The flooding in Houston claimed the home of the parents of Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner. Hal and Marla Pastner’s ground-floor apartment in the Kingwood community of Houston was under several feet of water because of the heavy rains from Hurricane Harvey.
In a turn of fortune, Pastner’s parents were kept out of harm’s way because they have been in Atlanta visiting their son’s family during the storm. Unable to return, their stay has been extended by about a week.
“I’m going to be in Atlanta more,” Hal Pastner said.
A neighbor sent Hal Pastner a photo taken from the roof of an apartment across the street. It showed his car flooded to just below the roof and flood waters reaching a couple feet below the first-story roof. The Pastners are among the untold thousands who have been displaced in southeast Texas, as the flooding has caused a reported $35 billion in damage.
“The whole area’s destroyed,” Hal Pastner said.
Josh Pastner has watched the news reports with particular attachment. He grew up in a house in the Kingwood community, where some of the most catastrophic flooding has occurred. It is not far from where his parents now live. Hal Pastner said that Kingwood Drive, the street where Josh grew up, has been traversed by rescuers in kayaks and boats.
“It’s a crazy deal,” Josh Pastner said. “I know all these people, they’re like, they can’t believe it. People are calling and asking for help, like, send a boat.”
His brother Austin’s home, too, is under water. Austin, too, was out of town, in London for work and unable to return. He finally got a flight back to Dallas-Fort Worth on Monday and planned to rent a 10-foot truck to take back to Houston full of food and water. Responding to a request from Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, Pastner authorized the shipment of Tech basketball T-shirts to Houston to be distributed to people who have been forced out of their homes.
While he has not suffered the losses that others have and is better positioned to recover, Hal Pastner has regardless handled the damage to his home, personal property and community with remarkable grace, exhibiting the attitude that clearly rubbed off on his son.
“We see the positive of being in Atlanta now and being with family and being a good fan for Georgia Tech basketball,” Hal Pastner said.
Among possessions that he figures he has lost – photos from his days as a ballboy for the Philadelphia 76ers during the Wilt Chamberlain era, a collection of daily journals he has kept for about the past 10 years and a prized collection of Nike sneakers.
“I was a big collector of Nike shoes,” he said. “They’re all wiped out. Maybe that was an omen. I have to start looking at Adidas.”
Hal Pastner was referring to Tech’s recent switch to Adidas as its new apparel partner.
Hal and Marla Pastner hoped to return to Houston on Friday or Saturday. Eventually, they’ll come back to Atlanta, perhaps for good.
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