On Aug. 22, I left Oahu with my family to go to Texas and surprise my older brother at his Air Force graduation ceremony. But when we got there we got a lot more than we bargained for with Hurricane Harvey.

The eye of the hurricane was over Houston, and we were in San Antonio. We were still affected, but it wasn’t that bad. The news said it was the worst hurricane of the decade. Even though we had dark skies, strong wind, and pouring rain, my family and I didn’t think much of it and we still got to see my brother.

I thought that since the hurricane was extremely bad only rescuers were going to help. I was wrong. When we were on the base for my brother’s graduation ceremony, there was a Hawaiian food truck. Of course, we ate there for lunch, and we talked to the owners, and they were from Hawaii. After a couple of days, my grandma saw on Facebook that the truck and those workers went to Houston to feed the people who were affected by the hurricane.

On one of the days of us exploring Texas, my family and I were driving on the freeway when a whole bunch of cars and trucks zoomed past us. At first, we thought it was just people speeding, but after a little while, we realized it was some fire department trucks and rescuers going to Houston to help.

When I saw all of those vehicles going past I realized that Hurricane Harvey doesn’t just affect Houston, it affects everyone. At first, I honestly didn’t think much of it, but after seeing the flooding, the rain, and the crying people on the news, I realized it is a devastating hurricane.

I’ve never seen anything like that. It made me change the way I view things. It made me change the way I see rescue efforts. Even though I live in Hawaii, this hurricane and all of those rescuers made me realize that we are all part of one big community. We need to stick together in terrible and unthinkable situations like this, we need to help and support each other!