Vermilion's Curtis Farkash encountered heavy traffic leaving Houston on August 25, just prior to Hurricane Harvey.
Photo submitted
Spreading rampant devastation in Houston, Texas, Hurricane Harvey, has left Vermilion resident and owner of Southview Trucking, Darrin Farkash, cut off from contact with employees and valued customers for several days.
Farkash is unaware whether his shop in Houston, Texas has been flooded or not, and remains unworried about it compared to the destruction and loss of life that others have suffered as a result of the hurricane.
“I just feel sorry for a lot of people having their lives washed away like that. Even if our shop is flooded, it will be nothing compared to what other people have suffered,” said Farkash.
According to the ‘New York Times,’ as of September 1, the hurricane had claimed 46 lives.
Farkash’s son, Curtis, had left Houston on August 25, with rain already pouring in prior to Hurricane Harvey hitting on August 26. According to his son, there was no food left in the nearest grocery store, and the trip took a long time with traffic piling up in order to evacuate the city.
With six days of continuous rain, Houston has seen over 50 inches, and the storm has revisited land in Louisiana.
According to Dr. Joel N. Myers, AccuWeather President, the worst flooding from Harvey is yet to come as rivers and bayous throughout Texas continue to rise and additional levees are put at risk of breaches or failures.
“We do 80 per cent of our business out of Texas and Louisiana. With Port Houston being the busiest American port for foreign tonnage, this is affecting far more than just what we do,” said Farkash.
With his schedule heavily affected, Farkash said that further danger from the hurricane could include tornadoes along one third of the 3,347km trip from Vermilion to Houston.
“It’s going to take years to clean this up,” said Farkash.
“The economy’s impact will approach $160 billion,” predicted Myers, who expects it to be the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history.
Farkash said that it is tough when you can’t get a hold of anyone, but in the mean time, he chooses to remain optimistic.