The remains of Hurricane Ike blew through the Midwest late last night and early this morning, downing a tree limb in our backyard, taking out power at our church (we worshipped by candlelight), and flooding the basement of the building that houses the More Than Carpentry ministry our church helps support in Wellston (to answer the question of "why Wellston?," read this story published today in the Post-Dispatch).
While the rain was abundant and hard, the majority of the flooding came from a nearby stream that jumped its banks, leaving an unbelievable six-and-a-half feet of water standing in the basement of the building, which is about the size of a junior high school. I just got back from helping, but there were plenty of folks still working - draining water, salvaging what could be salvaged, and throwing away a lot of ruined materials. There's no worse feeling than walking away from a clean-up effort left undone, but it will literally be weeks before the mess is no longer (if anybody's got a picture from tonight, send it to me and I'll post it here to illustrate what I mean).
This is yet another set-back for the ministry (the building has already suffered break-ins and vandalism), and though people's spirits were upbeat tonight, the damage will surely inflict melancholy on more than we who are naturally gifted with it. As you pray for those in Houston, pray for those in St. Louis (and elsewhere) who, somehow, were affected by the same massive hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.
From my Bible reading tonight:
"The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters...The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever." Psalm 29:3,10 (ESV)
My in-laws chose to hunker down in north Houston. They're on day 3 without power, which means that Noreen is having to clean out the food museum in the freezer.
Posted by: Chelsea | September 15, 2008 at 02:00 AM
Chelsea, honest question: Other than saying you did it (which I would like to do someday - in someone else's house, that is), what's the mentality of someone who is "hunkering down" in a hurricane?
Posted by: Craig | September 15, 2008 at 02:00 AM
That is terrible!!! I am so sorry!!
Posted by: Mike | September 16, 2008 at 02:00 AM
The in-laws have lived in Houston for 33 years, so they've seen many a hurricane. And they live in far North Houston (which is 90 minutes inland from Galveston), so they are relatively safe except for downed trees and lack of power. Living 700 feel above sea level is far safer than living at sea level. The people who stayed in Galveston? Not so smart.
Quite honestly, it's impossible for all of Houston to evacuate. They were only given 18-24 hours' notice this time since the weather guys were convinced Ike was going to hit Corpus Christi, which is 4 hours WSW. All my Corpus friends had boarded up their houses and packed up the minivans when Ike changed course and headed east. That "cone of uncertainty" isn't very accurate when it includes the entire Texas coast.
When Rita came right after Katrina, Houstonians were motivated to evacuate. The traffic was insane. Thousands of people got stuck on the highways when they ran out of gas. It took my friend Lori 12 hours to drive to my house when it should have taken 4. My FIL called me and said traffic was just as bad this time so they were staying put.
I don't think the in-laws consider it a badge of honor to stay. I just don't think hurricanes faze them much anymore. (Although Don is going a little stir-crazy without his internet connection.) He's been helping clear the roads and they've shared their frozen food abundance.
Posted by: Chelsea | September 17, 2008 at 02:00 AM