Houston Residents Share Stories Of Harvey's Floods

Houston residents displaced by massive flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey are sheltering at the city's convention center. They share their stories of dealing with the storm.

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

We are hearing the stories of people who've made it to safety as the Houston area was paralyzed by the rains of Hurricane Harvey. Many have dealt with severe weather before this, but they're all in agreement.

SHAWN ROSALES: This year was like nothing we never seen.

MCEVERS: Shawn Rosales (ph) lives in an apartment building near the bayou which runs through Houston. As the water rose, she helped neighbors get from the first floor to the second. But then it started creeping up the stairs.

ROSALES: I mean we had to escape with the water up to our neck, water from the bayou. We saw a snake. We saw rodents in the water. It was pretty tough.

MCEVERS: She says after this flood, she thinks it's time to move. For now, her home is the emergency shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center. MaryJane Mudd with the Texas Gulf Coast Red Cross is helping there.

MARYJANE MUDD: So we're providing more meals, cots, blankets. We're providing mental health services - you know, volunteers who are hugging the children, playing with them, all of those things that might make you feel a little less completely removed from what makes you comfortable, which is your home.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Andrea Rylander (ph) ended up at the convention center after she was flooded out in the early hours of yesterday morning.

ANDREA RYLANDER: I was laying down to go to sleep, and then that's when I noticed some of the water coming in. So that's when we decided to - we got to get out of here. It's not going to stop, and it's not going to go down. We barely made it.

SHAPIRO: She and her son made it to the freeway, higher ground, where they found a bus, then another bus and eventually made their way to the shelter. Andrea Rylander says she's been in her house for 12 years and never seen anything like this. At one point, she got too emotional to keep talking.

MCEVERS: Her son Jonathan (ph) jumped in. He says staying at the shelter has been tough.

JONATHAN RYLANDER: Well, you know, some of the people are pretty sweet. So they're nice and everything. But it's still pretty tough losing your home like that. Everything you worked for, everything you strived for you lost.

SHAPIRO: He says all they can do now is think about how to rebuild like a whole lot of other people in Texas.

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