STORM OF THE CENTURY
COVERAGE OF HURRICANE HARVEY IN THE CROSSROADS
Tenants sue after Harvey eviction
October 19, 2017
Like many other families, Kristi Perez, 31, left most of her belongings behind in her apartment when she fled Hurricane Harvey’s deadly path.
After the city issued a mandatory evacuation, the mother went with her wife and their two children to a shelter in Victoria, where they were eventually moved to Austin, she said. Several days later, the family returned to Victoria in hopes their home and belongings would still be intact.
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Texas Gulf Coast mayors discuss Harvey aftermath
Oct. 18, 2017
For Port Aransas Mayor Charles Bujan, cash from the federal government can’t come soon enough.
About 75 to 85 percent of the beach town’s 4,000 residents were displaced when Hurricane Harvey blew apart homes and businesses, Bujan said. Among families who lost homes were a grandfather, his paralyzed daughter and two grandchildren - who were forced to live in a car right after the storm, he said.
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Special delivery
Oct. 17, 2017
Sabrina Escalona’s family and friends joked she would go into labor early.
“I don’t believe in all that, but I feel like they jinxed me,” she said, holding her 7-week-old healthy baby boy.
Sage Raz came into this world when he was good and ready, which happened to be in the middle of Hurricane Harvey.
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Crossroads public agencies deal with FEMA challenges
Oct. 16, 2017
Residents’ problems navigating Federal Emergency Management Agency aid programs are in the spotlight after Hurricane Harvey.
But public agencies like cities and schools have to deal with the red tape, too.
After Hurricane Harvey sent trees crashing onto power lines and damaged public buildings, local governments are scrambling to collect receipts and fill out paperwork so FEMA will help cover millions of dollars in damages. If Victoria’s school district and local governments don’t meticulously follow FEMA’s rules, they could receive significantly less help than expected.
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Mold creates big problem for homeowners
October 15, 2017
CUERO - When Lisa Aries, 52, returned to her flooded home and opened her front door, she immediately knew she was in trouble.
“You could smell it,” she said.
After making it through Hurricane Harvey, Aries is one of hundreds of Crossroads homeowners who returned home to find a dangerous surprise - mold.
For weeks, the noxious fungus has kept her from her home, forcing her to rely on hotels and the kindness of family members for shelter.
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Seadrift women helping people affected by hurricane
Oct. 14, 2017
SEADRIFT - At the corner of West Oakland Avenue and 9th Street, a group of women who each experienced some level of loss during Harvey, is helping people find the help they need.
As people drive by, they see boxes full of food, personal hygiene supplies and food under tents in front of an old business.
“There’s a lot of people who think we are having a garage sale, but everything is free,” said the property owner, Sylvia Rodriguez, 46, of Seadrift.
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Texas Zoo thanks Vickers students for donation
Oct. 13, 2017
Vickers Elementary School second-grader Elijah Posey opened his blue eyes wide while his mouth curled into a smile as he brushed two fingers along the soft shell of Pecos Bill, a Texas tortoise.
“I want a tortoise as a pet,” Elijah, 8, said. “Kids should help because it’s a nice thing to do.”
The Texas Zoo officials brought prairie dogs, a skunk, an opossum and a tortoise to the school Thursday to thank students and staff for raising $2,800 during their two-week coin drive.
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Hurricane, flood forces Jaguars to make adjustments
Oct. 12, 2017
The good news for the UHV baseball team is fall ball will begin Monday on schedule.
The bad news is the next few months will be a logistical nightmare.
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Glimpse of hope
October 11, 2017
MCFADDIN - Seeing the 101-year-old historic McFaddin church leaning sideways and inches from collapsing broke Mitchell Morrissey’s heart.
With the help of Clegg Services and Galveston-based McMillan Building Movers, the McFaddin Ranch family is ensuring the church will survive.
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Still wagging
October 10, 2017
As with many home and business owners in the Crossroads, Hurricane Harvey stole more than a month out of Martin and Cindy Kroesche’s lives.
Despite both of their Victoria businesses sustaining damage from Harvey as well as their second home in Rockport, the San Antonio couple opened their business, Local Pet, on Wednesday. The business is the only family-owned pet store in Victoria.
“The reaction is overwhelmingly positive - friendly people coming in here,” said Martin Kroesche. “We’re glad we crossed the finish line and excited to be part of the Victoria community.”
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Still no shelter
October 9, 2017
Neither federal, state nor local officials know exactly how or when Victoria’s Hurricane Harvey victims could see housing relief despite the state recently announcing new recovery programs.
More than a month after Hurricane Harvey ripped apart roofs and soaked hundreds of homes in Victoria, there’s still nowhere for people to seek shelter or temporary housing in the county.
This comes just two weeks after federal and state governmental agencies announced new programs to help people who lost homes, which include paying for more permanent home repairs and offering trailers as temporary housing.
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Nothing's sure
October 8, 2017
Aubrey De La Garza, 3, whimpered as she plucked a purple toy alligator from what was left of her mother’s bedroom.
The toddler’s life was turned upside down when Hurricane Harvey sent a tree crashing onto her family’s three-bedroom trailer in Bloomington. The family is living in a hotel paid for by the federal government and is still struggling to cope with the reality of losing the home.
“It’s hard because you look at your kids and you don’t have a home for them,” said the little girl’s mother, Erica Andrade, as she tried to hold back tears while her daughter picked through belongings.
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Mother recalls 'scary' birth during Harvey
October 7, 2017
Yorktown resident Alison Salas thought she was going to give birth to her first baby in a closet in her home the night of Aug. 25 - the evening Hurricane Harvey was forecast to make landfall.
“It was very scary,” Salas, 31, said.
Though her due date wasn’t for another week, Salas was already having contractions.
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Storm-born
October 6, 2017
Jennifer Campos gave birth to Kash Teegan Campos at 4:53 p.m. at Citizens Medical Center about five hours before Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas Coast.
Kash was a sign of hope in the middle of devastation for the Crossroads, Campos said.
“I’ve never been so sad and so happy at the same time,” said the 37-year-old secretary office manager. “I probably would have been a wreck if I had not had her ... Having her and having my family really kept me from stressing and freaking out about the whole thing.”
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‘Harvey broke me'
October 5, 2017
Megan Driver is trying to get back her life after Harvey destroyed her Bloomington home.
“It was the whole roof. You can look through my roof, and it’s like a sunroof; you can see straight to the sky,” the 25-year-old said. “The rain ruined everything. And when we went back to the house, the mold started coming in.”
She had lived at the house for three years with her mother and boyfriend, who is a Port Lavaca police officer. The missing roof caused damage to the living room, kitchen, the cat room, the laundry room and her garage.
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Nonprofit directors urge city to act on housing crisis
October 4, 2017
Victoria’s nonprofit leaders are begging city leaders to help hundreds of residents struggling to find places to live after Hurricane Harvey destroyed their homes.
“We don’t want homeless people as a result of Hurricane Harvey if there’s something we can do instead,” Ginny Stafford, who runs Mid-Coast Family Services, told the City Council on Tuesday.
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Hunger greater in Crossroads post-Harvey
October 3, 2017
This time of year is always pretty busy for the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent, especially with September designated Hunger Action Month.
But Hurricane Harvey hitting the Crossroads means the local food bank is working harder than ever.
“We’re in a new normal,” said Executive Director Robin Cadle. “What we do on a normal basis is magnified right now.”
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SBA approves more than $500M in disaster loans
October 2, 2017
The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $509 million in federal disaster loans for Texas businesses and residents affected by Hurricane Harvey.
The SBA has approved 446 loans for $42,110,500 for businesses and 5,566 loans for $467,661,300 for residents to help rebuild and recover from this massive storm, according to a news release.
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Harvey could cost city $6M
October 2, 2017
Hurricane Harvey could cost the city at least $6 million in cleanup and repairs.
Tuesday, the City Council is scheduled to discuss earmarking $6 million to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which destroyed homes, snapped trees and flooded parts of the city. That money will cover repairs and cleanup ranging from broken traffic signals to clearing downed trees from Riverside Park, said city spokesman O.C. Garza.
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A lot to be done
October 1, 2017
Samantha Torres, 23, has been living in a Cuero hotel room for more than two weeks.
The room’s tiny fridge is big enough to fit her 2-year-old’s milk and juice.
She and her girlfriend lost almost everything when 16 inches of floodwater filled their rental home in the Greens Addition.
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Woodsboro pulls together after Harvey
September 30, 2017
WOODSBORO - The only items that remain undestroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Olia Anderson’s house are photos.
“I’ve lost just about everything except pictures of my parents, my children and grandkids. My family,” Anderson, 69, said. “Most of my pictures survived, thank God.”
Anderson is one Woodsboro resident who decided to evacuate to avoid the Category 4 hurricane churning in the Gulf. She went to Round Rock to stay with her son and has been there for a month.
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Expectant family struggles after Harvey
September 29, 2017
BLOOMINGTON - Lacey Baladez, 24, thought she was going to have a smooth pregnancy - until Hurricane Harvey destroyed her Bloomington home just weeks before her due date.
Water soaked the mobile home and, with it, all of Baladez’s new baby items. Within days, the home was overgrown with mold.
Now, Baladez, her husband and their 5-year-old daughter must start over - all just weeks before Baladez is expected to give birth.
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VISD students observe See You at the Pole
September 28, 2017
Derek Roach bowed his head, clutched the neck of his guitar with his left hand, closed his eyes and felt his troubles fly away.
“Our family has been going through a lot of struggles,” Roach, 16, said. “It’s everything. Our house has almost been disheveled.”
Family matters before and after Hurricane Harvey led the sophomore to find his place around the Victoria East High School flagpole Wednesday morning among more than 30 participants.
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School districts share issues with state, US senator
September 27, 2017
About 12 of the 39 school districts served by the Region 3 Education Service Center sustained damage from Hurricane Harvey, said Charlotte Baker, executive director.
“We are the voice of the region,” Baker said. “They listened to the Region 3 story.”
The center scheduled a gathering titled “After the Storm: Critical Issues Facing Schools after Hurricane Harvey” on Thursday between school districts and Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
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Dome-schooled
September 26, 2017
BLOOMINGTON - Second-grader Mia Poncio moved her blue, multicolored arm cast left and her school materials right, then left and back again.
After three more moves, she found the perfect position to glue her worksheet into her composition book.
“It’s hard to move the cast,” Mia, 7, said, squirming between the bleachers. “It’s not bad.”
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Seadrift couple forced out of home
September 25, 2017
SEADRIFT - Laura Hernandez-Biery sat on the passenger seat with her eyes closed.
Her husband, David Biery, drove into their rented home’s driveway after evacuating to Waco to avoid Hurricane Harvey.
As she opened her eyes, she was grateful to see the house was still standing and that it had sustained minor damage.
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No place to go
September 24, 2017
Refugio grandmother Lamar Rodriguez, 51, didn’t understand why she and her neighbors were not allowed into the storm-resistant dome in Woodsboro.
“Why are the citizens not getting proper help?” she asked.
Rodriguez would have made the about 15-minute drive to the dome to escape Hurricane Harvey’s wrath during landfall, she said. But with limited finances and few family members able to help, she instead weathered the storm in a neighbor’s home, where she spent the night trying to keep her two grandchildren calm. That proved a difficult task, she said, when powerful winds and heavy rains began to disintegrate the home as she and others sheltered inside.
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Pulling through
September 23, 2017
Dr. Fred Lykes looks around at what used to be his dermatology practice waiting room for the past 38 years.
The stench of mold permeates the almost completely cleared-out building.
The holes in the roof caused by Hurricane Harvey’s powerful winds brought water into his office and destroyed everything.
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Rebuilding for the birds
Septemer 22, 2017
AUSTWELL - When Hurricane Harvey made landfall last month, a game camera at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge snapped pictures about 5 miles from the eye of the storm.
The camera, facing a pond on the southern end of Blackjack Peninsula, monitors whooping cranes in the winter.
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Beyond spiritual healing
September 21, 2017
Once the power was restored at First United Methodist Church, the congregation and its network of churches set out to heal the community.
Even before Hurricane Harvey, the downtown church offered free prescription assistance, mental health counseling and aid to the most impoverished.
Now the church is expanding its reach by planning a medical clinic with DeTar Healthcare System.
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Back among friends
September 20, 2017
BLOOMINGTON- Playing on the Placedo Elementary School monkey bars and sitting in the breeze with friends was the best part of starting school for Francisco Garcia.
“For Hurricane Harvey, I went to McAllen because we have family there,” Francisco, 6, said. “I didn’t have any friends to play with.”
The first-grader was among many Bloomington school district students beginning the school year Tuesday after Hurricane Harvey pushed its start date from Aug. 28.
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Unsteady start
September 19, 2017
REFUGIO - For Michael Moore, sitting in a makeshift Refugio school office in the gym’s foyer without air conditioning felt more normal than the past three weeks.
“This is not what any of us planned,” Michael, 18, said Monday. “We are still a family, we are all strong and we will be all right.”
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Lost in the shadows
September 18, 2017
Alexa’s hope of living a normal life in the United States with her 11-year-old daughter came crashing down with the tree that landed on her home during Hurricane Harvey.
Just two years ago, the mother and daughter moved from Mexico to Bloomington, a rural community of about 2,500 residents.
Alexa bought a trailer, her daughter started school and the two started settling into their new life in the U.S., she said.
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Left high and dry
September 17, 2017
When Darlene Moya, 38, returned from Austin with her three children after fleeing Hurricane Harvey, she found herself locked out of her Victoria rental home.
The single mom said she knew this might happen when she decided what most mothers would: Instead of spending $170 on rent, which is due weekly, she used the last couple hundred dollars to her name to evacuate her daughters - who are 2, 3 and 15 years old. The family sought shelter with relatives in Austin, out of Hurricane Harvey’s deadly path.
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Still not normal
September 16, 2017
REFUGIO - Lucas Garcia has not been able to eat more than crackers and water for the past couple of weeks.
“My stomach has just been tied up in knots,” Garcia, 62, said, clutching his stomach outside his home on Commerce Street.
His lack of appetite made him turn down a delicious chalupa plate his wife, Rosario, brought him to eat the other day.
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Lost at sea
September 15, 2017
PORT LAVACA - Six years of Jerry Burklund’s memories are halfway sunk into the bay at Nautical Landing marina.
“That boat had a lot of stories attached to it,” Burklund said Wednesday as he looked down at his Carver Montego boat sticking out of the brown pier water.
Burklund, 75, had spent several years traveling through the Florida Keys on the boat, he said.
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Harvesting hope
September 14, 2017
Cindy Gayle let out a heartfelt cry after learning seven of her horses were under her collapsed barn that was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.
“It was like someone crumpled a paper napkin,” the 63-year-old Goliad woman said. “When the tin collapsed, it was like a knife hitting the horses. It hurt seeing the horses like that.”
The Goliad Fire Department helped free the horses from the collapsed structure. Six of the seven horses suffered injuries, with cuts from 12 to 16 inches long.
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Under their wing
September 13, 2017
ROCKPORT - When they removed the interior walls of their office Tuesday, the International Crane Foundation’s employees found more than they could have hoped for among the rubble.
“We went from 1,000 square feet to 100, but it’s all good stuff,” said Liz Smith, senior whooping crane scientist.
She surveyed their findings laid out on a blue tarp. The game cameras and tripods would be useful, as would the waterproof notebooks that had lived up to their name.
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A lot on young minds
September 12, 2017
Although Chloe Reynolds was safe and dry Monday at Shields Elementary School, her mind was wading through Houston’s floodwaters, hoping her father was OK.
“My dad lives in Houston,” Chloe, 10, said on the first day back at school. “I’ve cried so much watching the news and seeing Houston.”
Victoria school district welcomed students back Monday for the first time since Hurricane Harvey passed through the Crossroads.
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'It was like we had been bombed'
September 11, 2017
ROCKPORT - El and Bill Gibbens didn’t expect Hurricane Harvey would obliterate their three-story, 3,200-square-foot vacation home on Holiday Island in Rockport.
“It was like we had been bombed,” said El Gibbens, 51. “If you could imagine, all the debris that is pilled up on the roads was everywhere.”
The couple had gone to Nashville, Tenn., for a wedding and didn’t have much time to ready their Rockport and Victoria homes for the storm. They made it back to their Rockport home four days after the hurricane and were shocked at the ruins.
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Nature interrupted: Storm has far-reaching environmental impact
September 10, 2017
Environmentalists are comparing Hurricane Harvey with the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill from 2010.
They worry that with the governor suspending some environmental rules, the Category 4 hurricane’s effects won’t be fully understood until long after the spotlight is pointed elsewhere.
“With the BP oil spill, we’re still learning things like how dolphins and other marine life fared,” said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas.
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Doing their part
September 10, 2017
SPANISH CAMP - A Victoria couple who traveled to Fort Bend and Wharton counties to rescue flooded residents said they were just owning up to their heritage.
“We kept saying, ‘This is just what Texas does,’” said Alison Jecker, 32.
Days after Hurricane Harvey’s landfall, Jecker, boyfriend Mark Robinson, 34, and about a dozen other Crossroads residents along with their boats staged do-it-yourself rescue operations in the sunken city of Richmond and then Missouri City. Two days later, Becker and Robinson found themselves in Wharton County where they rescued abandoned dogs and other animals from almost certain death.
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Disaster for humans means catastrophe for pets
September 9, 2017
At Victoria Animal Control, a black-and-white pit bull rescued from a flooded Victoria neighborhood got food, love and an aptly chosen name.
“We named him Harvey,” said Victoria animal activist Toya Stone, unofficial liaison for the Texas rescue group Wags, Hope and Healing, while cradling the dog she helped save.
Although two weeks have passed since Hurricane Harvey carved a swath of destruction through the Crossroads, residents still are struggling to get back on their own two - or four - feet.
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Dire straits
September 8, 2017
Cindy Barrientes donated her last $5 to Hurricane Harvey at a checkout lane Wednesday night.
This turned out to be good karma because a few hours later she learned that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would help her financially.
“I just don’t know how to use it,” Barrientes said. “I’m not sure when or how it will come in.”
FEMA deemed her apartment unfit for habitation.
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FEMA frustrates Harvey victims
September 7, 2017
If Richard Quinonez hopes to reunite with his wife and three daughters again, he needs help.
“People don’t have money like they think they do. People don’t have family like they think they do.” Quinonez, 41, said. “I lost everything.”
Quinonez is one of thousands in the Crossroads who are applying for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance in the aftermath of the hurricane. Many say the compensation offered so far by FEMA falls far short of the need.
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Victims find hardship, opportunity
September 6, 2017
SEADRIFT - Mary Ann Guerrero, 45, watched the inspector enter her mold-choked home Tuesday afternoon and wondered what she would do if the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied her family’s request for assistance.
“I have no idea,” Guerrero said. “That’s the scariest thing.”
Like many Crossroads residents who returned to find their homes damaged and destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, Guerrero and her family face limited options in getting back on their feet. With her workplace still without power and savings rapidly diminishing, Guerrero, the sole bread-winner in the family, said she was placing all of her hopes with FEMA.
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Church offers refuge for devastated town
September 5, 2017
REFUGIO - When Hurricane Harvey’s darkness covered Refugio on the night of Aug. 25, Joy Ministries became a beacon of light.
“We were a light, help and assistance to people who reached out,” Peter Vega, church minister, said Monday. “We put our gloves on and went to work.”
Church ministers sheltered 40 hurricane evacuees for about three days starting Saturday despite not having electricity or running water.
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For some, normal still far away
September 4, 2017
For Susie Starkey, helping her employee clean and clear her flood-damaged Victoria home Sunday was never optional.
“You just have to do it,” Starkey, 57, said, holding the hose of an industrial vacuum inside a Greens Addition home rented by her employee, Helena Hamilton, 53.
More than a week after Hurricane Harvey ravaged Victoria, some residents are still working to return to normal life. Although the hurricane and ensuing flooding left most houses still standing in the neighborhood, many remain unlivable with mud, water, burgeoning mold and thriving mosquitos inside.
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Residents rely on families to rebuild
September 3, 2017
BAYSIDE - Sabine Wiegand, 54, spent Saturday afternoon clearing her belongings from her closet and loading them into a moving van.
It was in that closet - just a week earlier - where she hid with her 76-year-old mother and their cat as Hurricane Harvey ripped the roof off their Bayside home. They lived less than a 30-minute drive from where the storm made landfall with 130 mph winds in Rockport.
“I was praying to God all night - ‘Please God, please God,’” she said. “I really thought we were going to die - that house was going to crash in on us.”
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The long road ahead
September 2, 2017
REFUGIO - The new furniture delivered to Refugio ISD on Aug. 24 was going to put the finishing touches on a renovated school.
However, Hurricane Harvey changed all of that the next day. Most of the furniture, in addition to the buildings, are damaged or detroyed.
“It was overwhelming at first,” Superintendent Melissa Gonzales said Friday.
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Animals’ angels
September 1, 2017
Amid the scenes of human loss from Hurricane Harvey, volunteers raced Thursday to save zoo animals in Victoria.
Thursday’s effort followed a heroic week by four Texas Zoo workers who rode out Hurricane Harvey with the animals and then stayed as the Guadalupe River flooded the structure in Riverside Park.
Almost all of the animals survived, said zoo board president Jimmy Zaplac, who spent Thursday with rescue workers wading through floodwaters and ferrying crated animals to dry land.
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30.9 feet and rising
August 31, 2017
Wading back to his waiting wife, Alex Gonzalez, 34, had happy news about their family home.
“Everything is good. We are dry,” said Gonzalez, a homeowner in Greens Addition, a west Victoria neighborhood where Guadalupe River water swept through Wednesday. Throughout much of Greens Addition, the river slipped its banks, filling homes with muddy floodwater carried south from distant rains. That water closed roadways, forcing some Victoria families from their homes and stranding others.
Returning from his expedition into the flooded neighborhood with a bucket of essentials taken from the home, Gonzalez wondered aloud how long the family’s luck with the water would last.
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‘Everybody will pull together'
August 30, 2017
TIVOLI - It wasn’t until three days after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas that Delia Garza, 56, finally scrubbed off her Social Security number written in pen on her arm.
“I had my social on one leg and one arm,” said Garza, who lives in Tivoli. “They were going to identify me one way or another.”
As the storm destroyed her trailer Friday night, she took shelter in her father’s home across the street, where she and her sister prayed with rosary beads in a bathroom, just steps away from the room they shared as little girls.
“To tell you the truth, I have never seen my town under this much destruction - I never have,” she added. “With all this destruction, I’m hoping that everybody does get together to get Tivoli back.”
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‘It’s the luck of the draw'
AUGUST 29, 2017
Even before Hurricane Harvey arrived, this year’s shrimp and oyster season was on track to be one of the worst for Seadrift oysterers and shrimpers.
“I don’t know what we can do,” said Seadrift resident Edward Torres, who has supported his family by catching shrimp and oysters out of Seadrift for the past 22 years. “For the fishermen, it’s not good.”
As Harvey continued its departure Monday from the Crossroads, water-logged cities and towns assessed damage and began caring for their residents.
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'At least God let us live'
AUGUST 28, 2017
Heather Meadows said she feels as if she is living in a nightmare.
“Is this all a dream?” said Meadows, 22, who has lived in Tivoli for a year and a half. “Can we just all wake up now?”
Meadows is one of thousands of Crossroads residents who have been left to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Harvey destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses when it made landfall as a Category 4 storm Friday night. From the coastal city of Rockport to Victoria, hundreds of thousands were without running water or electricity. Others have lost their homes entirely.
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'We thought we were going to die'
AUGUST 27, 2017
REFUGIO - Lamar Rodriguez, 51, huddled with her two young grandchildren in a neighbor’s bathtub in a dark, shuddering home.
“We thought we were going to die,” Rodriguez said, almost overcome with emotion Saturday afternoon as she stood in the midst of her ruined neighborhood.
Powerful winds and deluges of floodwater mangled the family’s aging home and sowed terror in the hearts of Rodriguez and the neighbors who sheltered there. By Saturday, the storm had left the city - and most of the rest of the Crossroads - without power and water. In more rural areas, including Refugio, phone service was even gone.
The intensity of Hurricane Harvey stunned many in the Crossroads who had not seen a Category 4 storm since Carla 56 years ago.
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'Prayers protect us'
August 26, 2017
PORT LAVACA - Crossroads residents watched helplessly Friday as the worst storm in 56 years roared ashore.
Harvey grew to a Category 4 hurricane at 6 p.m., drawing terrifying comparisons to Carla, which blasted through Port O’Connor on Sept. 11, 1961.
Harvey was expected to cause devastating damage as the storm started stalling after making landfall. Heavy rains could continue through Monday afternoon, dumping 20 to 40 inches.
“What that means is we’re going to be in the middle of the bad side of the storm for roughly 48 hours,” said Deputy Bryan Simons, Victoria County sheriff’s office spokesman.
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Brace yourself
August 25, 2017
Victoria and three surrounding coastal counties issued mandatory evacuation orders Thursday as Hurricane Harvey rapidly intensified.
Crossroads county and city officials met throughout the day in a race to keep up with the rapidly changing storm. Roads and highways out of the Crossroads filled with cars as residents fled with their families.
“We’ll be hit head-on or the north side, the worst side of the storm,” Port Lavaca Mayor Jack Whitlow said. “This is not a good one to sit out. There will be no water, no electricity during this storm, no police, no medical services. You’ll be on your own if it happens. It’s best to get out of town.”
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Here comes Harvey
August 24, 2017
With a potential hurricane headed Wednesday for the Crossroads, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration and residents scrambled to stock up on supplies.
Local government officials and authorities met throughout the day, monitoring the potential of tropical depression Harvey developing into a hurricane by the time it reached the Texas coast. The forecast called for Harvey to make landfall late Friday somewhere along the Coastal Bend.
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