Tag Archives: drought

Oh Texas…

Over a year ago, I got a taste of a flood. My husband and I were spared from losing anything, but we watched as our fellow Nashvillians watched their homes be destroyed by rising waters.

Today, I sit from afar with my heart breaking over the wildfires in Texas. This drought… this horrible, horrible drought that I wrote about just a couple weeks ago left me with a fear… a fear that is being realized today. Already back in July, I looked around and thought, “One, just ONE carelessly tossed cigarette out of a car could destroy so many homes… could take lives.” The grass crinkled under your feet, parched and dry. It would only take a spark… only take a single spark.

This last weekend, a fire broke out in my hometown. It was, thankfully, contained without loss of life, but not without the loss of a home. It started due to a squirrel getting caught in an electrical wire… something that would make a person chuckle, or that would perhaps not be a big deal “normally” set off chaos and destruction.

When I read about the fire, my heart sank. The area of town being one I know well — one I could envision as vividly as if I was there — made the news so hard to take. I called immediately to find out what I could, to make sure others were okay. My greatest fears with this drought we being realized…

…then right on the heels of that came news of the Bastrop fire. I worried suddenly about anyone and everyone I know or knew who lived there. Were they okay?  I’ve watched the footage on TV. I’ve read many articles on-line. I’ve looked at countless images. They all tug hard at my heart. Reports of fires in California each year strike up an emotional response as well. I try to imagine being in the victims of the fires shoes. But the fear I’ve felt the last few days, as I watch Texas burn, just took that same emotional response and cranked it up to about a 15.

In an almost cruel irony, Nashville has had rain the past two/three days. Our temperatures setting new record low highs. I wished I could send the rain to Texas. I wished I could somehow capture it, and send it down in tanker trucks. I wished they’d just get a break already.

I feel so helpless… so lost on what I can do. I did at least (after several various Google searches) find this list of organizations working to help the victims of these fires. Many of these are for local assistance, but others have addresses where donations can be sent to help. I plan to do what I can to help from here. Perhaps I can hatch a plan of my own, but until then… I am grateful there are organizations out there with the means to help.

Exceptional drought

Let’s just look at that map for awhile.

I said awhile back with the extreme heat in Texas, “What? Is Texas the new Arizona?” I was joking, but as I stare at that map, I can’t help but wonder. It’s so hard to comprehend from here in Tennessee, where we’ve been blessed with rain through the summer. My yard is a lush, thick green carpet. The lake is nice a full. I’ve fallen asleep to a thunderstorm recently.

However, down in Texas, its a whole different story. The last time I was down, it was definitely already staggering how dry it was… and that was about a month ago, now. National news has been covering the drought here and there, but I know the news reports are nothing like being there in person. Temperatures have been 100+ for days on end, setting records. And the lakes… they’re hardly lakes.

I may be a Nashvillian now, but I am forever in my heart a Texan. And that same heart aches to see the footage of the drought. It aches for the many farmers who have lost their crops and who are losing their cattle due to lack of feed and water.  I don’t think much of the nation realizes what kind of economic impact this drought will have for a long, long time.

Water… its a natural resource we seem to take for granted. But right now, the people of Texas are crying out for it. They are desperate for rain. They are desperate for a break in the high temperatures. Cities that usually have plenty of water in reserve are having to tap into their back-up sources, further draining lakes. As I witness many watering their lawns here, I can’t help be think about those who are just hoping they’ll have water to drink in days and weeks to come down in Texas.

I ask, please, if you’re a believer in God… take this moment to say a short prayer for a break for the people of Texas (and for all those affected by the drought.) Pray for rain.

If you need help with that, beliefnet posted this prayer in July:

“God, you send rains in season. It is a season of need in Texas. Send more rain to that parched land and more again across all the thirsty southern states. Find a small and willing cloud sitting bored over some vacant part of the Caribbean, and give it a push toward Houston. Make a Hurricane, perhaps, not strong enough to destroy, but filled with warmed moisture and send it North. We ask you for rain. Let the drought unite many millions to ask you for help. We trust in you. You made the world to need the waters of heaven. You made the world to need the waters of life. You are the source of rain. We ask you. Let it rain. In Jesus name.”

If you are curious for more details about the drought, check out these articles: