So many people in flood-ravaged Texas have so many stories to tell.
This week, a man who used to call Palm Beach County home has now found himself and his family homeless in Houston.
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John Phillips, a former Palm Beach Gardens resident, and his family are living a nightmare this week.
“When we saw the storm coming we knew we were gonna be in some trouble but I don’t think anybody saw this coming. This was unbelievable. I’ve never seen so much water in my life," he told WPTV during a FaceTime interview on Wednesday. "It just kept coming and coming, it wouldn't move. It wouldn't stop raining."
The family just moved to Houston from Fort Myers, Fla., on Aug. 1. The family lived for several years in the West Palm Beach area while Phillips worked as a football coach at Cardinal Newman High School.
"We don't know anybody. We just moved here about 25 days ago," he said.
The family only experienced two tropical storms while living in Florida. Houston, however, is notorious for having bad drainage and flooding issues throughout the city.
"Then we get here and certainly made up for that already," he said. "The third day we were there, our parking lot filled up just from a regular rain storm. When this storm started, we thought that was going to happen again."
Just weeks after moving into their apartment in Houston, they lost everything in their home to Hurricane Harvey. He explained that most of the devastating flood is south of Interstate 10 in the city.
The family said they are probably only able to salvage about ten percent of their belongings. Everything else, including the family vehicle, is totaled.
“When we got evacuated, the water was about 4-feet high," he said. “It’s just something you couldn’t believe that weather would have that much power ... We're probably not going to get back in there for a week or two because we're right in between both reservoirs that they released. We're just going to hang tight until then."
Phillips said the response from those willing to help is overwhelming. When the water started entering their garage, the neighbor above their apartment the family of four in.
“We got evacuated just from two dudes in a boat. They just pulled up, we hopped in the boat and they took us over. We walked about 400 yards and then there were three groups of people fighting over us to take us to a shelter, that’s how many people were helping out," he described. "The shelter gave us cots, gave us food. We had bathrooms and showers. Everybody couldn't have been nicer. We got to the shelter, there was about 3,000 items of clothing for people to have."
The family spent Tuesday night at a storm shelter but found out on Wednesday morning that the shelter was closing. Philips and his wife and two young sons scrambled to find somewhere else to stay.
“All the rental cars are out, all the hotels are booked or they’re not answering the phone," he said.
Luckily, Phillips said the principal of the new school he teaches at in Houston was able to pick them up, take them to the store to gather more supplies and bring them to a coworker's house to stay.
He says it’s times like these that he misses his old home in South Florida.
“We miss everybody. I miss all the kids that I coached and taught at Cardinal Newman. Coach Brian Pulaski of the football team, Steve Walsh and of them," he said.
"My sons and my wife certainly want to say hi to grandma and grandpa," he said, pulling the phone over to his sons so they could wave at the camera.
Philips flipped his phone around to show us the skies over Houston. Blue skies with a little sun.
“A lot of this was under water, but it’s receded already," he said. "We walked out of the shelter and my wife and I just said to each other this just doesn't seem like there was a storm here. Just seems like a regular summer day."
Despite losing everything, Phillips says they are lucky to have each other.
“As long as we got out safe, that’s all that matters," he said. "There's no way anybody can get through this without the great people of this city."
If you would like to donate to the American Red Cross to help families like the Phillips', please click here.
