Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike

Welcome to Christianity Oasis. This is Hurricane Ike from our Sojourn With Luz Leigh Collection. We hope you enjoy this enlightening reading and it helps you on your own be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.

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Sojourn With Luz Leigh

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike has come and gone. Behind him the left a few deaths but much destruction. Thousands of households and businesses in south east Texas are without electrical power. Many public water facilities are inoperable. We are blessed in our City. A few years ago the city fathers applied a second time for a federal grant to install a large diesel generator at one of the three water wells. When we lost electrical power at 3:40 a.m. on Saturday, 13 September 2008, that generator when to work and is providing us with good, drinkable water. With a continuous supply of water, life is so much easier. Wastewater treatment plants are either under water or received damage as the storm passed through. Those still in operable condition are being kept on line via gas or diesel generators.

Unless you have experienced a hurricane of the magnitude of Ike, you have no idea what those winds sound like. To make matters worse, the brunt of the storm hit us after dark. We could hear and feel the wind, but after we lost electrical power, we could only imagine what was happening outside. We had been warned by those who know about such things that with winds of hurricane force, even if our windows were not blown out, water might possibly be driven in around or under the windows. We were advised to stuff towels on the window sills to help soak up any water that might come in. I kept checking our windows and only in one spot was there a little moisture, this being next to a window air conditioning unit. I decided that unit needed to be taken out ... just in case the plexis glass that was used to fill in the gap between the unit and the window jam show give way to the wind. So, in the dark with only flashlights illuminating the window area, David and I quickly removed the plexiglass and then slid the unit out. Just as quickly, we pulled the window shut and I felt relieved.

We discovered that Ike had made his entrance into my home via the front door. Actually, the hard driven rain has seeped under the front door and was puddling back toward the kitchen. The flooring is tile, so no damage there. Again working with flashlights, my son, his wife and I sopped and mopped, removing the water. Instead of the one measley little towel I had placed next to the door before the bad stuff hit, we used about six towels to dam up the water, changing out the towels when they became thoroughly soaked.

It is now about 4:30 a.m. and we have decided to lay back down and get some rest, possibly some sleep. I could not sleep, so I spent the next two hours talking to the Lord, praying for safety for my children and me. Then I began to name individuals who I knew were in harm's way just as we were. And then I began to beseech the Lord to bring the dawn quickly so I could see what was happening outside my home. At one point, I drew back the bedroom curtains and looked to the east. There as a beacon reminding me that He is still in charge and things will get better, I saw the three flashing red lights on the communications tower that is located about half a mile from me. The emergency generator there had kicked in.

When I could stand it no longer, at 6:30 a.m. I left my bed and made my way around the house, checking on things. David, his wife Tammy and her little girl, Kate, were all sleeping. Thank you, Lord. With them being here with me, which we felt was sturdier than their home, I am comforted by their presence. I can only pray the other two children and their families are safe as well.

Daylight came at the appointed hour. Looking outside, I could see my home and property had been spared major damage. All my trees were still standing, although two limbs in the pecan tree were broken but still attached. They will need to be cut, but that is a chore for days down the road. The backyard is covered by lots of leaves and small branches. Later in the day when the winds had subsided for a few hours, I walked in the yard and realized my pecan crop is pretty much on the ground. I had to smile when I thought of those pesky crows that will be coming to dine on my pecans ... there will be a bare cupboard for them this year.

My son dressed and left to be about his business in the emergency management system of our county. All law enforcement officers, firefighters, and first responders had ceased to provide assistance when the winds reached 45 mph last night. Now they would all be out in force, assessing the damages, during the time the eye of the hurricane was passing over us. For those who don't know, this is the time that things are calm. No wind and little if any rain. Those fierce winds that hammered us last night were from the north ... in a few hours the winds will return, only this time from the south. If we are fortunate, the eye will pass quickly and the backside of the hurricane will strike while there is still daylight.

We had made preparations to have food, so about 10:00 a.m, Tammy, Kate and I sat down for a brunch. Although we had cold cereal and fruit available, Kate chose to have a peanut butter sandwich which she shared with her mom. A bowl of Special K cereal would fill my stomach.

I received word that Heather and her family were safe. They, too, had water, but had lost electrical power around 6:30 a.m. Don came to check on us and let me know he had weathered the storm. I was saddened to hear him tell of the huge oak tree, possibly more than a hundred years old, that fell during the storm. But, the Lord's hand was in the matter; the tree fell perpendicular to his metal shop building, so no damage was done there. However, it did land on a gooseneck flat bed trailer on which David had a load of steel beams. Those beams were to be used for a carport. But, things can be replaced.

Don related that three or four other trees had fallen nearer his home, but did not damage. Just take some work to get them all cut up and hauled away. He said the huge oak tree in front of our neighbor's home also came crashing down ... landing across the street, doing no damage to her home. She is a widow who lives alone and needs no more to worry about.

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