Creator
Lisa Hydrick
Title
Silence
Description
As I sit here alone, the upstairs window slightly opened, as the rain has temporarily subsided and the silence that I often seek and find comfort in, is almost unbearable as the horror of the last 30 hours consumes me. There are no calls, no texts, no helicopters circling around, no sounds of rushing water below me echoing with the most terrifying sound, no visuals before me of the frightened parents faces and neighbors sitting out of their second story windows because they don't want to drown, there are no white bed sheets hanging to mark their presence or towels whipping back & fourth in shear desperation on the front porches around me so that they too would soon be found. The saddness, the fear, the heartbreak, the worry, and the blank stares of facing this disaster was undoubtly showing, and is a memory that I will forever carry around. An experience I never wanted but for whatever reason Hurricane Harvey has continued to disrupt, and dance around Texas, just look for the path of greatest destruction and that's were I'll be found.
A parade of makeshift rafts, canoes, even whole beds adorned with blow up floats, pool noodles or whatever they had laying around, something.....anything in their quiet desperation that would aid them in getting out safely to help ensure they would be floating and eventually found.
The news is no longer on blaring and enhanced with continual tornado warnings to take cover but instead now I only hear the sound of frogs loudly calling, maybe they too have been forced from their safe place or sanctuary and are looking for their families who are no where to be found.
Maybe these thoughts, questions and surreal memories are too fresh for me to process, since it's far from being over, as I am still seeking higher ground.
A parade of makeshift rafts, canoes, even whole beds adorned with blow up floats, pool noodles or whatever they had laying around, something.....anything in their quiet desperation that would aid them in getting out safely to help ensure they would be floating and eventually found.
The news is no longer on blaring and enhanced with continual tornado warnings to take cover but instead now I only hear the sound of frogs loudly calling, maybe they too have been forced from their safe place or sanctuary and are looking for their families who are no where to be found.
Maybe these thoughts, questions and surreal memories are too fresh for me to process, since it's far from being over, as I am still seeking higher ground.
Type
personal narratives
Rights
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Source
This item was contributed via the Harvey Memories Project "Contribute an Item" form.
Date Created
2017-08-27
Date Submitted
2019-04-03
Date Available
2019-04-05
Spatial Coverage
+29.449276-095.104359/