ROCKPORT, Texas — Aaron Mitchell broke down as he spoke to his father for the first time since deadly Hurricane Harvey slammed into his home in Aransas Pass, Texas.
“Dad I love you” he said, weeping after an emotional CNN interview where he described surviving the terror of the storm and being separated from his family.
“There’s been no cell service since Thursday, Friday. Haven’t gotten ahold of anybody. If my mom and dad is watching, I’m okay,” he said holding back tears.
“My mom’s in Oklahoma and my dad, there’s no telling where my dad’s at. I’m here in Rockport, waiting on you.”
Mitchell told CNN’s Nick Valencia how he had walked 12 miles in the dark to his father’s house in a failed bid to find his parent.
The CNN crew were able to use a satellite phone to help Mitchell connect to his father in an extremely emotional moment.
Mitchell had ridden out the storm and described the terror. “I felt like “The Wizard of Oz” man. I was scared. I’ve seen a lot of things but that terrified me.”
“I just lost everything I worked for. Everything. The only thing I got are the clothes on my back” he said, visibly shocked.
Looking around him, he described Rockport as “a disaster. It was beautiful. This was a vacation retreat. They got shrimp boats, everything. And now it’s like Katrina. I seen Katrina, but Katrina didn’t touch this.”
After speaking to his father, Mitchell was able to get on a bus evacuating Rockport residents to Austin where his father is.
Valencia described how Mitchell’s situation is not unique and how hundreds are facing a similar predicament.
Federal authorities expect some 30,000 people will need shelter and 45,000 victims will need some sort of disaster assistance.