Ike
Okay, so I said I was going to post it and I finally am making the time to do so. I think most of my aftermath pictures must still be on the camera and the batteries are dead, so ya'll will have to wait until I get new batteries and can DL them.
As I think I've mentioned, we live on the upper Texas Gulf Coast - just off Galveston Bay, to be precise. We chose to stay put and ride the storm out at home, despite being in a mandatory evacuation zone. Manny and I spent much time in prayer and strongly believed that the Lord would protect us and keep us safe, and He did.
At the advice of my best friend in Florida, we pulled the car up parallel to the front porch where it would be more sheltered from potential damage. I am SO glad I listened to her. Although we lost several large branches from the 30 yr old Oak tree out front, the only one with the potential to do damage landed on the driveway - directly where my car would have been had I not moved it.
The Tallow tree in the back yard also came down. We lost half of it last year after a lightening strike left it laying on my roof and my landlord spent hours in self-debate on whether he should just have someone come out and take out the remaining half. He chose to leave it and now, well, I'm sure he's regretting his decision. The tree left a very large 3-4 ft diameter hole in the roof, causing water to leak through the attic into our neighbor's closet. We had no direct damage - water, wind, or otherwise - to our side of the duplex. The tree also pulled out our middle and back fences, but it doesn't appear that the boards were actually damaged. I'm fairly certain that they only need to be propped back up and secured back into the ground.
Power was out Friday - Tuesday, although Mom and Johnny were kind enough to bring over the parents' generator on Monday so we did have a light and fan and the fridge Monday. It was very very quiet though surrounded by 3 cities without power. With nothing better to do, we went to sleep sometime between 8-9 when it got too dark to see anything anymore and woke up whenever the morning sunlight brightened up the room. The boys spent most of their days playing board games or chess or legos, I read a couple books, Manny hung out with the guys next door who also weathered it out.
Although we were inconvenienced by the lack of our normal modern-day conveniences, we were blessed nonetheless. God did provide for us and protect us and keep us safe, as we knew He would.
We also learned some very important lessons such as what you REALLY do need to ride out a tropical storm or a hurricane, and that if we're in the direct path of a Cat 3 or higher, we're not staying regardless of what supplies we do or do not have. Some other more personal, more spiritual lessons were also learned, but those are part of a situation that is now closed and in the past and I don't feel like discussing or rehashing the drama of it all.
Suffice it to say that I've grown both as a person and in my spiritual journey based on this experience. If I had to make the same decision again, I would.
Up next: the Kirby move and new themes
As I think I've mentioned, we live on the upper Texas Gulf Coast - just off Galveston Bay, to be precise. We chose to stay put and ride the storm out at home, despite being in a mandatory evacuation zone. Manny and I spent much time in prayer and strongly believed that the Lord would protect us and keep us safe, and He did.
At the advice of my best friend in Florida, we pulled the car up parallel to the front porch where it would be more sheltered from potential damage. I am SO glad I listened to her. Although we lost several large branches from the 30 yr old Oak tree out front, the only one with the potential to do damage landed on the driveway - directly where my car would have been had I not moved it.
The Tallow tree in the back yard also came down. We lost half of it last year after a lightening strike left it laying on my roof and my landlord spent hours in self-debate on whether he should just have someone come out and take out the remaining half. He chose to leave it and now, well, I'm sure he's regretting his decision. The tree left a very large 3-4 ft diameter hole in the roof, causing water to leak through the attic into our neighbor's closet. We had no direct damage - water, wind, or otherwise - to our side of the duplex. The tree also pulled out our middle and back fences, but it doesn't appear that the boards were actually damaged. I'm fairly certain that they only need to be propped back up and secured back into the ground.
Power was out Friday - Tuesday, although Mom and Johnny were kind enough to bring over the parents' generator on Monday so we did have a light and fan and the fridge Monday. It was very very quiet though surrounded by 3 cities without power. With nothing better to do, we went to sleep sometime between 8-9 when it got too dark to see anything anymore and woke up whenever the morning sunlight brightened up the room. The boys spent most of their days playing board games or chess or legos, I read a couple books, Manny hung out with the guys next door who also weathered it out.
Although we were inconvenienced by the lack of our normal modern-day conveniences, we were blessed nonetheless. God did provide for us and protect us and keep us safe, as we knew He would.
We also learned some very important lessons such as what you REALLY do need to ride out a tropical storm or a hurricane, and that if we're in the direct path of a Cat 3 or higher, we're not staying regardless of what supplies we do or do not have. Some other more personal, more spiritual lessons were also learned, but those are part of a situation that is now closed and in the past and I don't feel like discussing or rehashing the drama of it all.
Suffice it to say that I've grown both as a person and in my spiritual journey based on this experience. If I had to make the same decision again, I would.
Up next: the Kirby move and new themes