The best advice I can always remind myself of or give advice to others is to follow your first instinct.
In the summer of 2017, I was in search of getting my own place. My parents and siblings insisted that it was a dumb idea to "waste my money" paying rent for an apartment rather than staying at my parents' house. Although I understood my parents' and siblings' point of view, there was a strong gut feeling that I had to move out of my parents' house as fast as possible.
I kept telling myself that I needed to move, because just in case anything happens, I would have a space available for any of my family members.
August 18, 2017 marked my move-in day. I was joyful and hopeful to move into a new space I could call my own. With the help of my parents, brother, and sister, I was able to get all of my stuff in my apartment.
My family and I were too focused on moving to pay attention to the major storm that was possibly going to hit Houston.
The weekend of August 18th, I went to the store with my mother and she mentioned, “You know the news is saying there is a storm or a hurricane that might hit Houston, you may want to get some extra water.”
This was the first time I had heard about a possible hurricane or storm.
Settled in my new place, I took a look at the weather. To my surprise, there was a storm — a big storm — inching closer to Texas with possible landfall to the west of Houston.
On August 25th, the tropical storm, Harvey, made landfall.
By August 26th, the storm began to hit the Northwest, Southwest, and West side of Houston.
Many of the peoples' homes that same night began to flood.
By August 27th, the storm had reached the middle parts of Houston, again new homes that were not flooded began to flood.
The flooding on my parents' street was not alarming, but seeing that several rain-bands were moving toward her side of Houston, I told my mother to pack her things and head over to my apartment.
My parents kept insisting that the rain had slowed and that it was not as a flooded outside. But after just 30 minutes of having spoken with my mom, she called back saying to call The National Guard because the water had in a few minutes risen and began rush inside her house.
My brother grabbed the dogs, put them in cages, turned on the truck, and my parents and brother left right on time before the water began to rise higher.
Their ride to my place was dangerous. After driving cautiously in flooded streets and heavy rain, they were able to get to my place safely.
The next few days, we sat waiting in my apartment, thankful that there was a place where my parents and brother could remain safe.
By the 30th of August, Harvey had passed Houston.
My brother and I went out to help anyone that needed but that was also dangerous. Trying to cross a major highway, we meandered through small roads and quickly realized that certain roads were on the brink of flooding.
We only had a few minutes to drive to our destination before being stranded.
When we got there, the whole neighborhood had been flooded and water still surrounded most homes, but the roads were clear to drive through.
The house had been almost completely submerged.
Water had reached four-five feet inside the house.
Everything was water damaged.
It was rough for my parents to see all of their belongings and home damaged. Everything they had worked for was gone.
Although it was a sad moment to see my mother tear up at the site of her home, the most important thing was that we were all safe and healthy.
The next few days, family and friends came together to help clean and take out everything that was water damaged. This meant absolutely everything, including the wooden floors and walls.
We were lucky. We were able to cling together as a family and have a safe, dry, and quiet place to rest after several days of hard work.
Many Houstonian families were not as fortunate.
After the whole ordeal, I was (and am) thankful for deciding to move out of my parents' house — that I chose to follow my instinct.
I am one of the lucky ones who did not have a flooded apartment, but this experience has reinforced the idea of listening to my gut.
Whether it is something as simple as moving out of your parents' home, getting a new job, moving to a new city, or taking a chance on anything, listen to your gut feelings alongside the advice that others give you.
And from that, take a chance and wait and see what happens.
I am happy to say that the house is now rebuilt and habitable. We still own the home and my parents have moved back and are happy.
