This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/01/us/houston-evacuees-hurricane-home.html
The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| As Waters Rise in Beaumont, Houston Starts to Head Home | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| HOUSTON — As Houston-area residents made their way back to their flooded homes, many of them unable to do more than survey the wreckage and retrieve a few precious items, people in Beaumont went without running water for a second day on Friday and record-breaking floodwaters there continued to rise in the aftermath of storm Harvey. | |
| Across a 300-mile stretch of southeast Texas, millions of people still grappled with the devastating effects of a storm that shattered rainfall records for the continental United States — houses under water, flooded roads that cut off entire neighborhoods, a loss of power affecting thousands and fuel shortages — while millions of others began to assess the damage and figure out how to rebuild their lives. Local officials said that at least 46 deaths were related to or suspected to be related to the storm, a number they cautioned could still rise. | |
| “This is going to be a multiyear project for Texas to be able to dig out of this catastrophe,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday. | |
| In most of Harris County, which includes Houston, the water was receding — though the county Flood Control District estimated on Thursday night that 136,000 structures were still flooded — and the number of people housed in the biggest shelter, the George R. Brown Convention Center, dropped to 8,000, from about 10,000 earlier in the week. | |
| But conditions remained critical farther east, especially in Beaumont, Port Arthur and other areas near the Louisiana border, and the American Red Cross said on Friday that the total number of people in shelters had climbed from the day before, to about 42,000. | |
| In and around Houston, people by the thousands took to trucks and boats to get a glimpse of the homes they had evacuated. Some stayed, others just picked up medications and family photos before heading back to shelters, and most simply could not bear to wait any longer to find out: How bad is it? | |
| On Thursday, Larry and Suzette Cade, getting their first post-Harvey glimpse of their northwest Houston home, found that their blue car had floated about 20 feet from where they had parked it, and rested against a tree. Ten massive logs that the couple had never seen before were scattered on one side of their lawn. There was no trace of the mailbox. | |
| The Cades have owned their brick house for a quarter century, yet it felt unfamiliar. As Mr. Cade tried to pry open the swollen front door, Ms. Cade peeked through the window of the family room. Even through a film of dirt, she could see everything was upended. The water had reached well over five feet in the house. | |
| They stood at their front door holding hands — and crying. | They stood at their front door holding hands — and crying. |
| “I just feel so sad and empty,” Mr. Cade, 63, said, standing in the driveway. | |
| “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” Ms. Cade, 62, softly repeated as she again walked the perimeter of the house. “This is overwhelming. Everything is thrown everywhere.” | “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” Ms. Cade, 62, softly repeated as she again walked the perimeter of the house. “This is overwhelming. Everything is thrown everywhere.” |
| It was uncertain how many of this region’s residents have tried to return home since the storm — or how many no longer had homes they could return to. | |
| “I do want people to exercise caution if they are leaving the shelters and returning home,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said late Thursday, “or if they sought lodging someplace else and are returning home. They just need to be extra careful when they are returning.” | “I do want people to exercise caution if they are leaving the shelters and returning home,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said late Thursday, “or if they sought lodging someplace else and are returning home. They just need to be extra careful when they are returning.” |
| The process of going home had its own complications, given all that this city has been through. Local and state authorities issued an array of cautions: Do not eat anything that had come into contact with floodwaters; check for wildlife, including snakes; and visit homes in daylight. | The process of going home had its own complications, given all that this city has been through. Local and state authorities issued an array of cautions: Do not eat anything that had come into contact with floodwaters; check for wildlife, including snakes; and visit homes in daylight. |
| And they have been passing around advice for disinfecting soaked furniture: one cup of bleach to five gallons of water. | And they have been passing around advice for disinfecting soaked furniture: one cup of bleach to five gallons of water. |
| “It’s dirty water,” said Dr. David E. Persse, the public health authority for the City of Houston. | “It’s dirty water,” said Dr. David E. Persse, the public health authority for the City of Houston. |
| State Senator John Whitmire, who represents part of Houston, said residents were eager to see their homes. | State Senator John Whitmire, who represents part of Houston, said residents were eager to see their homes. |
| “Every human emotion ever found in a society is being experienced,” Mr. Whitmire said. “They realize how lucky they are to be alive, in many instances. You’ve got to have priorities: Their priority was one of survival and breathing. Now they want to get back to normal as much as possible.” | “Every human emotion ever found in a society is being experienced,” Mr. Whitmire said. “They realize how lucky they are to be alive, in many instances. You’ve got to have priorities: Their priority was one of survival and breathing. Now they want to get back to normal as much as possible.” |
| Some went home and moved back in. Others made calls to contractors and landlords, planning repairs. Still others carried out wedding photographs or clothes, then headed back to shelters or the homes of relatives for what may be months. In many cases, the homes are not livable. | Some went home and moved back in. Others made calls to contractors and landlords, planning repairs. Still others carried out wedding photographs or clothes, then headed back to shelters or the homes of relatives for what may be months. In many cases, the homes are not livable. |
| “We could only go in and get some clothing and food,” said Marisela Arevalo, 25, who returned to her house in northeast Houston, but only briefly. | “We could only go in and get some clothing and food,” said Marisela Arevalo, 25, who returned to her house in northeast Houston, but only briefly. |
| Standing on a flooded highway not far from her home, Ms. Arevalo said the water line in the house came up to her knees. | Standing on a flooded highway not far from her home, Ms. Arevalo said the water line in the house came up to her knees. |
| Tequoya Stewart-Miller, 30, saw her home for the first time since the flood on Thursday, rolling up to the peach-colored two-story house that she shares with her grandmother and other relatives in the Cypress Creek neighborhood, northwest of downtown. | Tequoya Stewart-Miller, 30, saw her home for the first time since the flood on Thursday, rolling up to the peach-colored two-story house that she shares with her grandmother and other relatives in the Cypress Creek neighborhood, northwest of downtown. |
| The water had inundated the first story. Her strongest memory of the visit, she said, was the smell of the place: “mildew and death.” | The water had inundated the first story. Her strongest memory of the visit, she said, was the smell of the place: “mildew and death.” |
| “It was devastating,” she said. “Just devastating.” | “It was devastating,” she said. “Just devastating.” |
| The house where the family gathered for Friday night card games and Sunday soul food dinners was so destroyed she dared not enter. | The house where the family gathered for Friday night card games and Sunday soul food dinners was so destroyed she dared not enter. |
| “We had the kids around, we didn’t want them to see,” she said. “That’s traumatizing, to see all they used to have.” | “We had the kids around, we didn’t want them to see,” she said. “That’s traumatizing, to see all they used to have.” |
| Back at Larry and Suzette Cade’s house, the couple found their backyard looking as though it had been turned upside down. | Back at Larry and Suzette Cade’s house, the couple found their backyard looking as though it had been turned upside down. |
| The flower pots Ms. Cade had collected over 15 years were smashed and scattered across the backyard. Others had vanished. The fence had fallen in a messy heap. The garage door, gone. Fish had found their way into the swimming pool. | The flower pots Ms. Cade had collected over 15 years were smashed and scattered across the backyard. Others had vanished. The fence had fallen in a messy heap. The garage door, gone. Fish had found their way into the swimming pool. |
| “Where’s our deck?” Mrs. Cade wondered aloud. | “Where’s our deck?” Mrs. Cade wondered aloud. |
| Mr. Cade whirled around and looked at a muddy patch of earth. | Mr. Cade whirled around and looked at a muddy patch of earth. |
| “Gone too,” he said, shoulders sinking. | “Gone too,” he said, shoulders sinking. |
| Before they left the house on Sunday afternoon to stay at a hotel with five of their 22 grandchildren, Mr. Cade placed a photo of his mother on the top of a seven-foot shelf. The photo, more than 50 years old, is so treasured that Mr. Cade can recall it with precise detail: he is a toddler wearing black shorts, suspenders and white, hard-bottom, high-top shoes; his mother wears a blue floral dress and holds his hand as they stand in Houston’s Fifth Ward. | Before they left the house on Sunday afternoon to stay at a hotel with five of their 22 grandchildren, Mr. Cade placed a photo of his mother on the top of a seven-foot shelf. The photo, more than 50 years old, is so treasured that Mr. Cade can recall it with precise detail: he is a toddler wearing black shorts, suspenders and white, hard-bottom, high-top shoes; his mother wears a blue floral dress and holds his hand as they stand in Houston’s Fifth Ward. |
| “As soon as I walked to the door this morning, I thought about my mom,” he said. “That photo,” he said, his voice thinned by tears. “I thought the shelf was high enough.” The jumble of furniture that the Cades could see through their windows left little hope. | “As soon as I walked to the door this morning, I thought about my mom,” he said. “That photo,” he said, his voice thinned by tears. “I thought the shelf was high enough.” The jumble of furniture that the Cades could see through their windows left little hope. |
| They said they had weathered storms before in this neighborhood northwest of downtown, Bammel Forest, but nothing like Harvey. | They said they had weathered storms before in this neighborhood northwest of downtown, Bammel Forest, but nothing like Harvey. |
| “I have seen the really bad stuff on television,” said Mr. Cade, whose family owns a transportation business. “But actually experience it? No. Never.” | “I have seen the really bad stuff on television,” said Mr. Cade, whose family owns a transportation business. “But actually experience it? No. Never.” |
| Now, the Cades have to face what’s inside. The door is still swollen shut. | Now, the Cades have to face what’s inside. The door is still swollen shut. |