The University of Houston football team will be home for Christmas.

Following Sunday’s Hawaii Bowl, the Cougars will board a 240-seat charter plane for the 7-hour, 30-minute flight to Houston.

For senior associate athletic director David Bassity and his wife, that means returning to the Hampton Inn that has been their home since August, when Hurricane Harvey pounded Houston.

“The room seems to be smaller and smaller,” Bassity said. “My wife and I are definitely getting closer. Luckily, it’s just the two of us. That’s good. FEMA is taking care of us the entire time. We got extended again through Jan. 17. Hopefully, we’re not there the entire time. We’re getting close to our house being rebuilt. Hopefully, we’ll be back soon.”

Harvey caused widespread structural and financial damage, as well as immeasurable heartbreak, but UH and its players were somewhat fortunate. The Houston-based families of Cougar players emerged safely. The UH athletic facilities suffered flooding to an arena that already was undergoing renovations. The Cougars’ indoor practice facility sustained flooding that was quickly cleaned.

There was little calm before the storm in August. The Cougars were in training camp when forecasts predicted Harvey would reach land on Friday, Aug. 25. “It was spaghetti models,” Bassity said of Harvey’s potential paths. “We didn’t know which way it was going.”

On Thursday, Aug. 24, it was decided the team would relocate inland to Austin, where former Houston coach Tom Herman was now the University of Texas head coach. The team evacuated that Friday, and practiced Saturday in Austin.

“Sunday was when it really hit,” Bassity said. “It was tough sitting there and watching (reports). We were supposed to practice that Sunday. Coach (Major Applewhite) walked into the team room, and everybody was glued to their phones. ‘We’re not doing anything right now.’ At that point, we were still trying to get ahold of all the players’ families to make sure everyone was safe. That took a couple hours just to get everyone accounted for. There was that survivor’s guilt.”

Wide receiver Steven Dunbar said Harvey evoked memories of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation to Louisiana in 2005. Dunbar was raised in New Orleans.

“I could sympathize with people from Houston,” Dunbar said. “I could relate to some of the disasters they were going through.”

Applewhite and Bassity, who also serves as the media relations director, started a drive in Austin to collect non-perishable food, medical supplies and relief items. Several FBS schools in Texas allowed use of their 18-wheel trucks to deliver the donated items to Houston.

“We were worried about our families back in Houston, we were worried about the city of Houston,” safety Terrell Williams said of the six-day stay in Austin. “But as a brotherhood, we became very close, and I think it helped us throughout the season.”