"A Reporter’s Tale in Houston: When a Story Becomes Your Own Disaster"

"BELLAIRE, Tex. — I have covered as many as five wars on two continents, but nothing prepared me for when the big story collided with me and my family.

As I write this, the home that I saved my entire career to buy is flooding fast and my wife, Paola, our 12-year-old daughter, Emilie, and I have moved to the second floor with some of our valuables, food, water, and of course our three-year-old cockapoo, Sweetie, who is now barking frantically out of fear. It’s only a matter of time before our piano is ruined. One of our cars looks completely flooded, and the other is blocked in the garage, so it looks like we will be staying put for a while.

There is nowhere to drive anyway.

My daughter just got an alert on her phone telling us to take shelter for a possible tornado. We are ready to go to an interior closet if necessary."

Clifford Krauss reports for the New York Times August 27, 2017.