Exactly one year ago, Hurricane Harvey hit Texas. My family of seven – my wife Audrey and I, and our five children, including triplet babies – weren’t prepared for a 1-in-1,000-year event. We and millions of others in the Houston area were right in the middle of one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
We had never experienced a hurricane. As we sheltered in place, little did we know that rainfall would soon be measured in feet, not inches. Soon I would be evacuating my family – all still wearing pajamas – from our levee district, like a scene from “Fast and Furious,” driving our family vehicle in the wrong direction (contra-flow) on State Highway 99, trying to escape the storm.
Harvey broke a 60-year U.S. rainfall record (set in Hawaii), with some rainfall estimates at up to 70 inches in parts of southeastern Texas.
The storm tore through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky and took a terrible toll: A total of $125 billion in damage, 13 million people impacted, 39,000 people forced out of their homes, 204,000 homes damaged or destroyed, more than 1 million cars and trucks damaged beyond repair. And worst of all, at least 88 people lost their lives.
Yet, important words describing what happened after Harvey hit never appear in a government report that described the disaster: hope, friendship, love, faith, church and rebuild.
Here are four lessons our family was reminded of during this horrific natural disaster. Perhaps they will encourage you when faced with adversity. READ THE FOUR LESSONS and the rest of the OPED over at Fox News. …d
– Jeremiah J. Johnston, Ph.D. – via Fox News Opinion
