FAMILY FLEES FROM TEXAS TO ESCAPE HURRICANE HARVEY,LATER FINDS COPS AT THEIR DOORSTEPS

 

One can really imagine the extent of devastation a natural calamity can cause. There is an innumerable loss of life and property. The damage caused is often huge. People are helpless and distressed beyond words.

This incident is from the life of a family which fled their home after the Hurricane Harvey struck their place. While life was already challenging and difficult, things took a steep turn when a dozen police officers show up at the hotel room where they were taking refuge. Amidst the entire chaos, why did the police officers knock at their door?

Frightened

The family was taken aback. They were not expecting any visitors at such a hard time, and when the door was knocked, they skipped a heartbeat. Who could it be? And when they realized that it was the U.S Police force at the door they were frightened. What brought the officers at their doorsteps?

The Family

Nicole and Anthony Brooks were the residents of Seabrook, Texas. They had two little sons. Life was going stable and happy, until a tragedy struck the United States in the month of August 2017. Life came to a still as next sunshine was eagerly awaited.

Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey 2017 was one of the vicious tropical cyclones to have ever hit the United States in the metropolitan area and Southeast Texas. It lasted for nearly four days with regions experiencing heavy rainfall more than 40 inches and causing floods.

Widespread Destruction

There was widespread destruction in Texas. Nearly 336,000 people went homeless, with thousands displaced. People were left to starve, there was no electricity either. Survival chances grew slim. Life got difficult and unpredictable in a sudden. Nicole too had to look for survival options with her family.

Getting Difficult

For two days, Anthony with his wife and two kids tried to escape the rough environment in their house, but as the third day morning came, there was no way that the roof above their head could shelter them. Heavy rain had struck their region as well and their house was nearly drowned…

 Run For Survival

Texas was facing a tough time. Nearly the entire Southeast part was under water. People had to escape their house and need to find a refuge. All the houses which were low-lying were lost in this natural calamity and Nicole’s house was one amongst those.

Another Roof

There was utter chaos in the city. The locale, authorities, and government were trying their best to get control of the situation, but nature continued to be ruthless. Survival became a challenge and Anthony had to find a solution to ensure the safety of his wife and two little kids.

Emergency Crisis

The country was under emergency crisis, nearly 17,000 of people needed to be rescued. Hurricane Harvey turned out to be a  deadly disaster where a hundred people lost their life. Looking at how grim the situation was, the only escape option that Nicole could think was to find roof under a tall building. But was this even possible?

Struggling To Richardson

Anthony decided to travel all the way to Richardson, Dallas. This part of the country was far from the damage of the flood and heavy rainfall. However, with nearly all public transport shut and waterlogged roads, it was next to impossible for him to travel this far, but this was the only way to make up to life.

Unaware

Nicole and Anthony were somehow able to fight the odds and managed to reach to Richardson. They made a hotel booking there and decided to take refuge until the situation back in their hometown calms. Just when they thought that the current situation was a little better, they never knew that right at the doors of this hotel property the officers would come looking up for them.

Severity Of Situation

One can really understand pretty well, what is it to manage kids that too quite young in the age in such a life and death situation. Hoping that they could understand how complex and critical the situation is something impossible. And something similar happened when Nicole’s son couldn’t understand the matter.

Constant Nagging

Nicole told in an interview that her four-year-old son, Honor would constantly insist on going back to their home. He was too young to realize how gloomy the circumstances were. All he knew was that he wished to go back home. But why?

His Birthday

It was Honor’s birthday around the corner. He was to turn five years old in the days to come. For Honor, it was time to celebrate. Little did the kid realize that they had been displaced from their home and celebrations under such a scenario couldn’t happen at any cost.

A Look-Back

Nicole and Anthony themselves wanted to make the day special for their young one, but unfortunately could not. Whenever the couple would think of returning home, memories would flashback and the scene at their home would haunt them. Moreover, the couple didn’t know that it wasn’t the end of problems as a much bigger problem was about to come.

That Day

It was one of those days when the Brooks were staying back at the hotel. They were quite stressed as the cost of staying at the hotel was taking over their limited resources. And with minimal cash left, celebrating Honor’s birthday was even challenging. The couple who was already tensed grew even nervous as they hear a knock at the door.

Taken Aback

The family wasn’t expecting any guests or visitors, so when there was a knock at the door they were startled. Antony wanted to ensure the safety of his family and as he saw from the peeping hole, he was taken aback by the visitors who stood there.

The Officers

Anthony saw through the peephole at the door, he was shocked. He wasn’t expecting to find the ones, he found. He saw that there were some police officers standing at the door. But why had the officers arrived at their doorsteps? What was the matter?

Dozen Officers

Anthony had no option other than unlocking the door. He gave a tensed look to Nicole and opened the door. And what he noticed was further stressing. It wasn’t an officer or two officers but rather there were a dozen officers who entered his room. All he had to say to himself was “What did we do”?

Weird Thoughts

Anthony had all these weird thoughts coming to him after finding so many officers in his room, what did we do? Did we break some law? Or have we broken any of the hotel’s policy? He was trembling with fear and had every reason to…

Seriously?

Surprisingly, they weren’t the trouble makers. The officers did not come there to arrest them or investigate anything, rather they were there for an equally astonishing reason. The reason was they had gathered there to wish Honor, a very happy birthday. Wait, what?

Unbelievable

The whole scene was completely unbelievable for the family. For a few minutes, they really couldn’t absorb that the police officers were there actually to wish their son on his 5th birthday. That must have been a really shocking thing to witness as one does not often come across police officers turning up like that.

Tears Of Joy

Brook recalls, ““When they started singing birthday song for him, I just started crying,” Honor wanted to celebrate his birthday and with the hurricane in their hometown, this wasn’t happening. But these officers made this day special for him. But, how did the officers come to know that it was Honor’s b’day?

Scratching Head

The Brooks just had one thought that how were the officers aware that it was Honor’s b’day? After thinking a lot they finally realized that the same morning they had visited them to know about the crisis back in Southeast Texas when they just happened to slip this information to them.

Ecstatic

The officers not only spared time from their duty to wish Honor, but they also brought him a birthday cake, sang the birthday song, and even got him a toy police car as a present for him. Honor was over the moon to get such warmth from the officers.

Unexpected

Honor had no words to thank the officers. The little kiddo would have never expected that he would ever get to celebrate his birthday with a dozen police officers. The day turned out to be roller coaster ride for him, from no celebrations at all to such an awesome day.

Touched

Honor’s parents were touched with the generosity the police officers showed that day. For them, the celebration turned out to be an emotional one. They were feeling guilty of not being able to fulfill their son’s desire to party due to the circumstances but the officers had made everything possible and that too with such beauty.

Understanding

What touched the family the most was the fact that the officers could understand how difficult a situation like that of in a natural calamity is for children. Being young, they are not able to understand what is it being displaced from their house and when someone in authority does something this special it becomes priceless.

Day To Remember

Even if Honor did not get to have a grand celebration on his birthday, this day was different in every sense that he would remember it all his life. On his every birthday that will follow, he surely will recall how his fifth birthday was celebrated with the police officers.

Their Best

In the summer of 2017, Texas faced a deadly situation. Undoubtedly, the damage caused by the Harvey Hurricane was so enormous that it took nearly months for the people and authorities to rehabilitate the city. Amongst the thousands dislocated and dead, there were people who fought all the odds of nature and survived.

Hope And Pray

After a dark cloudy night, there’s always a next day which witnesses a ray of bright sunshine. The entire world prays for the people and families, the residents of Texas and hope they all do good once the mother nature calms. Amongst the chaos, a story like this of Honor makes people believe that even in the worst scenarios, life could be lived best.