Finding refuge in Enid

Rescued.

It's how Fred and Edith Birdsall, Houston residents who relocated to Enid last Friday, describe how they feel.

The couple, who own a hurricane-flooded home, was picked up last week.

"We are truly refugees from the flood," Fred said.

"We have been rescued, yes," Edith said.

The morning after Hurricane Harvey hit, Edith woke up around 6 a.m.

"It was so quiet, and we knew the hurricane would come, but Hurricane Ike in 2008 was so loud. We didn't hear anything, so I looked out of the window in back and the whole garage, the whole driveway, was under water. So I ran downstairs into the garage. (There was) water in the garage. There are people who lived there for 50 years, never was there water anywhere with any flood or any hurricane. Never, ever," she said.

Edith got rubber boots and went to get hurricane supplies — including water, paper towels, chlorine for water and gloves — from a closet in the garage. She made numerous trips through the kitchen to set items at the base of the stairs.

"While I did this — we have two steps in the garage — the water did rise. And when I was done, it was already in the kitchen. And then I carried everything upstairs," she said.

Edith then got suitcases from another closet in the garage, put ice and perishable food into a Styrofoam box and took as much water upstairs as possible.

"There's still water for two weeks upstairs," she said, laughing.

Fred, who had previously had a stroke, has to do daily exercises, so Edith took a chair and his pedal machine upstairs as well.

The water rose, and the power went on and off. After three days, there wasn't a telephone, no air conditioning and all of the perishable food perished, she said.

"When there was no power, you could just hear the waves," Edith said.

The couple could see the living room from their upstairs bedroom, so they could view the damage. Water was chest high in the street, she said.

A friend's husband told them they had to get on a list, needed to pack for overnight and would be taken to a shelter.

"We were not taken," Edith said.

They had contacted other people on their street, to make sure if the neighbors were evacuated they would tell someone the Birdsalls were there.

"But, nobody was evacuated," she said.

A nephew, Norville Ritter, lives in Alva. He told the couple he would get them out of their flooded home. There were no roads, and the airports were closed, Edith said.

When Hurricane Ike hit, the Birdsalls experienced nine days without electricity.

"This is what we were prepared for. Not to sit upstairs stuck," she said. "During the night, there were all these helicopters and I always thought, 'This is now the rescue.' And they made waves, the rotor blades. They made waves in the garden, and they'd come against the patio door so you would hear it. Then the waves would be in the kitchen, in the living room, in the dining room, and you would be in the dark and you would hear it. And with a flashlight you couldn't really see everything. It was terrifying. It was really terrifying for me ... because I am responsible for Fred also."

Someone Ritter knows traveled in to get the couple.

The Birdsalls left their home with one suitcase each, documents, walkers, the pedal machine, a laptop and medications.

Ritter made a reservation for a furnished home in the Golden Oaks senior living community in Enid.

"We had such a warm welcome here," Edith said. "We arrived on Labor Day weekend when everybody is busy with other things."

Despite the holiday, someone installed grab bars in the bathroom for Fred, and bed sheets were brought to them.

"It's so quiet and peaceful, and everybody here is so friendly, everybody," she said. "Neighbors came a day or two after we arrived and introduced themselves, and even brought a welcome gift. One brought a newspaper, one brought a sandwich, one couple brought cookies. I nearly cried every time somebody came because you wouldn't expect so much friendliness and so much kindness. It's so heartwarming and so endearing."

The couple went to a local grocery store, where Edith took an electric cart to the car so Fred could go into the store with her. On the way in, right in front of the store, the battery died and the chair started rolling backwards down a slope, she said. A woman pushed him up the hill and helped him into another charged cart.

"He wouldn't have had this in Houston. People are friendly in Houston also, but not that friendly that they leave everything just to help," Edith said.

The Birdsalls are pondering making Enid home. They have looked at some available houses in the Golden Oaks community.

"There are horses in the fields and it's very pleasant," Fred said.

The couple did not have flood insurance on their Houston home. It is currently being repaired. Edith said the wallboard is out, and new wallboard will eventually be put up. Their car was flooded in the garage, and it was covered by insurance.

A rental car helps them get around Enid, she said.

The two looked at an Enid map Tuesday, and Fred navigated to the post office.

"It's like exploring. It's very nice," Edith said. "It's more than convenient to be here in this community. It's really beautiful and it's inviting."

The two are grateful the house was available for them short term, and everything was made possible for them to come to Enid, she said.

"We prayed every day, and Norville even had talked about us in a prayer group. We're very thankful that this all went to a good ending. There are many people who do not have a house anymore in Houston. There are like 60,000 who lost their homes and 100,000 who cannot go back right now. And, in a way, I feel sorry for them because we're here like on vacation, so to speak. We have everything here, and we do not suffer anymore," Edith said.