A woman has been reunited with her beloved photo album that she lost during floods caused by Hurricane Harvey. Margaret M. Chong Chenier believed that her precious possession was lost forever, but it has been returned to her thanks to social media.
Lauren Thompson Miller was helping a friend clear up after Hurricane Harvey caused huge destruction in Houston. They came across the photo album whilst they were sorting through the wreckage in the garden on September 2. She retrieved the album from the water in Buffalo Bayou.
The following day, Lauren took to Facebook in the hope that the online community would help her locate the owner.
She posted on her personal Facebook account saying, “it’s obviously waterlogged, and a lot of photos were damaged, but I’m sure they would want it back.”
The post quickly went viral, receiving over 3000 shares, within mere hours.
Margaret wasn't even aware that it was missing because their home had been under water for several days. They were evacuated from their home as the flood waters rose rapidly.
They managed to collect important possessions and a handful of photo albums, but couldn't go back for anything else due to the evacuation. Her family tried their best to gather up their belongings, but this proved difficult as continued to rise.
The flood waters reached a height of four and a half feet. The floods caused extensive damage to their family home, Margaret shares, ““Everything on the first floor is gone.”
She is deeply grateful for the Houston community, who gathered together online to ensure that the photo album was returned to its owner.
Even though many of the photos are damaged due to exposure to the flood waters, she remains delighted that some of them are salvageable. She expresses, “the entire album was very important to me.”
It was full of photographs from special family events, including her brother’s wedding day as well as photos of her adopted daughter when she was younger: “Natalie was only two-days-old in a lot of the photos of her and I together.”
Being reunited with her cherished photo album has been a beacon of light for Margaret and her family during such a challenging time. Margaret is remaining positive and believes things will improve, “I think it’s getting better. I feel better.”
