By Richard Tew
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 hurricane, made landfall along the south Texas Coast near Aransas Pass at 10 p.m. Over the next 24 hours it would wreak havoc on communities up and down the Gulf Coast.
December 2, League City’s Helen Hall Library released a book documenting the first-hand experiences of many local residents who had first-hand experience with this devastating storm.
The book entitled “Hurricane Harvey: A Storm Like No Other,” was created by members of the Marketing and Publishing group (MAP), along with contributing authors from the greater League City area.
Helen Hall’s Local History Librarian Caris Brown oversees the library’s historical archive collection which includes historical photos, newspapers, eBooks, city directories and other historical media. Brown says the idea for creating a book about Hurricane Harvey isn’t a new one.
“It’s sort of been in the works for years,” said Brown.
Brown says the idea of documenting the stories came from Joanne Turner, the Adult Services Librarian at the library. Turner’s house in Texas City suffered flood damage like many other homes in the area during the wake of Harvey.
Brown said Turner suggested documenting the stories of local residents, to give them a chance to tell their individual stories about Harvey and share them with the community.
Turner says she talked to members of MAP and pitched her idea of conducting local interviews about Harvey.
“I asked them and said hey, we really should document the story because of the sheer devastation, the amount of rainfall that was here,” said Turner.
According to the library, stories from both area residents, elected officials and emergency responders were interviewed and compiled by MAP members: Roberta Shepherd, Jackie May, Patricia Vance and Cathy Chapman among others.
The MAP group was founded in 2010 as a place where experienced authors could come to the library and share their experience with new authors.
The interviewees told their stories of survival and rebuilding in the wake of a storm estimated to have deposited 30″-50″ of rain, totaling an estimated 9 trillion gallons of water in the Gulf Coast region.
The book, totaling 232 pages, was edited by Chris Roper before Friendswood-based publisher Bruce Moran at TotalRecall Publishing, Inc. turned the finished work into a hardcover book. The project was funded by “Friends of the Helen Hall Library.”
The initial print run totaled 100 copies. As of the date of the publication of this story, there are none left. According to the library, another print run is scheduled early 2024. The cost for the book is $35.
Photo cutline: League City’s Helen Hall Library held a book release on December 2. The new book entitled “Hurricane Harvey: A Storm Like No Other,” documents the stories of area residents who weathered the devastating storm which brought with it, recording-setting floods to the Gulf Coast in 2017. Photo by the Helen Hall Library.
