Grant Westmoreland says his family "thought it was going to be just a little rainstorm."

Hurricane Harvey turned out to be far more than they, and the state of Texas, bargained for.  

Westmoreland, who has traveled north to Moose Jaw to play for the Moose Jaw Miller Express of the Western Major Baseball League for the past three seasons, spoke to Discover Moose Jaw from his home in Pearland, TX Monday morning, three days after Hurricane Harvey arrived with torrential rain and damaging wind.

Pearland (population: 144,100 according to the city's website) is located about 25 miles southeast of Houston, which experienced 30 inches of rain (75cm) in the storm, in which five people died and left about 30,000 needing emergency shelter.  

A home in Westmoreland's neighbourhood in Pearland, TX is half submerged in flood water (photo courtesy: Grant Westmoreland)

"Just imagine the hardest rainfall you've ever seen going for 24 hours straight," Westmoreland said. "That's what it was like Friday and the drainage system couldn't handle it."

Westmoreland said they can't get far from their house without encountering high water, but they have fared better than many others. 

"The water came up about an inch and half from our front doorstep and then drained off," he explained, adding their house is on a "high point" of the neighbourhood. "But I had tmove my truck up from the driveway of the cul-de-sac which was completely underwater.  I was riding a bike and all you could see were the handlebars."

"We can't leave our neighbourhood on either side," he continued, adding that his family has "lots of food in the pantry and we bought bottles of water on Friday before (the stores) ran out."  

Monday morning, Westmoreland said it was still raining but "not as heavy as a downpour." Forecasters are saying the rain could continue through Thursday. 

"I've never seen anything like it," he stated, saying that they are "just going to ride it out."