Jaden’s hurricane adventure

My Coastal World is pleased to introduce a guest author, Jaden Trinity O’Campo.

 Jaden is now attending school at Charlie Marshall Elementary in Aransas Pass while A.C. Blunt Middle School continues to be restored.

She enjoys writing fiction stories but this is her non-fiction account of living through a hurricane evacuation and adapting to changes in her life.   

Hi, my name is Jaden Trinity O’Campo. I’m 13 years old. I have lived In Texas for a year and I’ve got to say, it’s pretty hard starting over TWICE.

Before my family and I moved here, we lived in Indiana. We left everything behind but when we came to Texas we bought all new things. We lived in a nice little house in the country on Armstrong Road. It was the only place we have lived since we have been in Texas.

“It was my home.”

 

I had so many memories there. I have had good times there. When we heard there was a storm coming, we were going to stay. We didn’t have any money to go anywhere plus we have no family in Texas; but, my big sister Brook, that lives in Indiana, helped me, my parents, and my little sister, and my dog. She gave us money so we did not have to stay at the house.

We left the day before the storm hit. We went to Laredo but, there were no hotels. So, we slept in our small truck for three days. Let me just say, it was not fun. My dog’s name is Gunner and he is a king size German Shepherd. He’s so big he takes up all the back seat. It’s really hard trying to lay down when he takes up all the seat. Then we went to Freer and finally found a hotel that allowed big dogs but, it was not a good one at all. There were a lot of weird people around.

But, it was better than my big dog sitting on my lap. We stayed at the hotel for two nights. They would not let us stay longer because there were other people waiting for our room. So, we left back on the road again. Then we thought since the storm is not where we live, let’s go see our house.

 

 

There was no home to go back to. The ceiling was gone and the street I once knew was nothing more than a junkyard.

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We went to Raymondville because FEMA put us in a hotel there until September 21. My family and I hadn’t been able to do anything because we had been stuck in the car or in the hotel room. So, we went to Donna and we were checking shops out until my parents saw an RV shop.

So, we looked there and we found an RV but the hard part was trying to find a place to put it. We came back to Aransas Pass and looked everywhere then we found the perfect place.

I have never lived in an RV so it is still weird. I have never lived on wheels. The bad thing about living in an RV is every time you move around, it shakes. My bed is all right but, a lot of times I hit my head on the ceiling. Plus, the bathroom is so small!

But, the good thing is I’m in a safe place and my mom lets me ride my bike anywhere in the RV park. I love that I’m old enough that I can go to places in the RV park by myself.

 

The good thing is everyone at the Palms RV park is really nice. I made friends and I’m right by my school. Being out of school this long makes me nervous. I can’t wait to go back to school.

Being in my situation is so hard and scary. I hope nothing like hurricane Harvey happens again. But, my home is with my family. God has helped me a lot and I thank him for keeping me and my family safe.

And that was my hurricane adventure.