Good morning, everyone. As you might know, Foolish Watcher’s headquarters are located in the great state of Texas, in America’s fourth largest and most diverse city, Houston. And we have had a rough weekend down here.
Hurricane Harvey pummeled the South Texas coast on Friday, destroying the small cities of Rockport and Port Lavaca, and taking a brutal hit on Corpus Christi. Harvey, charged with warm Gulf water, then dumped some 9 to 11 trillion gallons of rain on us, and the deluge hasn’t stopped yet.
Our local CBS affiliate, KHOU, is located on the banks of Buffalo Bayou, the bayou that runs near downtown Houston. The news station had to evacuate Sunday as the bayou began pouring into their studio:
The station ended up dropping off the air for seven hours while they evacuated, broadcasting through its website and social media sites.
Meanwhile, while her colleagues were evacuating, there was one KHOU reporter on air, and she literally saved a man’s life (although his rescue wasn’t broadcast, as the station went black moments before he was pulled from his truck):
One of the ABC affiliate’s producers broadcast from his flooded home, and was eventually rescued by viewers:
And all of the news stations have been joining boat rescues and relaying messages of trapped people.
I am not going to sugar coat it, this has been rough. I’ve lived in Houston during other major weather events, and Harvey is worse. Much worse. This is a catastrophe that is going to take some people years to recover from, and my heart is broken for my city.
Fortunately, Foolish Watcher’s HQ has remained dry and with power. Our streets flooded and trapped us in our house yesterday, but the roads have since cleared. Thousands and thousands of my fellow Houstonians are not so lucky and have lost everything.
It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of such overwhelming destruction and misery. The only way to combat that is to take Mr. Roger’s beautiful advice: Look for the helpers. And there are a lot of helpers in Houston right now.
But even better? Become a helper yourself.
There are many, many ways you can help Houston and South Texas:
- Text HARVEY to 90999 to donate $10 to The Red Cross.
- Our mayor has established a relief fund.
- You can donate to The Houston Food Bank.
- Texas Monthly has a list of other local food banks you can donate to.
- Save the Children has a Harvey-specific fund.
- Give to the SPCA, as animals are always displaced during these disasters. The Humane Society of North Texas is taking in animals, you can donate to them here. Austin Pets Alive! is also fostering animals.
- If you have an Airbnb, you can offer it to evacuees.
- Donate to the Texas Diaper Bank, as diapers are not provided to disaster relief agencies.
- You can donate to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi.
- Direct Relief USA helps provide medical supplies and pharmaceutical drugs and Portlight helps provide for people with special needs.
- The Houston Coalition for the Homeless is finding shelter for the homeless.
- And Go Fund Me has aggregated their relief efforts.
- Here’s another comprehensive list of places to donate.
- HEB is going to donate $100,000 towards relief efforts and on Monday, all H-E-B, Central Market and Joe V’s Smart Shop stores across Texas launched a statewide tear pad campaign, giving customers an opportunity to support victims through donations of $1, $3, or $5, which can be added to their total grocery bill.
It’s going to take a long time to recover from this, but we will. I will get back to my regular TV-related posts tomorrow, promise.
And to all of you out there who are praying for us right now, thank you.
Houston pride – forever. by Jeremy Rutledge:
if you want
to pray for Houston
you have to pray
in her waypray like Beyoncé
when she was
at HSPVA
or Billy and Dusty
shooting pool
at Rudyard’spray like you’re
sitting over soup
at Spanish Flowers
or pho at Mai’s
steaming your glassespray like the kids
playing soccer
on the east side
or mutton busting
at the livestock showpray like the runners
in Memorial Park
lacing them up
or the researchers
in the medical center
looking into microscopesif you want
to pray for Houston
you have to pray
as quietly as
the Rothko Chapel
or Houston Zen Centerand you have to pray
as loudly as
the old scoreboard
at the Astrodome
after a José Cruz
home runyou have to pray
sitting under
a live oak tree
or standing next to
an azalea bloom
while your skin
clams in the heatif you want to pray
for Houston
you have to pray
without pretense
this ain’t Dallas
and in a neighborly way
as friends come out
to check on each other
in the rainand those
who are far away
watch screens
and wipe our eyesif you want to pray
for Houston
raise a bottle of Shiner
to the gray sky
9 trillion gallons of rain
are no match
for a city of such life
and diversityyou can fill up our bayou
but you will never rain
on our parade
WATCH THIS — maybe. If you’re in Houston, it’s unclear that you’ll be watching anything but storm coverage.
Bachelor in Paradise: Dummies get sand in their bathing suits. 7 p.m., ABC
The Real Housewives of Dallas: I am going to blog this eventually. Maybe today’s the day, who can say. 9 p.m., Bravo
People on Earth: CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY KILLED [REDACTED]??? 9:30 p.m., TBS
So You Think You Can Dance: I might write about Bachelor in Paradise, but this is actually my favorite show of the summer. The top 8 perform. 7 p.m., Fox
The Happening: The nadir of M. Night Shyamalan’s career is perhaps the most unintentionally hilarious movie of the 2000s. 8:30 p.m., HBO Zone
Late Night: The Daily Show: Neil deGrasse Tyson
| MON. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Bachelor in Paradise (new) |
To Tell the Truth (repeat) |
| CBS | Kevin Can Wait (repeat) |
Superior Donuts (repeat) |
Mom (repeat) |
Life in Pieces (repeat) |
Scorpion (repeat) |
| CW | Supergirl (repeat) |
Hooten and the Lady (new) |
Local |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | American Ninja Warrior (new) |
Midnight, Texas (new) |
So scary! Thanks for sharing!