydia and I have been in constant touch with friends here. Some have lost electricity; some have water inside. Some south of the city are being evacuated to avoid the flood when overtaxed dams to the north are opened.
If and when we sell this house, we now know what to expect from potential buyers. “Did it flood during Harvey?”
No, not yet.