Beautiful Disaster

Oh the irony that just as we are learning about the droughts and water struggles around the world, North Texas is hit with a freak storm almost flooding campus.

Many parts of the Big Thirst talked about the magical qualities of water, all the ways in which we rely on water, and just how beautiful as a substance it is. Last week though another side to water was revealed. The brief yet intense rain and hail storm showed just how destructive water can be. Like so many other things in life, water has both good and bad qualities.

The aftermath of the storm could be seen everywhere. I had to drive somewhere a few hours after the storm hit, and I was amazed to find multiple major stop lights broken and roads shut down. Crazy traffic problems and auto accidents were caused just by a short but strong release of water from the sky. Driving down University even a few days later one can still see the destruction from the storm. Massive trees that were torn up lay down on the grass by the road along with dozens of large branches.

TCU campus comparatively wasn't even hit that hard. Across North Texas over 300,000 homes lost electricity, some for over a day. Trees crushed homes and roofs were ripped from buildings. Wherever you were when the storm hit, you were essentially trapped there until it was over. You don't really think of water as something that can trap you, until it does. We need water for so many things that we often forget that water isn't just here to serve us, it almost has a mind of its own, causing everything from small storms to large-scale tsunamis.

Blessed as we are to get rain when Texas is experiencing such a drought, the rain came so fast and hard that it actually didn't help the drought situation very much. As I have begun to learn about Texas weather (I'm a transplant from the west coast), water likes to come in freak, short storms here, but its going to take more than one storm to make a real difference. Much of Texas still is on a drought warning, and DFW is currently experiencing its driest September on record.

Yes, water is a beautiful and essential resource that we should value and can no longer afford to take for granted, but we also cannot forget the dangers that water can bring. Water is not a stagnant resource. It is a force of nature that is out of our control and should be feared as much as loved in times like these. After last week's storm I can't think of a better way to describe water than as a beautiful disaster.

Collapsed back wall of a building in the Stockyards.

Creative TCU students run for cover to escape the freak storm.