It's Labor Day, September fourth, twenty-seventeen and we are just over a week post Harvey. It was exactly one week and theee days ago that we were all bracing ourselves for "landfall". Looking back we did everything we could do to be prepared for the storm...physically but mentally there was just no way we cod orepare dor what came. Our family transported here to LaPorte, Texas six years ago, and although we were "christened" in hurricane awareness in 2006 while living in Orange Park, Florida this was a real life changer. We sustained no storm damage or loss of power but watched in horror and anticipation as the days grew longer, and more water fell. My anxiety levels surprisingly were very low until the last two days when more rain fell and it seemed more posts were coming through about people, thier children, and animals were stranded. Family members begged for anyone to help loved ones whose phones were dying. More posts came in about the missing and pleas foe babies who were separated from moms. I started thinking of caregivers with loved ones who may be non verbal and thats when I saw the post about a special needs adult man who was missing. My heart raced thinking of what the family must have been feeling. I prayed for them and for the many loved ones and caregivers who were caught in the storm. My son was in a "flood zone" on the second floor with the water rising and another son who's incarcerated in Humble which was also flooding. Both were confirmed well and dry but the ever "impending doom" kept me climbing the anxiety wall. In hindsight I can appreciate how God kept our family from losing our "ish" when everything was going to "hell in a handbasket" around us. We saw it at the time but the full appreciation was after visiting shelters and volunteering. Hearing the peoples stories who lived through everything and seeing portions of the city still under water was very difficult. What struck me most was the thought if how our mental health professionals were going to be able to serve from cracked and damaged vessels themselves? How will an already burdened system handle an influx of existing clients and new clients that will be coming in? How will the "recovery" or delay of recovery affect so many families and profress of loved ones who may now have a new trigger or triggers like rain and storms. How is or has the hurricane affected you and your loved one(s), and family?
