The Aftermath of Ike: Still in Lafayette, LA

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're still alive. We evacuated Thursday night after having to talk Brent into it all day. And I am so glad we left. Brent went back home the day the storm actually hit so he was back home by 3pm on Saturday. He's a first responder so he had a hologram to be able to get back in quickly. We have flood damage and a tree scraped down the side of the house taking all the electrical lines, boxes and weatherhead. I haven't been back yet. Brent said I'd be horrified. Evidently the french doors were blown open during the hurricane and we had leaves, debris and pieces of shingles all the way into the bathroom and hallway. That means the wind had enough force to blow in the french doors in the den, travel through the dining room and into the hallway. That seems pretty powerful to me. No power so I'm in no hurry really. Brent is wearing himself out trying to clean it all up and work at the same time. He has been ripping out the carpet in the den and had to board up the french doors that were destroyed by the high winds of Ike. We were looking on the internet today at the devastation and destruction at Crystal Beach and Galveston. I cannot believe it. It is so sad. We were planning on spending a week at the beach with the boys for Thanksgiving this year. Brent's grandfather's cabin that was on the second row and has been in their family for decades is just gone. I just saw the aerial and there is nothing there. You cannot even distinguish the roads. Please say a prayer for all the families involved. It looks like a long road to recovery. We're fine and doing good. The boys are fighting everyday and healthy. What more can I ask for? I miss Brent. I miss my house. I miss school! LOL. So, hopefully by this weekend we'll be back home. I don't have any idea when we'll get power but Brent has a generator and we could make do for now. Ready to get things back in order and start a list for all the things that need to be done and need to be replaced. Weren't we doing this three years ago? It is so bizarre that it's happening all over again. Everyone I have talked to and kept in my prayers daily is safe so that's all we can pray for right now. Some very dear friends lost their home and their business on the Bolivar Peninsula. So many friends I've made throughout the years have been affected by the devastation at Crystal Beach. Let's pray for a speedy recovery of the beach towns we love so much.

Bridge City is about 12 minutes from my house down Highway 73. My brother-in-law's dad had 9 feet of water in his home and from what I read on the news sites, 100% of Bridge City was underwater during the storm. It is unbelievable because we actually went through Bridge City on our way out Thursday night heading toward Louisiana. I cannot believe people would try and ride it out, especially in a town surrounded by water.

http://jakeabby.com/ has some great pics of the beach and before/after pics to view.

Check out the pics and CNN and youtube has some great footage of the devastation this hurricane has caused. Oh and by the way, FEMA was nowhere to be seen until about Monday in our area. Brent was home on Saturday afternoon and as of Sunday evening he had not seen FEMA anywhere or Red Cross. He did see military but water and ice was not being given out until Monday. I would think after what happened in New Orleans the government would be a little quicker in their response time. Entergy trucks were traveling into Texas with my husband on Saturday, the day of the storm. I think FEMA and RED CROSS should have been ahead of the power company, don't you? There are people who do not have very much and those supplies mean a lot in a time like this. C'mon, Chertoff, get it together.

Lawlessness Prevailed and a Simple Ode

My Ode to Gustav:

Gustav, Gustav, where for art thou Gustav?
I packed water, tuna, figs and even my Wusthofs.
Yet you shunned me and went on down the coast,
All I can say Gustav is "Thank You" for not defrosting my organic roast.

LOL, okay, now that's a funny title to my little post today. Well, in the wake of a possible Hurricane Gustav making a visit to the Gulf Coast, people started evacuating. Brent made up a voice of an elderly lady and kept saying "Run for the hills, it's a mandatory evaporation" and then he'd say "Run as quick as you can it's a majority ejaculation." That was pretty funny. When he was acting like that I almost peed in my pants I swear. And I didn't drink a thing. He was being hilarious. HOWEVER, and that's a big however, we didn't actually make it anywhere. Well, it was kind of a last minute thing to stay and I am SOOOOO glad we did. We had a great couple of days and spent time just hanging out and playing, at least we weren't stuck in traffic like when we evacuated with Hurricane Rita almost three years ago.


Well, Brent's work had a meeting and they were told by the other government agencies that mostly it looked to be headed toward Morgan City, LA and the New Orleans area. So Brent never planned on leaving. However, not wanting to fight the traffic all over again, I opted to stay until the very last possible minute, having hotel reservations in Houston, which would take about 1 1/2 hours, without traffic. After waiting for my very slow sister and niece to arrive at our house from Lafayette, LA, we watched the weather another day and then Sunday morning it was already heading into the Louisiana coast. But, we did not cancel the reservations until Monday morning just in case we had to jump up and leave if it made a turn. I know that was the best decision for my family. We just about had to make my sister evacuate from Lafayette, which was hit pretty hard in some of the outlying areas. She had a wedding to go to and did not want to miss that so they made their way to our house about 3am Sunday morning. She's too funny. I remember with Rita we evacuated two days early and sat in traffic heading north for about 14 hours. Well, I learned my lesson and it only takes me once to make a mistake like that. We cooked and the boys played on their dirt bikes (only after we saw exactly where it was going just in case gas became an issue) and they swam in my neighbor's pond and played for a few days. It was a good break and Brent made some excellent grilled food, not having too much to do after everything was boarded up and socked away. But we were prepared ... just in case. I now have my "hurricane boxes" as we call them. Important papers and bills, insurance and medical information in one, hurricane supplies in the other, and of course the very few things I could not possibly live without. It's funny... the first time we evacuated I took every album, picture and baby video I could shove into my Expedition. This time I make sure everything was in Rubbermaid containers and the plan was to put them on the tables and counters just in case of flooding. Funny how your priorities shift. Liam had his very important stuff he couldn't live without in his backpack all ready to go. Ian's consisted mostly of John Deere tractors and his ipod and PSP. Liam has a fishing reel from his great-grandfather, a picture of his great-grandfather and a few things he's had in his room forever, although I assumed he has lost them several years ago. He's a saver and sentimental like his daddy -- Ian is more like me, nothing matters more to me than the actual people. Things don't seem to have a place in my life. I'll throw away just about anything if I look at it long enough and it gets on my nerves.


Well, you ask where the lawlessness comes in during all of this???? Well, scurrying out early Sunday morning to track down a Sunday paper and some donuts (now that's funny during a mandatory evacuation) we instigated bad driving. Brent and I were laughing so hard. We made u-turns in the middle of roads depending on where we needed to go (there was absolutely no traffic and no one out on the roads), we crossed over double yellow lines, we ran (well, rolled through)many a stop sign and even turned left on a red light. Well, we do have the cameras at the traffic lights so we'll see if anything arrives in the mail in the next few days. We ran through the parking lot at Walmart and not once did we yield, stop, and if anything, Brent just sped up because I was verbally choreographing his next move in the same manner that a sports announcer gives the play-by-play during a game. I kept saying stuff like "lawlessness and lewd behavior ravages the small, sleepy town save for the lone car trying to make their mark upon the city as if they didn't have a care in the world, in search of a Starbucks." You may not think it's too funny now, but believe me, you just HAD to be there. We finally found, of all things, guess what??? A CVS and it was open. Yeah. I stocked up on bomb pops, ice cream sandwiches and sunflower kernals for the kids snack that day. We tore out of the parking lots and even sped down the street. There were two other people in CVS but on the way home we only passed one other car in the residential area and one on the highway. Now that's deserted. It was fun. We laughed. Then we came home and made grilled burgers, hotdogs, banana pudding and my sister brought over a blueberry crunch dessert that was to die for. Oh, and my neighbors starting making their way BACK Sunday morning. They came back into town and were having family over to eat out with them. About three sets of neighbors came back on Sunday, which was the day of the mandatory evacuation. I truly cannot understand our emergency management officials. Everyone else in the country knew it was going to Louisiana and they were aware of that on Saturday, yet they still called for the mandatory evacuation to cover their butts just in case it decided to turn. Just researching hurricanes in the last several days, it is almost impossible for a hurricane moving that fast to change direction. See I did learnt sometine amid all of this.



Guess what? My cousins have arrived from across the pond, you know the big ass pond such as the Atlantic. Yes, six of my cousins have come over from England to be here for my nephew's wedding. The first day they were here, which was Monday night and had only been in Houston for about two hours, my cousin's 3 year old son fell off of her lap onto his head and later began having what seemed like a seizure. Needless to say my sister and all the others spent the night in the ER with little Tommy and he had MRI's and scans and was released Tuesday evening. He seems to be doing well but amidst all of that commotion, my brother-in-law Tommy, decided to leave Ruston, LA and drive south into Hurricane Gustav as it went through Alexandria, LA and he was trying to get back to Lafayette, LA. Well, a tree had fallen across the highway and he hit the tree and crashed in a ditch. He called my sister and niece while he was still in the car waiting on the police and my niece just screamed and started crying. It was so heart wrenching to see her like that. I thought Brent was going to break down in tears just watching her. But Tommy was fine and was not hurt in the least. Note to self, do not drive into a hurricane while others are driving away from it. However, the two Tommy's in our family have had better weeks if you know what I mean. So excited to spend some time with my cousins and show them some Texas hospitality. I'd like for them to see Gator Country so little Tommy can play with some baby alligators and Brent wants to take them to the races. Wez really liked that the last time they were in about four years ago. Our goal is to take the boys within the next year or two before we have to spring for cars and all the really expensive things they'll need in the future so along with college and retirement, we definitely need to work on a R&R account for our overseas visits. I guess I could get a job and just save all that money for ..... aah, who am I kidding... I couldn't even speak of such nonsensical thoughts! Hey, like I tell Brent all the time "yob (meaning job) is a four-letter word." I think that's pretty funny. I don't think Brent thinks it's too funny. Christene thinks it's funny.