yIKEs
A few folks weathered through the storm in Clear Lake and told us all was OK at our house. We called our answering machine and it picked up. We knew we had power at home, so we packed up from Conroe and headed south. We traveled across to Porter, Texas and took 59 south. All the feeder roads south of Humble were filled with water and the daily catch of cars that did not make it. We made it to 610, went east to the Gulf Freeway, then south to El Dorado and it was clear sailing to home.
It was eerie driving in. It was similar to driving home after the Rita evacuation, except this time there was damage. Billboards were snapped in half, the streets were vacant and wet, lights were down and dangling, trees down and branches littering every street, leaves plastered on surfaces and some looked as if they had been shredded and spewed out with a blower.
Driving in our neighborhood was like an obstacle course to avoid downed limbs. We drove up to our house and were relieved to see there was minimal damage – several shingles off, branches broken and debris everywhere. (My imagination had given me another scenario.) The first impression as we got out of the car was the overwhelming smell of pine. It was like walking in a lumber mill. The visual was like a landscaping company exploded in the street, but surveying our street; there appears to be no substantial damage.
We walked in the house and the AC was working, the television reception was good and the Internet was available. Who would have thought? Looking in the back yard, our chinaberry tree leans looming closer to the house and part of the fence is in the neighbor’s yard. We are hosting refugees, offering freezer space for orphaned frozen goods, and beginning to clean up – thankfully beginning to clean up as it could have been a different outcome.
Tonight, we will meet with a disaster relief group. UBC still has no power, but there is hope we will be a staging area for the months ahead.
It was eerie driving in. It was similar to driving home after the Rita evacuation, except this time there was damage. Billboards were snapped in half, the streets were vacant and wet, lights were down and dangling, trees down and branches littering every street, leaves plastered on surfaces and some looked as if they had been shredded and spewed out with a blower.
Driving in our neighborhood was like an obstacle course to avoid downed limbs. We drove up to our house and were relieved to see there was minimal damage – several shingles off, branches broken and debris everywhere. (My imagination had given me another scenario.) The first impression as we got out of the car was the overwhelming smell of pine. It was like walking in a lumber mill. The visual was like a landscaping company exploded in the street, but surveying our street; there appears to be no substantial damage.
We walked in the house and the AC was working, the television reception was good and the Internet was available. Who would have thought? Looking in the back yard, our chinaberry tree leans looming closer to the house and part of the fence is in the neighbor’s yard. We are hosting refugees, offering freezer space for orphaned frozen goods, and beginning to clean up – thankfully beginning to clean up as it could have been a different outcome.
Tonight, we will meet with a disaster relief group. UBC still has no power, but there is hope we will be a staging area for the months ahead.
posted by Jeff Waldo @ 11:45 AM
2 Comments:
Pretty much a miracle, it sounds like to me. I'm glad to hear it!
- Clayton
Wow, I didn't realize you had even had one blog let alone so many others! I'm glad to get a glimpse in of your writing/journal life.
Yes, I remember driving back from Ike as well; and it was just as you described, very eerie and so surreal. I recall thinking 'We have a huge mess to clean up during the next few days!' Thankfully we have very nice, and friendly neighbors so we all helped one another out for the most part. But we didn't have electricity in our neighborhood for about a week, so we had to tough it out with Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for a few days, but thank God we were all okay and safe! And thank God you all were as well.
Your house held up really good, as did Jesse's parents; they didn't lose any electricity or need hardly any repairs to their property at all. They just had to have a tall tree that fell over in their backyard chopped and removed.
I hope you write and update in your blog some more so Jesse and I can come back to visit it from time to time. We have our own blog as well, but mainly I, the lady of the house, keep up with it.
God's blessing to you and your family!
Sarah and Jesse Lopez
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