I‘ve participated in way too many hurricanes.  For some reason, it felt a little too normal to have to fly to a different city than where tropical weather struck and to drive a rented car hundreds of miles to get to the right place.

But Harvey gave me a different challenge:  By the time I got on the road from Austin, it was dark.  And it was rainy.  Very rainy.  Even though Houston was about a three-hour drive the weather of Harvey was already affecting this other city.  And I was gonna drive though it.

 It took longer than it should.  And often I crept along Texas’ highways at 15 mph to avoid hydroplaning or splashing asphalt-y water onto my windshield.  Eventually, barriers and flashing lights made me divert to local roads.  My GPS assured it me it had a route.  It lied.

 Every time I turned down another Texas Farm-to-Market route, I was met by wet, and quickly.  Ride a dark curve too fast and I’d drown my own headlights.  And I’m driving an SUV.  And when I finally cut down was appeared to be a dry (enough) rural street, the Emergency Alert System finally stopped testing and gave me a warning of impending flash floods.  And then my phone buzzed.  And then the water filled the roadway and I booked it back the other way.

I finally found a friendly stop along Highway 290.  Big shout-out to the Waller County Line BBQ and Truckstop.  I got some snacks.  I filled my gas tank.  Patrick, the clerk on duty was only on-duty because he couldn’t drive through the water to get home. 

And so while I wasn’t gonna make it to Houston, I decided I had traveled enough for one night.  It was past midnight.  I was tired.  The truckstop was well-lit and well-attended by police officers and other first responders ready to help in the midst of an endless cycle.  So I went to sleep in my rented car at a Texas truckstop. 

The next morning, I tried to get to Houston.  

Eben Brown 
FOX News Radio Reporter