![\"\"](\"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/futurevoices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Larry-Baimbridge-150x150.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Event: <\/strong>In 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, Texas, with sustained 130 mph winds, torrential rains and flooding. Thirty percent of Harris County, which has a population of 2.3 million people, was flooded. Eighty-two people lost their lives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Police captain Larry Baimbridge and his wife<\/strong>, police officer Wendy Baimbridge, were at work when Hurricane Harvey hit on August 27. \u201cI knew our house was flooding and our two dogs were home,\u201d he says. \u201cLuckily, our neighbors rescued the dogs that had stayed on the bed, when the water started to come inside. We were on a 24-hour shift and couldn\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n At that point, as captain for the police dive team, Baimbridge had mobilized eight boats, four highwater vehicles and a crew of 25 men for a rescue mission in the Houston area. In fact, for the next four days, Baimbridge and his wife had little rest as the hurricane-induced storm brought torrential rains and made three landfalls in Houston and its coastal areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome houses that were closest to the city waterways were swallowed by at least 10 feet of water when we arrived,\u201d he says. \u201cFor us, Harvey was hard to follow. First, it hit the southwest and then the northeast part of the city. Later, the levies started to burst, and flooding happened in new areas, even though the rain had already stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When all was said and done, Baimbridge and his men saved 3,000 residents from the flooded houses and streets. They also looked after local civilians, who helped the rescuers during the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce a street that you know so well has turned into a raging river, it can pull you under when you least expect it,\u201d he says. \u201cThe other challenge was swift waters. Luckily, we did not bump into houses or mailboxes or fire hydrants and cars that were under water and cannot be seen from above. We also came across people who refused to leave. A lady in her 90s who had Alzheimer\u2019s was fighting us because she didn\u2019t understand what was going on. We got an older man out after I told him that he was evicted. It wasn\u2019t true, but that was the only way to get him out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baimbridge witnessed community members chipping in, too, often in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne time, our boat was full. At the end of a long road that had turned into a river, there was a house that hadn\u2019t flooded,\u201d he says. \u201cThe owners of the house invited us to bring evacuees inside and offered shelter and pots of chicken soup and warm cookies to us and everybody we brought in for the next four days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Houstonians aren\u2019t new to hurricanes and flooding \u2013 the last big one that Baimbridge, 49, experienced was Hurricane Alison in 2001 \u2013 Harvey and its force and floodwaters took him by surprise. He has lived in the area all his life and is used to living on low land. But even Baimbridge wasn\u2019t prepared for Harvey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlison was pretty bad, and it stalled over Houston for 16 days and everybody \u2014 me included \u2014 thought this is the worst it can get,\u201d he says. \u201cWith Harvey, the excessive flooding was the biggest problem. There was no place where the water could go, since the area has grown so much. When I was young, we had about a million people, now the number has almost doubled. With that growth had come too many houses and streets, and mitigation efforts that haven\u2019t been able to keep up with the new development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It might be in the nature of his profession, but Baimbridge doesn\u2019t dwell on the past or reflect too deeply on Houston\u2019s environmental damages. But, they did prepare for potential future flooding when, this year, they moved into the city from the suburbs, even though they\u2019d spent five months repairing the home that flooded during Harvey with the help of volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAgain, the help that we got from the community ripping off the sheet rock and rotten floors was just great. I am very grateful,\u201d he says. \u201dWe moved because of our son\u2019s school. But elevation was first in our minds when we looked for a place. We made sure that the house is two feet up. Houston is very flat, and two feet up is already a lot and gives us protection when the next floods happen \u2013 but, hopefully not in a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Kirsi-M. Hayrinen-Beschloss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Voices from the Future | Larry Baimbridge Swallowed by Water The Event: In 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, Texas, with sustained 130 mph winds, torrential rains and flooding. Thirty percent","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,19,18,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-support","category-hurricanes","category-north-america","category-voices"],"uds_featured_image":{"id":267,"alt_text":"eye-of-hurricane","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":1024,"height":309,"file":"2022\/01\/eye-of-hurricane-1.jpg","sizes":{"medium":{"file":"eye-of-hurricane-1-300x91.jpg","width":300,"height":91,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/futurevoices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/01\/eye-of-hurricane-1-300x91.jpg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"eye-of-hurricane-1-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/futurevoices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/01\/eye-of-hurricane-1-150x150.jpg"},"medium_large":{"file":"eye-of-hurricane-1-768x232.jpg","width":768,"height":232,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/futurevoices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/01\/eye-of-hurricane-1-768x232.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1","keywords":[]}},"post":166,"source_url":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/futurevoices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/01\/eye-of-hurricane-1.jpg"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n