A former Steinbach resident is safe after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas this past weekend.

Mikayla Cantu now lives in Houston with her husband Tim and says they first heard about the impending storm on Tuesday and left Houston to find safety at her in-laws an hour south of the city Friday afternoon. Cantu adds they left Houston just as the storm was hitting the mainland and the heavy rain made it hard to see while driving.

"Nobody was expecting it to be this bad because we weren't being hit directly, [the eye of the storm] was hitting about three hours south of us. No one was thinking it was going to be this bad but the rain just kept coming and coming and just staying in our area, so it filled up really fast."

She adds between Friday night and Sunday there were at least 20 tornado warnings and says she has heard reports of tornados touching down on the north and west sides of Houston. Cantu says she has seen photos of 10-lane highways completely empty, which is very unusual as normally the traffic is heavy.

"I know there are a lot of shelters being set up," she notes. "I think I heard yesterday that the convention centre in downtown Houston had been seeing at least 30,000 people in the first two days, Saturday and Sunday. Churches and other buildings are opening up and everyone is just going where they're able to drive."

Photo taken on Wednesday after the water had started receding. Previously the water was covering the road. (Photo credit: Mikayla Cantu)She says it's amazing to see people helping out complete strangers, even when they have lost everything themselves.

"Resturants are giving food to first responders and anyone that is able to open their doors as a shelter is doing so, collecting donations and anything they can get their hands on. Texas is a huge place and to just help your neighbour out and any stranger that you come across is really nice to see, to know there are still people like that."

Cantu notes they have heard their area wasn't hit too hard, adding their apartment is on the second floor which will have prevented flooding damage.

"We've heard from our apartment leasing office that they haven't had any reports of damage or flooding, but I'm assuming the power went out for a few days. So far I think it's one of the safer areas of the city."

She adds they will try to go back home this week, but may wait because if trucks haven't been able to get into the city to restock the grocery stores they may not be able to restock their fridge. Cantu says some areas may take three to four weeks before the flooding has completely receded.

"I thought I disliked Manitoba winters but this wasn't a good trade off."