DaMarcus Beasley Houston Dynamo

Beasley keeps Houston on his mind as he begins another USMNT camp

HANOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The devastating flooding currently overwhelming Houston and the surrounding areas has crippled one of the largest cities in the United States, and DaMarcus Beasley has been in New Jersey since Friday, watching the drama unfold in the city he has called home for the past two years.

The four-time World Cup veteran and recent U.S. national team call-up left Texas on Friday, shortly after his Houston Dynamo's match against Sporting Kansas City was postponed ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Harvey. Beasley has spent the past two days watching the devastation from afar, relying on social media, television coverage and text messages from neighbors to keep tabs on the worsening situation.

“It is crazy,” Beasley said Monday after U.S. training. “But being a part of the Texas family you see people helping out in any way they can and that's great to see.”

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Beasley lives in the Houston suburb of Pearland, where flooding has taken place but not yet at the extreme levels seen in other parts of the Houston area. Houston has been devastated by flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, which is now a Tropical Storm but is continuing to overwhelm the city with rain.

Seven people have died in the greater Houston area amid unprecedented flooding. A whopping 25 inches of rain have covered the greater Houston area over the past two days in a city that averages 50 inches of rain a year. Another 25 inches could hit the area in the coming days.

“(My house) is kinda slanted a little upward so the water hasn’t got that far yet, but the whole street, like the front part of my grass, and my driveway, is all underwater," Beasley said. "The streets are all flooded. My neighbor sent me pictures this morning and my street and the front part of my grass are flooded but my house is OK.”

Beasley is in his second season with the Dynamo, and earned his most recent call-up to the U.S. national team last week. The 35-year-old defender was one of the first USMNT players to arrive in New Jersey ahead of Friday's World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica.

Beasley's Dynamo teammates, Romell Quioto and Alberth Elis, weren't quite as lucky in their efforts to leave Texas ahead of World Cup qualifiers. The two Honduran national team players were unable to leave Texas until Monday ahead of the Catrachos' road qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago on Friday.

Beasley must now try to focus his attention to  crucial qualifiers against Costa Rica on Friday and Honduras on Sept. 5, while also thinking about the beleaguered city he calls home.

“Everybody in Houston and Texas are in my prayers and hopefully this ends sooner than later,” Beasley said.

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