Major Life Event #3 (aka Hurricane Ike)

And the hits keep coming....Hurricane Ike crashed our area at 11 p.m. Friday night and did not fully leave until about 12 p.m. Saturday afternoon. We chose to "hunker down" (that's the new Texas catch-phrase borne by the hurricane) at home through the storm. Friday night/Saturday morning (9/12, 9/13) we could feel the walls and windows pulsating as the hurricane passed over us. Rain was blowing horizontally against our windows. It literally felt like we were in a vacuum and that the house would explode any minute. Fortunately, the storm passed and we had no damage to home or family--just some major landscaping issues. We had a 50-foot oak tree uprooted and tossed into our backyard. The tree missed our house by about 6 inches.

When we woke up the next morning, the outside view looked like a bomb had hit. Huge trees and power lines were down everywhere. Roofing was torn off some homes and trees had crushed brick walls. Power poles had been snapped in half. We lost electrical power about 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. With no air conditioning late in the Houston summer, we quickly became hot and sweaty and cranky. Our neighbor saw us on Sunday afternoon and reported that he was able to stand in line for six hours at Lowe's and bought 1 of about 200 generators they had left. Figuring our "ox was in the mire", we quickly drove to another Lowe's location and happened to arrive just as a shipment of generators was arriving. I was given a ticket by the store attendant for generator #79 out of 200. After about 1 1/2 hours, I emerged with a generator, some extention cords, more gas cans, and a big fan.

Over the next few days, few stores were open and gas stations were either completely empty of gasoline or did not have electricity to power the pumps for the gasoline they had. We had 10 gallons of reserve gasoline for the cars. However, we needed that gasoline to power the generator (which kept our refrigerator, chest freezer, and fan going) and, even then, the gas would power the generator less than 20 hours. On Monday morning, no one in the city of Houston knew where and when gas would be available. After some family prayers, I left home and drove around Houston looking for a station that had gas. After about an hour, I stumbled on a truck stop that actually had fuel! I waited in line for about an hour and was able to fill up the car and 30 more gallons of gasoline in other containers. In our eyes, this was a major miracle and answer to prayers. As I filled up at the station, I talked with people who had come from 30-40 miles away to find gas.

Baby Caroline seems to be taking the heat better than anyone. I guess she's used to being in 98.6 degree temperatures, right? Thursday night, a neighbor dropped off a small window air conditioning unit that could be powered by our generator. Huge help! The kids slept a lot better and actually felt a little cold in the morning!

On Sunday, our ward held church for the first time since the storm. Since the church building still did not have power, we held sacrament meeting in the dark. The only light came from windows in foyers and classrooms. A few families brought flashlights and lanterns from home. We used a lantern at the pulpit for conducting and for the sacrament. The pianist had her little boy sitting on the bench beside her with a flashlight in his hand so she could see the music. We had to quickly choose hymns known by everyone because the congregation couldn't see the words in the hymnbooks. Those of us wearing suits were soaked in sweat. It was an experience that will be hard to forget.

Without electricity, doing laundry has become a little more complicated. Our generator can run our washer but not the dryer. After trying numerous methods to wash and dry clothes, Christine decided to try a local laundromat. Her experience, shall we say, was less than satisfactory. After waiting in a long line (I see a theme developing), she managed to get all clothes washed. Oh, and the laundromat had no air conditioning (theme #2) and she had three children and a nursing baby with her (theme #3) and no place to sit (I'm losing count now). Final nail in the coffin--when she pulled out her husband's batch of white clothing from the washer, she also pulled out....(any guesses?)......TA DA! A pair of gray XXL women's underpants! Hint--they didn't belong to me or her or the kids. At that point, waiting in another line to dry the clothes wasn't happening. I don't believe the laundromat will be receiving any of Christine's future business.

Finally, the good/bad news: Good We're going to get power! Bad Not until Sunday.

Brian