After Ike update - still no power

I know this is long but a lot has happened. If you don’t want to read just look at the pictures. J and I will be leaving home in a minute to find Internet so he can try to work a tad and I can try to update the blog and let you know we are good. We have survived Hurricane Ike, it is about neighbor helping neighbor, Texan helping Texan!!!!

Saturday

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers. We have been told that the west eye of the storm passed over our location. We lost power at about 3:17 am on Saturday morning. We had trees down all around us. We are good. There is no damage to our home or cars at all. That alone is a miracle. I know Mimi said she was up all night praying and so was Fr. Keller. I am sure they are not the only two. It looked as if a bubble protected our home as debris and trees flew all around. It is one of those things that you think must be much worse than it felt at the time.


I think because our house was protected we didn’t get freaked out. We thought we had just gotten a little rain and wind until we peeked out a hole in a blanket covering the window. We had covered the windows so that glass would not fly all over our house if they were broken by flying debris. When we looked out and saw a tree in the street just at our driveway we knew it was bad. We waited until the winds dies a tad and then opened our front door. We watched the wind and the rain fall from inside the covered porch. In a strange way it was very peaceful and soothing listening to the winds and watching the trees. They are pretty when they dance.


The water was beginning to back up our driveway. Our neighbors across the way have a very low house. We knew this old couple would be in trouble if they were not flooded as of yet. After an emergency vehicle came by and roved the tip of the first tree we knew it was a tad safer. I know it wasn’t the smartest thing as the winds had not dies down completely. The rain was coming down in buckets and this old couple was standing on their porch. It was us or them so J and I ran out and started moving the tree branches from the drain. We pulled part of another neighbor’s roof out of the drain sewer on one side.

The other side was just full of debris. J went back and got the three older kiddos. A few other neighbors joined us and we cut away some more of the trees and we were drenched. I don’t think I have ever been that wet. We broke two rakes just trying to pull stuff back from the flowing water. Other neighbors joined us and some us went door to door to check on people. Every one around us was OK.


We went back inside as the rain fell and made a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage. We have a gas stove and as long as we have a lighter we are good (J works for BIC so that will not be an issue.)


As the winds died down we began to open windows and take the blankets off. Everything in the house was damps. The moisture was everywhere. The rain just didn’t stop.

We all went out and played in the rain after the winds stopped. The kiddos had to. It is so hard to watch the world fall around you and not be able to see what was going on. We were hot but it continued to rain.

Apparently the cold front that was on the way was bringing rain. We had a friend stop by to check on us and J and I ventured out to help check on others. By Saturday night all cell service was gone, no power and it got dark fast. We were damp uncomfortable but after seeing some of the damage to our neighbors we felt blessed. We were exhausted as are sure our guardians angels were. We had asked them to protect us from physical harm and they must have taken a beating. Our neighborhood was bad but by the radio we knew we were not as bad as most around us. I gave each of the kiddos a glow stick and we still sleep in the family room. The dark is scary.