(CNN) — Aric Harding returned to his flooded home in Friendswood, south of Houston, to pick up some stuffed animals and toys to comfort his seven children who were taking shelter at a nearby house.
One of his sons is an avid piano player and was concerned the family’s piano would be destroyed by flood water. When Harding found the water hadn’t covered the piano, he sat down and began to play.
“I decided to take a moment and play and take it all in,” he told CNN on Thursday.
He posted the video of the moment on Instagram with the caption,”I think it’s all finally sinking in a little. What we used to have going as a city is gone. I really think God is going to do something completely new here. I am excited to see the new beauty in the suffering.”
Harding, whose children range in age from 5 to 13, says he’s been heartened by the response.
“One person, who I don’t even know, offered to send us a new piano,” he said.
On Thursday, Harding and his neighbors were beginning the clean up operation on his street.
“All of the eight houses on my street were flooded,” he said.
“The kids are with their grandparents and we are all working together as a community on the cleanup,” he said.
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