It is a different world now, yellow slips and all.

Wharton, Texas.  We survived Hurricane Harvey only to be hit with a knockout punch a few days later.  As we understand it, The San Bernard River, Colorado River, Peach Creek, and the railroad bed all became one massive river in a matter of seconds.
We knew Harvey was coming.  We knew the rivers would flood.  We did not know that everything would hit at the same time and create what amounted to a small tidal wave that hit the city in a massive force. It happened in just a few seconds. 
Our friend Anwar was in his store waiting on a customer one minute and fleeing for his life the next.  He lost everything.  The fire department called him to come back to his store because there was a huge fire danger from leaking gas.  They had already stripped all the power supply from the side of the building.  They had pried his front door open.  Inside was over three feet of water.

Two days later, he was able to return to his store. He was greeted by two bad surprises.  The first was his yellow slip.  The second surprise was a snake.
A yellow slip tells the owner of a business or the occupant of a residence that they are not allowed to return to their homes or business until certain conditions are met.  Things like all electrical, gas, and plumbing has to be re-certified by licensed contractors.  



Once licensed contractors sign off on the mechanical systems, a city inspection is needed to give the all clear. Anwar's was the first yellow slip we encountered.
The Avalon Food Mart at 2425 North Richmond Road, Wharton, Texas 77488 is a total loss. 
Next door at the Wakefield Inn, Sammy and Kay got their yellow slips.  One apartment and 15 rooms have to be re-certified before they can go back.  Their motel is badly damaged, but it can be fixed. 



Neither business had flood insurance.  Neither could afford it.

Meanwhile at the H. E. B., our local grocery store, there were crowds and crowds of people.  Most have been unable to get to a grocery store since before Hurricane Harvey hit.  Both Walmart and H.E.B. reopened right after Hurricane Harvey hit, but the Walmart had practically no food. 
The H. E. B. staff was in full force. They had cleaned and repaired the store in record time.  The staff had restocked the store completely and was continuing to do so.  H. E. B. gave every customer a bag of ice.  This is a nice gesture since many still do not have power. 
The City of Wharton has been outstanding.  They manned the storm center 24/7 during Harvey and the Flood.  Willie Sanders and his street department worked tirelessly to get the storm drains cleaned after Harvey.  They had to work even harder during and after the flood.
TXDOT, the Texas Department of Transportation, worked around the clock to keep the roads open when they could, and keep them safe when they couldn't.  There were blockades everywhere.
Law enforcement was everywhere, city, precinct, county, and state were all here.    CNN named us The Town Everyone Has Forgotten.  
The American Red Cross is here.  They are handling the checkbook.  Most of the relief effort here is from people helping people.  The outpouring is awesome.
Our family was lucky. We stayed dry and our power stayed on.  We never lost internet either.  It is like God placed His hand over our house and protected us.  All the houses, except five, lost power during the Hurricane.  We were one of those five.
Harvey passed over us as a tropical storm.  He decided to check out the sights in Houston for a while and stayed there.  Our oldest daughter was home with us during the storm.  Her university, the University of Houston, was under water. 
Our youngest daughter lives on an island where Harvey made landfall.  She attends Texas A&M Corpus Christi.  She and her roommates evacuated to Austin and rode out the storm there.  Many of their neighbors were wiped out.  When they returned to Corpus Christi, their apartment was moist but okay.  
Thanks, America, for the prayers and outpouring of aid.  It will take a while, but Texas, including The Town Everyone Forgot, will be back.  We will be stronger than ever.

If you would like for me to pray for you, please drop me an e-mail by clicking prayer.



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