After the Astros won its first World Series in team history on Wednesday night, the entire city of Houston breathed a much-needed sigh of relief. Ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in August, the citizens of Houston needed a pillar of community to bond around, and the Astros’ dramatic romp through the playoffs and the Fall Classic provided a sense of hope and joy that was lacking in the wake of the natural disaster.
To say that the World Series cured all that ails Houston would be naïve, but so would dismissing the importance of bringing the city together in support of the team. One need only look at how Houston celebrated the title, partying deep into the night in the streets around Minute Maid Park, which held a 17,000-person watch party to see the Astros defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7. For one night, baseball, and not devastation, was the talk of the town.
On Friday, that feeling was recaptured once again, as the Astros’ championship parade made its way through downtown Houston. Hundreds of thousands of citizens, all affected in some way by the wrath of Harvey, met the team in the streets, turning the parade into a communal scream of joy. We captured the sights of the parade from the ground, as Houston celebrated its first major sports championship in over 20 years.
