161 Forever floods

Houston 2017

Forever floods

Memories of floods may fade but they never go away. Watching the news of Hurricane Harvey in Texas brought tears to my eyes and a virtual deluge of emotions from the past. As a youngster and teenager, the annual spring rains were usually followed by floods.

There are so many facets of the experiences that no one person can start to report all that happens. The anticipation, the rains, the rising of the water, the water creeping through the streets, and then up the steps into the house are images and feeling that will never leave.

Plus, the cleanup and rebuilding stays with the families for months and sometimes years and really never goes away in your thoughts. By that time, the reporters and photographers are gone, and most of the country and state have forgotten about the devastation.

The last big flood when I lived in the deep mountains of Logan County West Virginia took place in March of 1963. There were floods almost every year in the low-lying areas of the coal mining territory. The reach of the flooding would depend on the amount of snow that winter and how constant the spring rains filled the creeks, streets, and ultimately the Guyandotte River.

A dam to hold back the flood waters had been debated and planned for years but had not been constructed at that time. Very few people were spared the ravages of the torrential downfall that year --- you had to live on the hills rather than in the valley to be lucky enough to escape the devastation.

We had survived many years of flooding --- maybe a few inches or feet in the house. But that year, the rain just wouldn’t stop. The final count was six feet in the house and my dad’s store had well over 16 feet.

I was the oldest at home at that time, and I stayed with my mom at the house – not sure why we stayed. The younger siblings went with neighbors who lived on the hill. As it started to enter the house, those dear friends came back for us, and we left the house – that would be the last day we lived in that house. I grabbed my purse and hair rollers. When I think back, I have no idea why I didn’t take more but maybe I thought we would be back.

It was a long night and the rains persisted, and the water kept rising. The river hadn’t crested at that time so we knew more was yet to come and it did. The military ducks (amphibious vehicles) rolled in to help and agencies such as the Red Cross supplied much-needed necessities.

The store before the flood.
The water got to the top of the windows.

My dad’s grocery store was about a mile down the road in an area that even got more flood water. He was always on the other side of the water so we wouldn’t normally see him for least one day, but it was several days when the 1963 flood hit.

When a grocery store is flooded, nothing can be saved so everything is a total loss. Flood insurance was not even a part of our vocabulary. 

Somehow my dad was one of those people that the news media could find – he made the Associated Press wire shoveling out the debris with his fedora had on his head, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and a smile on his face. Those who knew him realized it was not a true smile but a smirk that hid the words, (often curse words in both English and Italian) of what he was truly thinking about this horrendous situation.

Also, many people don’t realize that families who often live near each other have little chance to help each other. My aunts and uncles were dealing with their own houses and businesses, but we all tried to assist when we could. My grandparents lived around the corner from us above the first family grocery store, and we would go there for many years until they both passed away. I hate to admit it, but many times it was exciting to be with my cousins as we camped out at my grandparents. 

But the adults didn’t feel that way for sure. The looks on their faces of the unknown of what was happening came through even though they tried to be brave. In those days. there were no cell phone and 24-hour TV so we were truly in the dark about what was happening and when it would all end.

And we were literally in the dark – no electricity for days, no water (there weren’t bottles then), and no stores were open. I remember my mom, aunts, and grandmother filling buckets and other containers with water so when the floods came, we would have fresh water to drink and cook with. They made sure the coal-burning fireplaces were operational, that was how we cooked and heated for as long as necessary.

The cleanup takes days and days and often weeks. We carried all we could find in the mud and muck out of the house to our friends and washed as best as we could. Many items had to be trashed and sent to the dump while others were okay briefly but did not often last very long especially furniture. Wool clothes were a goner as well as appliances. We managed to dry out photos but some were a loss. After a week or so, my dad had had enough and had a crew empty the house and take it all to the dump. 

My family had a standing retort when we would look for something and couldn’t find it – that was before the flood.

My future husband and his family dragged all their belongings they could manage to the second floor. He and his dad stayed in the house until they had to be rescued from the roof by boat. To top it off that was his 17th birthday – not much of a celebration but one he always remembers.

A normal day was not to be had for many months – my mother decided to buy a house on the hill since my dad was still on the other side of the water. We never had to worry about floods in the house again but we always had family and friends to assist.

The dam was finally built and flooding was not as severe or as frequent. No one can adequately put into words what anyone experiences in these catastrophes and natural disasters. Don’t even think the news media comes close to covering it, but I give them credit for trying. It is devastating, emotional, destructive, and any other adjective that denotes a total waste of resources. And on top of it all to add insult to injury, we were rewarded with shots for tetanus and other maladies.

On the positive side, our floods were usually slow moving so the loss of life was not an issue. It was rare that anyone could not be rescued, but occasionally we would lose someone which was even more devastating.

But the human spirit is amazing and survives in most cases and moves on. I send my best thoughts to those in Texas and other areas of the Gulf Coast. It will get better but it will take time and you will never forget.

Frances