Ike vs. Houston

We left our home under a mandatory evacuation early on Thursday morning and drove to our farm in three vehicles and all that we held dear (which was not much) without incident.  Alan, Kat, and Madison joined us later that day. On Friday Kat's parents and brother showed up. We did what we could to follow the progress of the enormous storm approaching our city. We had an Internet connection and watched live video feed from Houston tv stations. And we waited. 

Weather authorities predicted a 20-25 foot storm surge that would have brought sea water into my neighborhood  and would have completely inundated the homes of many of my friends who live closer to the bay. As it turned out, the surge reached only 11 feet, which did plenty of damage on Galveston Island and along the upper Texas coast, but spared my neighborhood.

A friend who rode the storm out at home checked our home and reported that we still had electric power. So we returned home on Sunday. I found my house intact. The debris in my yard was overwhelming, but no windows were broken and my new roof was still there. And the A/C was still on. Only a block away houses were still dark and hot. We were among the one percent of four million people who were enjoying power. As of today, twenty-five percent of our city have their power restored.

We spent the morning cleaning up our yard and those of our neighbors with the help of some hardworking friends. After lunch we drove to another neighborhood to work on five more yards. We saw boats in a marina tossed about like toys, stacked on top of each other. We saw huge trees penetrating roofs and blocking roads.

This afternoon power returned to our church building. Tonight I met with our pastors to think through ways of connecting resources and needs in our congregation. We will revise our plans daily.

I know again the experience of guilty gratitude. We faced once more the real possibility of having neither home nor community to return to when the storm passed. The aftermath was not nearly that bad, but for some hours I had to entertain that scenario. And I have to remind myself that the Gulf hurricane season continues for another six weeks.

Thanks for the prayers and concerns from friends around the country. Please remember the victims of this storm along the Texas coast and be generous in sharing in relief efforts.