By C.D. DESALVO
Hays Post
For Fort Hays State University alum and former Eagle Communications employee Garrett Sager, the recent move to the Houston area this spring meant a lot of changes for someone who had spent his whole life in Kansas.
As with any move from a rural town to a big urban area, there is the initial culture shock and the gradual acclimation to the traffic and busy activity going on in the nation’s fourth largest city. But even natives of the Houston area could not prepare for the destruction that Hurricane Harvey brought over the weekend.
“Being from Kansas, you get used to tornado warnings and occasional rain and seasonal storms but not hurricanes and massive flooding,” Sager said. “Luckily, I live on the second floor of apartments, but there is still so much water on the ground that we cannot drive or go anywhere.”
Sager lives between Houston and Galveston in League City and was lucky enough to avoid the worst of the hurricane but still experienced heavy rains and flooding including 6 inches of rain in an hour on Saturday night.
“I feel very fortunate,” he said. “My family back in Salina has been keeping in touch making sure I am OK because they saw parts of League City on the news that were really bad. We are extremely fortunate because we have not lost power even though many areas around us have. So we have been able to cook meals and keep stuff in the refrigerator.”
Hurricane Harvey has dumped more than 20 inches of rain in some areas and parts of the Texas Gulf Coast could see up to 50 inches of rain by the time the storm leaves later this week. Scientists say the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico intensified rainfall and wind in the upper atmosphere that would have helped push Harvey off the land was non-existent.
“The water was still pretty high when I went out to move my Jeep to a higher elevated area. When I opened the door, the water came into the vehicle and when I moved my girlfriend’s car, I could feel the current under the water moving the car,” Sager said. “We had 6 inches of rain in the span of one hour on Saturday night.”
Sager, who works at Fox Sports Network in The Woodlands (north of Houston), has not been able to get to work since Friday as I-45 and the city of Houston remain underwater. Going to the store and restocking supplies and food has been a challenge, as well.
“When we tried to go to the store and stock up on more food Friday, the grocery store was full of people for hours and we could not even get inside,” he said.
If you are wanting to help with the disaster efforts in the Houston area, Dalton Fischer, 24, of Hays, will drive a load of supplies to the San Antonio Food Bank over the Labor Day holiday to assist in Hurricane Harvey relief. Items that are needed include non-perishable food, bottled water, pet food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, batteries and flashlights, baby items such as diapers, formula, and baby food, bedding, and new never-worn clothing. Donations will be taken today starting at 8 a.m. until the trailer is full Friday at Golden Plains Trucking, 375 E. 41st.
