On August 13th, 2017, a tropical wave was born off the coast of Africa that would become one of the most devastating natural disasters the United States has ever seen. For four days it traversed the Atlantic Ocean, gaining steam before landing with a quiet thud in the Caribbean on the 17th.
Over the next week and a half, this storm would deceitfully travel thousands of miles ebbing and flowing from tropical storm to tropical wave and back again, bouncing off the Caribbean, the South American and Mexican coasts and eventually across the Gulf of Mexico before finally making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Rockport, Texas on August 26th. It made one last effort at immortality by exiting the coast, regaining strength in the gulf before hitting southwest Louisiana, near Cameron on the 30th.
Hurricanes by nature are dangerous. Anything in it's path is at risk, whether it's someone's home, a forest, humans or animals. Nothing is safe from it's catastrophic nature if it's coming straight at you. What made Harvey so incredibly destructive, was it's slow moving nature and the fact that once it made landfall, it plopped down and went to sleep over Southeast Texas. A high pressure system that had coveredmost of the U.S. essentially kept Harvey pinned down, literally dumping trillions of gallons of water, flooding thousands of square miles. Rivers and creeks could not keep up, and with the increasing loss of natural flood plains due to urban sprawl, there was nowhere for the water to go.
It was fascinating to watch this storm stop and start, grow and die, only to reform in to a monster that will leave it's mark on Texas and the US for years. However it's been painful to see the millions suffer at it's wrath, and sadly the suffering will last years. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Harvey certainly hit home to me. Fortunately my family and friends were spared the worst of it. I did have a cousin brave, or crazy enough to stay and ride out the storm in Kemah, Texas, a small community situated on Galveston Bay. She was lucky, but many in her community came home to flooded and destroyed homes.
Now is the time for rebuilding and moving forward. The outpouring of help, care and compassion from those around Texas, Heart-warming is not strong enough an emotion. Texans by nature are resilient. Unrelenting in their need to be better and to help their fellow man. People scoff at their over abundance of pride. But that is what makes us Texans. Having said that, I can't thank enough the countless thousands of people from all parts of the U.S. and even the world that have come to assist is beyond words.. Folks like the famed Cajun Navy from Louisiana, that drove all night to help in search and rescue. First responders from Mexico and even the Singapore military have lent a hand.
We all desire to help, in our own ways. Whether it's sending money back home, donating to various charities or traveling to the affected area and helping with man-power. I want to highlight something my best friend came up with. We've known each other for going on 30 years, going to high school together, working together at various jobs, and even helping each other land jobs over the years.
My friend Tuan is originally from Vietnam, coming to America in 1975 as part of the huge wave of refugees once the War ended and the North Vietnamese Army were murdering and imprisoning those in the South that had any connections to the U.S. or suspected of helping the American's during the war. His family bounced around the U.S. for a few years before landing in Austin where he and his five brothers grew up.
Tuan began school not knowing English, often learning much of it through comics. He grew up a proud American, leaving school early to join the Army and to help his family with bills. Most of all he grew up a proud Texan. He's spent much of his adult life giving back, organizing charity events during the holidays, always willing to give his last dollar in his wallet to a homeless person, etc. Needless to say, it didn't take him long to come up with an idea to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey using his connections in Hollywood as a celebrity photographer.
He asked me to create a poster that he could take to the folks on the latest season of Dancing With The Stars, season 25. He didn't ask for anything too elaborate, something fairly simple that had space for the Stars to sign and give their words of support and encouragement. His end goal is to get signatures from every member of the show and then raffle off the poster with all of the proceeds going to charity. With the show as popular as ever, and celebrities like Debbie Gibson, Derek Fisher, Nick Lachey, Barbara Corcoran, Drew Scott, Terrell Owens and Frankie Muniz, it's certain to garner plenty of interest. Obviously I was more than happy to help and whipped something up for him. At the time of this writing, he's short just a few signatures, but you can see from the last pic he sent me, it's looking pretty good.
I want to thank all of those celebrities who took a few moments from their busy schedules to offer their time, name and support for this worthwhile cause. In the scheme of things, it's a small token, but an honorable one. My hats off to you Tuan for continuing your efforts to offer a helping hand to those in need.
CM
