Among those affected by the devastating flooding that has ravaged the Texas coastal areas is former Register reporter Allison Tinn.
Tinn, who worked in Iola in 2012 and 2013, was forced to evacuate from her west Houston home Monday morning.
“We’re all a bit shaken up for sure,” she said in a text message. “And we just moved into our new house a month ago. The water has never reached as high as our house.”
Until Sunday.
With the remnants of Hurricane Harvey dumping nearly 40 inches of rain in some areas, floodwater reached Tinn’s street over the weekend, then poured into the lower levels of her home Sunday night.
She, her fiancé and his children slept in shifts on the second floor until shortly after dawn Monday.
“My fiance had the sense to put his car up on high ground, which was farther up the neighborhood. “We took shifts sleeping to make sure we didn’t have to evacuate during the night. As soon as we could see where we were going, we got the kids and the dogs and walked out. The water fluctuated between knee height to about waist height.”
The family is staying at a friend’s house, which is out of the flood zone — not that it means much.
Tinn’s house was supposed to be out of the flood zone, too.
“We’re at record levels of everything here in Houston, so houses that have never flooded are flooding. We don’t even know any more” if homes thought to be safe might now flood. “There have been people who lived on our street for 43 years and never saw water in their houses.”
Fortunately, she noted, the couple has flood insurance.
The storms’ remnants continue ravage eastern Texas. Forecasts call for the storm system to slowly work its way north into Arkansas and MIssouri by the end of the week.
Former Register scribe among evacuees
