What it’s like to be in Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey was a devastating hurricane that swept through the Caribbean and South United States in late August and early September. It killed over 75 people and caused over 80 billion dollars in damage.

We interviewed a woman, a relative of a PCS student, currently living in Houston, Texas about her experience during Hurricane Harvey.

How did you feel when you heard there was a hurricane coming to Texas and how did you prepare?

“I thought it was not going to be a big deal. I wasn’t worried at all.” Stated Erin Berry, when she first heard a tropical storm was coming to Texas.

She thought it was going to be a tropic storm and that it was only supposed to be category 3. Then, after the storm’s intensity increased, she started to worry. To prepare, Erin bought water and pantry food, in case she and her family could not leave their house. On Sunday there was a volunteer evacuation-Didn’t have to leave it was a choice. When Erin learned this she moved special items upstair just in case including nice furniture. “When we evacuated it only took 45 minutes to pack up we took food, pet food, guinea pigs, dog, water, hockey items, safe, important papers and clothes”, Erin says.

How did the hurricane effect your home and how did you react?

First, a tornado came through on Friday. Monday morning there was a  mandatory evacuation in fear the levy in her neighborhood would break. They had to leave at night and the hurricane had knocked down 4 big trees, Erin explained. There was a leak caused in one room.  Erin says she heard a tornado in the middle of the night. She was woken up by her dog barking. She screamed at her husband, whose name is Bill “OH MY GOD DO YOU HEAR THAT?!” Erin and her family of 5 other people had to evacuate for 6 days.