Stay Dry, Stay Safe

To the editor:

Growing up on the Texas coast, I got used to storms and hurricanes. My family lived in Corpus Christi when hurricane Carla came through in 1961. I was 4 years old. Carla was a Category 4 hurricane. I remember watching Carla out the window, watching trees floating down the street in flood waters and thinking they looked like broccoli. I remember watching my parents trying to push the back door closed against the ferocious winds and putting a heavy dresser in front of it so it wouldn’t blow open again but the wind blew it open anyway.

My father then decided to nail the door shut. When the rain eased up, my brother and I went outside. I remember standing in the neighbor’s driveway, I looked up and saw this wall of water coming up over their roof and the rain came pouring down. He and I had been standing in the eye of hurricane Carla and now the backside of her had arrived. We managed to get back home to safety. Thinking back, what in the world were our parents thinking, letting us go outside? They were pretty young at the time so maybe they didn’t know any better although my dad, Mr. Macho, an ex-Marine, probably thought “a little rain never hurt anyone.” This was more than a little rain, father!

Growing up like this, I learned not to fear storms. My family was always the type to ride them out. As an adult, understanding the destruction they can cause, I now get a little nervous when one is approaching.

It’s about 2 a.m. Monday morning, Beryl is now barreling towards the Texas coast. It looks like Houston will get hammered and those of us here in La Grange will probably experience some aspect of this storm. This one should be easy to ride out because we are further inland but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t chewing my nails just a little bit. You watch these TV shows where people’s homes are washed away by flood waters or carried off by a tornado.

Can you imagine anything worse: your home, your dry, safe sanctuary and then that happens?

I will probably be awake when the first bands of Beryl’s rain come through. My wish for everyone in southeast Texas is that their dry safe sanctuary stays that way.

Marianne Jacob La Grange