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For people in the area, any significant rain could easily trigger memories of water flowing into homes and inundating streets. This week’s rainfall totals sent many into a frenzy, including my in-laws, which is where we are staying while we close on a home.

After a brief stint at work, I went back to the house in Fannett. I made the harrowing trek through some relatively high water for my Malibu, but made it back to find the yard submerged along with the driveway.

After waiting a few minutes for the rain to subside, my wife called me from inside the house. What I thought was a call to make fun of me for trying to avoid getting wet was actually a call to come move some of our baby’s furniture out of the garage, which was starting to take on water.

We then watched helplessly as the water inched closer to the house. Nearly a month prior, my in-laws finally finished their floors, which were damaged in Tropical Storm Imelda. While they had tile this time, the waterproof flooring did not stop the anxiety.

The panic wasn’t necessarily in seeing the water come into the house (though that was obviously a concern); it was the long, tedious process of everything that happens after the waters recede.

We scurried to put important furniture up on stacks of leftover tiles and moved electronics off the floor.

The water crept up to the frame of the front door. We were prepared for the worst, which seemed inevitable at that point. We began to talk about where we all would go if we had to leave the house for a few days. We talked about what we would need to get out of the house and in what order. While there is new tile in a good portion of the house, the bedrooms still have carpet, which would’ve had to be ripped up almost immediately to avoid mildew.

Another 15 minutes of the unrelenting rain, and the process of recovery would’ve begun. Fifteen minutes separated a bad weather event from a flood. The rain let up and the water receded. We were luckier than most.

From midnight Monday into the evening, Fannett received 18 inches of rain. Several other homes and business in the area flooded again.

The scary part is that the worst has yet to come with forecasters predicting more heavy rain for today and Thursday.

In all likelihood, someone somewhere in the area will have to start the recovery process this weekend.

For now, we are leaving the furniture on the leftover tiles until the week is over.

 

Chris Moore is the sports editor for Port Arthur Newsmedia. He can be reached at chris.moore@panews.com.