'No one could have predicted what was to come'

The Pedersen family during a vacation earlier this year

Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath are having a major impact on people in Baytown and surrounding communities. This is the account of one person, Justin Pedersen, of life during and after the storm.
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“Even with Hurricane Harvey hitting 175 miles away in Rockport, we still parked our cars up off the street in the event that we had some pooling water. My home is classified as ‘X’ on the Effective Flood Insurance Rate Map. This is the lowest category available for flood zoning risk. Based on conversations with my neighbors, we estimate less than 8% of our homes had flood insurance. No one could have predicted what was to come over the next couple of days.

“I stayed up Saturday night watching the water inch closer. About 5:45 in the morning, the water level passed our front tree. Shortly after, the power went out. I immediately woke the family. We started moving electronics and valuables upstairs. We also frantically cleaned out a section of the garage for my daughter’s car, which wasn’t under full coverage insurance. Little did we know, it wouldn’t make a difference. By 7:15, it was coming through the front door. As the water continued to climb, our immediate neighbors came over due to having a one-story house and two small children. My neighbor and I then went to check on other neighbors, including the elderly couple across the street. It was a surreal scene with 4 feet of water in the street, people standing knee deep on their front porches, and others having fun floating in pool floats.

Their neighborhood on Monday

“In less than two hours, the heroes showed up. They had five or six boats taking people to Highway 146 for evacuation. With my family upstairs starting to pack, I joined one of the boat teams and helped get multiple families to the front of the subdivision. Wading through the water was extremely cold, and the rain was incessant. Yet these volunteers came from other neighborhoods and even other towns risking their lives and their boats to help get our families to safety. Later in the day, we got my family out as well. We rode in the back of a pickup truck to a friend’s house. I wish I knew the name of the guy who selflessly ran us across town during the pouring rain. Some families decided to stay, thinking the worst was behind us. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Among them were the elderly couple across the street, since they had nowhere to go.

“After 36 hours without sleep, I fell asleep on my friend’s floor while waiting for my wife to check on a potential place for us to stay. When I woke up at 4:30 a.m., reality set in that this wasn’t all a nightmare. A quick glance at the TV news showed that another band of rain had dumped more water on our area during the night. Checking the water level gauge of Cedar Bayou, it had surpassed the 500-year flood level and was continuing to rise. I pulled up the Devinwood Facebook page and immediately realized how much worse the situation was. Several families were citing waist-deep water inside their homes and begging for rescue. I didn’t have a boat, but I thought maybe I could find a rescue team to help. So I jumped in our borrowed vehicle and ran up to the Cedar Bayou bridge. It was under water on both sides and the current was very strong. More and more volunteers showed up, but it was pretty apparent that the current and water level weren’t going to permit us to cross or safely deploy boats.

The Pedersens' house

“Meanwhile, my wife was compiling a list of addresses of families calling for rescue on Facebook. The number was growing rapidly and now included our elderly neighbor, who recently had a heart transplant. I finally found a way around by going out to Horace Mann Junior School and heading down FM 1405. Shortly after arriving, the heroes once again showed up with their boats. We literally had over 10 boats running around, trying to find those in need. The water was over 7 feet deep in some places, giving them enough depth to use their outboards. The problem was they couldn’t exactly go door to door without risking their motors hitting items in people’s yards. With my wife and another neighbor coordinating the calls for help, I relayed those addresses to the boats. I couldn’t get to the back of the neighborhood, but I did go door to door on the first three streets trying to urge people to get out because Cedar Bayou was still rising. Once again, those heroes risked their lives and boats to help strangers. I was on the boat that helped rescue my elderly neighbor. It was a very sad sight, as he was shivering and struggling to talk. One of the heroes gave him his raincoat to offer a little protection from the battering rain. When we parted ways, they were being taken to a shelter by yet another hero.

“It’s been an exhausting week. To make it worse, talk of looting and people being held up at gunpoint has my already beaten-down neighbors nervous that what little they have left is exposed. To try to provide them with some peace of mind, I set up a checkpoint to monitor in/out privileges to the neighborhood. Everyone has been extremely grateful. We now have a rotating shift and multiple people on post at any given time. According to Baytown police officers who we are working with, we are the only neighborhood with this sort of checkpoint. My neighbors can’t get back to their homes due to the water still being 4 feet deep in some places, but at least they have one less thing to worry about. I hope and pray they are getting some rest as our journey of rebuilding hasn’t even begun yet.” 

Batman the cat

About the family’s pets:
“We have two dogs (Khloe and Slinky) and three cats (Maverick, Snow and Batman). When we left on Sunday we got them all out except Batman, who we couldn’t find. I went back on Monday to find him, but I couldn’t. My daughter was ready to swim back herself that evening to find him, but the water was rising again. Finally after a second trip back on Tuesday, I found him hiding inside my daughter’s mattress. He had dug a hole through the bottom of her box spring. My daughter was hysterically happy when Daddy brought Batman home. She woke up from a dead sleep to see me standing over her with her cat.”

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'My heart aches for far too many people I've known for years'

Baytown, Texas has made national news this week. It’s the town I lived in from my birth at San Jacinto Hospital until I graduated from Sterling High School. My family lived in Chapparal Village on Tumbleweed Lane until I was 5. Then we built our home in the Timber Ridge subdivision just a few houses away from the Cedar Bayou that runs north to south along the east side of town.

I spent my childhood roaming the streets of our neighborhood, down Bayou Boulevard that leads to the many houses of friends who lived in Whispering Pines. Back then we were free to roam on bicycles back and forth until dusk when Mom would step out on the front porch and call out, “dinner!” We’d go racing back with beads of sweat ringed around our necks.

The tight-knit community that has painted so many memories for me has been sucker punched by Hurricane Harvey. Even as I write this, I haven’t fully accepted it like so many others directly impacted by the devastating flooding waters. It’s nothing short of gut-wrenching to see Facebook posts of homes with water over vehicles sitting in driveways. I’ve read the pleas for rescue from people I grew up with. I listened to concerns of friends who are worried about their parents sitting too close to harm’s way. I’ve felt my own personal fear (the tears are flowing now) as I questioned where my own parents were at every single minute of each day Harvey continued his wrath.

Being a bystander 800 miles away watching the disaster unfold via social media, texts and news coverage has been the single most stressful event of my life. I have refreshed my weather radar app hundreds of times hoping for a break in the rain. My heart aches for far too many people I’ve known for years. I cannot fathom the fear of desperately waiting in your house for help to arrive, relying on a stranger to pull your family out of your flooding home where you should be safe and sound. The stories just keep coming. There seems to be no end to the list of names that show up in my Facebook feed.

I know so many have walked away with nothing but a trash bag filled with whatever they could grab. I know folks who took on multiple displaced families and then experienced flooding themselves. I know families are separated and struggling to find each other. I know some have lost their lives. And so many have lost their homes.

But Baytown, I have news for you. Because I witnessed the devastating Nashville flood of 2010, I can tell you exactly what will happen in the days to come. What seems like endless rain will finally come to a stop. The water will recede. And just like the countless people who drove from other states and communities and showed up in a boat at your front door just in the nick of time, scores of friends and perfect strangers will show up to help you recover.

They’ll knock on your front door and pack every single item out of your house. They’ll remove the flooring and damaged sheetrock in the blink of an eye and set up fans to dry out your home. You’ll step outside in the flurry of activity to get some air and realize how difficult it is to navigate down your street due to the numerous volunteers. It’s quite a sight to see so many people who have never met self-organize to achieve a common goal. Leaders will emerge. Kindness will know no end. No one will give up, and no one will leave until the job is done.

People all over the country will open their homes to you. You will not go hungry. You will not be forgotten. And as this will be perhaps the most difficult event to get through, you will. You will recover from this, you will go on, and you will thrive.

It just happens. It’s a process. It takes time. It’s full of emotion. But it will happen.

Baytownians, have faith. Have faith in each other to lean on. Have faith that your friends will bend over backward for you. Have faith that those of us outside of the Houston area will do anything we can to take care of you. I’ve had numerous friends in Nashville ask me how they can help you already – even as the rain still falls. They are ready.

We are already making lists, gathering supplies, collecting donations, pulling clothes and blankets from our shelves. We are ready for you and will be there as soon as the roads clear. You will be sick of us in no time.

But we also need something from you.

And this is important.

We need you to ask for help when you need something we are not providing. We need your honesty, no matter how hard it may be. We all have plenty to share, and we are more than willing, but with so many to help, we may overlook a detail that you can provide.

As you sit reading this, many of you are at a loss for what to do next.

Help is coming. Take a breath. Hug your family. And brace yourselves for the love that is headed to Baytown.

My heart is with you all.

LeeJayne Stone
Read her blog.

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'He will not let anyone forget the smaller communities like Baytown'

“My son, Pablo Antonio Picacio, is a first sergeant military police officer at Fort Hood. He has been ordered to put together a platoon to provide rescue efforts for those affected by the hurricane. He informed me that Fort Hood is assembling the biggest Army relief effort in history. He has been at the command center there coordinating the movement.

“My ex is retired military, so Tony has been a military kid since birth. He has been in the Army for 17 years. He has been on several tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Korea and other locations. He was in Saddam Hussein’s palace during the takeover. Every time he deployed he was in danger. One day gone was too long. The deployments taught me to pray differently. I used to pray selfishly for the safety of my son. I had to learn to pray for all his soldiers because they are a family, a band of brothers and sisters who never leave anyone behind.

“I know they have to set up their command center in Katy. Hopefully, by the end of the week, he may get to us. I know he will not let anyone forget the smaller communities like Baytown. He is an absolute fanatic about his state of Texas. He would give his life to defend her. And now knowing Harvey has hurt his mama, he is serving with a vengeance. He will stop at nothing to defend, protect and serve Texas. I am so proud of him. I am encouraged by his strength and commitment.”

— Norma Picacio-Jones

Norma and her husband, Bren Jones, along with their rescue dog, Sophie, had to evacuate their home this week because of flooding.

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'He said that our children needed him to save me'

As Hurricane Harvey delayed the start of the school year in Baytown, it also put at risk many local students, teachers and coaches. Among those were Bren Jones and his wife, Norma Picacio-Jones. Bren, the head football coach at Goose Creek Memorial High School, ventured into deep waters to help rescue members of his coaching staff and their families.

“My girlfriends and I were relaying messages to Bren about the coaches and teachers who needed help. As we sat waiting, I thought about how at 6:15 a.m. when he left, all I had fed him was the Nexium and blood pressure medicine I shoved in his mouth after he brushed his teeth. I didn’t even send him off with a bottle of water after a quick kiss. I selfishly begged through phone texts for him not to endanger his life, knowing well that he never thought of himself. He promised me he would return. I had to believe him because he had saved me and (our dog) Sophie first.

“I think now about how much I fought and argued with him the night before we left our flooded home. I did not want to leave. I told him I was going to go to our top floor or the roof if I had to, but I was not going out in that flooded street to drown. I saw my brother drown at South Padre Island, and his body was never recovered. Bren knew my fear. But he begged me to go with him because he said that our children needed him to save me. He asked that I believe him. My daughter, Claudia, called me from Fort Worth and begged me to be strong and to listen. Bren and I argued long and hard. In the end he won. He promised me that I wouldn't die, and I waded in that water until he got me into his truck. Later on, I thought about how much I wanted to feed Bren food and to send him out again to save others. But before he came home, our new temporary home, he drove to Kroger in Pasadena to stand in line to buy food.”

— Norma Picacio-Jones

Bren drove around in his truck for nearly 12 hours to assist with rescues, including those of GCM assistant head coach Bobby Locke, his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, and coach Cody Robertson and his girlfriend, Kiersten Newman. He also contacted his other coaches to ensure they were safe.

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts on this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'It's very humbling to see a community finally come together'

As flooding from Hurricane Harvey forced many families to evacuate their homes and be transported to community shelters, helping hands were ready to bring a semblance of normalcy to their lives.

“As soon as I walked in my first question was, ‘What do we need?’ As one of the other volunteers was telling me, I was posting it on Facebook and asking people to share. Because at this time, we had no blankets. We had absolutely no food to give these people. We had no socks. We had no dry towels. We had no clothes. We had nothing but a roof, tables and chairs, and some working bathrooms. But as soon as people in our community heard about the need, that’s when the walls of destruction came down and the overflow of blessings came in.

“And some of the volunteers who showed up were going through their own devastation. Yet they dropped everything to come in and help people that they didn’t even know. Those are the heroes. Those are the servants. Those are the ones who are unselfish. I saw many, many people who were very, very unselfish. It’s very humbling to see a community finally come together like we’re supposed to. It was a beautiful thing to behold.”

— Teresa McCartney

Teresa is one of countless people in the community who have stepped up to help — from rescuing families to providing temporary housing to volunteering at shelters to donating needed items. Among those she praised were two local police officers, Desiree Stanislas and Eric Filyaw, who went “above and beyond” by spending their own money to purchase food and other items for evacuees. The pair also helped prepare and serve dinner plates.

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'It is THIS unity that the world needs to see'

“Well, the water won out. We finally had to evacuate after it got up 6 inches in our house. Lots of locals were running boats in, so my wife and son left in one and I left later in another. We have a place to stay, so we are all OK. And we’re thankful for the help of so many who are working tirelessly to make sure people are safe. I'm just on the receiving end this time.

“So many of my Baytown friends (who I choose to call family) are going through the same displacement and unknown future as a result of this devastating and historic flooding event. We WILL get through this. It has been proven by the efforts of complete strangers, many of whom are facing the same devastation, that Baytown is strong and will survive this just as it has survived catastrophic weather events before.

“I am thankful for all the efforts of those who have helped and continue to help in any way possible. We are a strong community of people who understand that a community is not just buildings and homes. It is the people who come together in times of need. With all the divisiveness displayed on mainstream and social media recently, it is humbling and refreshing to show the world what 99.99% of Americans are really like. Just hard-working folks who care about people and making sure they are doing what they can to keep others safe. It is THIS unity that the world needs to see.”

— John Selensky

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts on this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'After there is no longer a named storm, we will buy flood insurance'

“It’s not close to being over, but Harvey has been a learning experience for me. Jenice and I built this house the summer of 1980. I was 27 years old and wise beyond my years, or just really lucky. I was born on this flat land and knew even then that water runs downhill. We were one of the first homes built in our 110-house subdivision. I argued with my builder about the height of my slab. I got it 12 inches higher than he had planned, and subsequently the homes built around me were built to the same elevation.

“Sunday morning we received 14.5 inches of rain in less than three hours. At 6:30 a.m. the water was within ONE inch of coming in the back of the house. That was the high point for Harvey and the low point for me. At 28 feet of elevation I never fear storm surge. But we have received 29 inches of rain (as of Monday morning) since this started, and even with that we have drained it all away.

“But I have seen the light. I made a promise to Jenice and the Lord that next week, after there is no longer a named storm, we will buy flood insurance. Some may think I’m foolish for having gone all these years without it. But I have that affliction many have accused me of having. Sometimes I think I’m smarter than I actually am.

“As I watch TV coverage of people being rescued in all kinds of boats by all kinds of kind people, I feel truly blessed. I need to better appreciate that every day. May the Lord bless you and keep you safe as he has me for more than 64 years.”

— Don Coffey

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts on this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'I will not allow Harvey to take away the joy of splashing in puddles'

“When I was very young, we did an art contest at school. The theme was ‘What Makes Me Smile.’

“I had a poster board and Crayola crayons, and I sat at our family’s kitchen table to color my masterpiece.

“It was me wearing a yellow raincoat, hat and boots — standing in the rain puddles under a rainbow with one leg pink and the other leg flesh color because, well, I was about 7 at the time.

“We had that poster matted and framed, and it hung over my bed until I left my parents’ house. It continued to hang in that room until the house was sold two years ago.

“I will not allow Harvey and its aftermath to take away from me a lifetime’s joy of splashing in the puddles, listening to the sound of rain on the rooftops and spotting a rainbow.”

— Cherie Morgan

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts on this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

The devastation is real, and Harvey keeps on coming

When we headed to the grocery store early in the morning last Thursday, I thought we might be late to the Hurricane Harvey preparation party. Instead, I was mildly surprised to see fully stocked shelves and moderately filled aisles of shoppers.

Of course, it didn’t take long for everyone to respond to the reality of the situation. In short order, supplies were hard to find and families were getting ready to hunker down.

As Harvey continues to make his way through Texas and into Louisiana, all is fine at The Baytown Project headquarters. Besides a few drips in the attic and occasional pooling water near the front door, we have nothing to complain about.

The same can’t be said for many of our neighbors and friends in Baytown, Houston and surrounding communities. The devastation is real. And Harvey keeps on coming.

During this time of fear, uncertainty and sadness, I would like to use The Baytown Project to share your stories related to this historic storm and its many impacts.

It could be what you and your family (humans and pets) are going through. Good deeds you have witnessed or performed. Or other thoughts or experiences on what we all are dealing with in Baytown and beyond.

If you would like to share and are in a situation where you can do so, please send your brief story/information along with at least one clear photo via the message feature on The Baytown Project’s Facebook or Instagram pages, or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

Thank you, and good luck to you and your families during this challenging time.

David Berkowitz
Manager, The Baytown Project