Rendon and Albers concerned for victims of hometown Houston flooding

The hurricane, rain and subsequent flooding of tropical storm Harvey in and around Houston has been devastating for so many in Texas and the surrounding areas. The tragedy has hit home for Nationals' Houston natives Anthony Rendon and Matt Albers.

Rendon said his family has to move to his home in the Houston area because of the flooding at their own homes.

"I have been talking to everybody, texting them and calling my parents every morning," Rendon said. "They actually just left my house now. Water is creeping up in their house. So they are releasing the levee. So the water inside the city can disperse, but obviously the water has to go somewhere and so it's going to go out into the suburbs into the country. Water is continuing to rise. They got a lake in their few acres out there, so they went to my house. Hopefully they will be alright."

Rendon said it has been difficult for him to see his family and friends go through the hurricane and tropical storm Harvey while he just left the area after the Nats played the Astros last week.

"Definitely stressful," he said. "Just hearing stories and talking to family and friends and how they are all struggling. Water in their house, having to get rescued. So, yeah, definitely weird."

Of course, the toughest part for the players is not being able to just go to Houston right now and help their families and friends.

"I called my parents this morning and it's just frustrating just hearing the voice from my mom and from my dad and my brother," Rendon said. "Just knowing that you can't be down there, it actually hit me this morning just because they were saying the water is creeping up to their garage now. They got a lot of land. So it has to cover the land first before it hits their house. It's tough just to know they're not in the flood zone and they live out in the middle of nowhere, so how the heck can the water reach over there? The fact that even if you're not in the flood zone in Houston you are going to get affected just because they're not used to that much rain falling. At one point, six inches per hour. It's been going on for a few days, so do the math on that."

You can forgive Albers for being distracted thinking about the flood because his wife is about one month away from having their next baby.

"Yeah, it's been pretty hectic obviously the last few days," Albers said. "We were just leaving Houston and my wife is eight months pregnant, so she is a little nervous about leaving town. Obviously, the first few days, she stayed there. Last night, right before the game, we get a text that Woodlands township thing saying if you're in these subdivisions there's a creek pretty close to my house flooding could happen. She got out of there and went to Dallas this morning. It's been pretty crazy seeing Houston, the devastation.

"It's pretty sad, honestly. My parents are there as well. They are pretty close to the Brazos River in Sugarland. Their area has some voluntary evacuations, not mandatory yet. Kind of seeing all that and dealing with that, it's kind of surreal and kind of heartbreaking."

Rendon had specially made cleats that honored his hometown of Houston, wearing them Sunday night against the Mets.

"That was actually for the Players Weekend," Rendon said. "Under Armour asked me if I wanted to do anything special for the cleats. I always represent my hometown. I think it just happened to go hand-in-hand when the hurricane hit and actually ended up meaning more than what it was meant to be. I'm not sure if I will wear them tonight. One, they are just cleats and then two, you never know, MLB might be sticklers and try to fine me."

Rendon talked about how he concentrates on the task at hand, playing baseball here, and then works the other 21 hours of the day on making sure his family and friends are recovering in Houston.

"I try to be good at separating business and pleasure whatever you want to call it, family and other situations," Rendon said. "People say when you are out there on the field, you're free, so that's what I'm trying to think of."

Albers admits it is not easy to be here while his family goes through such a difficult circumstance.

"Just kind of feel helpless kind up here playing a game," Albers said. "It kind of puts it in perspective. They're safe. Everybody I've talked to has been safe. Hopefully it stops raining there soon, that'd be great. but it looks like the forecast is calling for more rain, unfortunately."

Help those affected by #HurricaneHarvey. Visit https://t.co/IwTsENcx2z, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation. pic.twitter.com/r4qSn8byXj

-- American Red Cross (@RedCross) August 26, 2017