Pittsburgh Natives Living In Houston Battered By Storms
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HOUSTON (KDKA) -- Some native Pittsburghers who are now living in Texas have been battered by the storms.
KDKA's Bob Allen spoke with a couple of people who say they're safe, but they're keeping a close eye on the rising water.
Houston residents have a good reason to be nervous. Even though Hurricane Harvey has been reduced to a tropical storm, the city and surrounding areas are being saturated by never-ending rains.
Cary Yates, a Pittsburgh native and Schenley High School graduate, says heavy rain is causing the waters of a lake to move dangerously close to his home.
"It's very stressful. You don't sleep a lot. You go to bed and you hear the rain pounding and pounding," he said. "I don't call it rain. I call it just water being dropped on your home."
Yates moved to Houston in 1980. He's dealt with hurricanes before, but he's never seen a storm so large that's causing hardship for so many people, especially the elderly. And to think that it's not over.
"We're not out of this yet. This is Monday. We're still three or four days more of this," he said. "And then after that, it's going to take a whole bunch of money, a whole bunch of help from FEMA and the city."
Meanwhile, Krissy McNeil, a former KDKA employee, just moved to a Houston suburb three weeks ago. She feels very fortunate that flooding has not affected her home, but she says it's getting close.
"In nearby neighborhoods around us, they are all by a creek or a reservoir, and they've all gone over their banks, and they're already into people's first-floor homes," she said.
Thousands have already been evacuated. Many others have been told to stay in their homes. All they can do is wait.
"Right now, looking out my window right now, we're being pelted," Yates said. "We're literally being pelted with rain. So once again, the question is, when does it end?"
Lori Humphrey, another Pittsburgh native, was staying at a motel while she was waiting to start a nursing job in Houston, and she's running out of money and worried about more flooding. Leah and Jon Gross, who have roots in Jeannette, said if the rain keeps up, their house could flood in a matter of minutes.