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
