CHAPTER ONE A FLOODED CITY In the early morning hours of August 27 2017 a thudding sound woke Yvonne Ferguson Smith She ran to the bathroom in her wood frame house The sound had been her bathroom ceiling collapsing after days of heavy rain The floor was littered with pieces of damp drywall Within the next few hours floodwaters submerged the stairs outside of her home and began to spill into her living room Ferguson Smith realized she and her family would have no choice but to leave The storm surge from Hurricane Harvey was quickly flooding their home Two days earlier the hurricane had made landfall near Corpus Christi Texas hundreds of miles southwest of Ferguson Smith's home in northeastern Houston Some Texas residents climbed into rescue boats once the area began to flood
Within the eyewall of the storm winds churned at 130 miles per hour 209 kmh uprooting trees and structures in the hurricane's path The storm lost momentum as it made its way inland but the strong winds and heavy rains were relentless HURRICANE HARVEY'S PATH Hurricane Harvey first made landfall northeast of Corpus Christi Texas on the night of August 25 2017 In the early morning hours of August 26 the hurricane also hit towns along the northeastern coast of Copano Bay in Texas These included the towns of Rockport and Fulton Because they were within the eyewall of the storm these areas were hit hardest Then in the early morning of August 30 the storm hit the coastal town of Cameron Louisiana along the Gulf of Mexico In addition the storm caused flash floods in other southern states that were not directly hit including Mississippi Tennessee and Arkansas Ferguson Smith's house had been built on low lying swampland between two bayous She lived there with her husband Rico and their teenage son and daughter Ferguson Smith's sister Charmane also lived with them As the storm raged on rain and marsh water flooded the streets in their neighborhood They watched as their neighbors evacuated Families piled into rescue boats Some people stuffed their belongings into floating dumpsters that they pushed through the high floodwaters
Ferguson Smith's son Travis pleaded with his parents to leave He feared snakes floating in the water as the rising tides flushed animals out of their natural habitats But Charmane was afraid to leave Neither she nor Ferguson Smith knew how to swim and the fast moving murky water appeared threatening Charmane also had schizophrenia a mental DISPLACED WILDLIFE illness that made her more agitated in stressful situations Ferguson Smith had another important reason to stay as well As a nurse at a nearby hospital she was trained to help people during times of disaster One Hundreds of thousands of alligators live in Texas mostly in swampy areas on the southeastern coast of the state Along with snakes and many other animals they migrated to higher grounds to escape the floods from Harvey These animals are often afraid of humans and will not attack unless provoked Of the 23 snake species in the Houston area only five are venomous The animal to be most concerned about during periods of flooding according to both wildlife officials and residents is the red imported fire ant This invasive insect species is known for its painful stings which can cause blisters burning or infections In clusters these ants can float on water without drowning Their bodies produce a type of waterproof wax and they latch onto one another's legs to keep afloat morning in the days after the storm first hit her boss texted her He asked her to come to the hospital to treat storm victims Ferguson Smith surveyed the street outside her home The floodwaters had risen and
