My sister contacted me by cell phone yesterday, and told me that they were roughing it back in their home with no water and no power. They have a natural gas range and water heater, so they can cook, and when the water is back on, they can shower comfortably.
The damage was light to the house itself. Some sections of shingles blown away, and some of the cedar shake siding, but nothing where water blew in. There was not any flood damage, and they managed to get back into the county even though it was shut down by martial law (National Guard patrolling everywhere) because her husband had a chainsaw and some ladders in the back of his truck, and he could be useful in helping clear some of the blocked roads.
Wind was the nightmare. It took down some 15,000 utility poles and the main grid power lines. I saw some footage of the damage on tv and it looked like the Hulk had been stomping through there. A really BIG Hulk. Or maybe Godzilla. Anyway, trees broken off and power lines down everywhere.
As I was speaking to her, she got the news that the water was back on. I don't know if it was fit to drink, but at least they can flush the toilets without carrying in pails of water from the kids' swimming pool.
They do have a generator, so they have enough power to run some box fans during the day. Who knows how long it will take to get the power restored? There is one store in town open, once it got the front window boarded up that were blown out, and there were people who came in wanting everything for free. Had the Guard not been keeping most of the residents out of the area until the power is back on, this would have evolved into a looting spree. Hard lessons learned by Katrina only weeks ago.
I am relieved that they are back at home, but will be worried until the power is completely restored.
***
I went to the dermatologist Tuesday to see what on earth is eating up my hands. Something I have not been able to get rid of, it cracks open and bleeds. Rather nasty looking, too, not to mention itchy and sore. They thought it might be something to do with a cervical vertabrae, because of the patterning on my hands. There is a definite line of demarcation. So I had to get xrays of my neck. For a rash on my hands.
They also decided to give me an allergen patch test. They stuck two rectangular patches on my back, taped them up nicely, and told me not to get them wet until Thursday when I could come back early to have the results read. Easier said than done. I couldn't wash my hair, as I cannot lean over the sink to do it, so I felt crusty despite taking a bath. The damn things itched like hell. I felt like an old bear, wanting to back up to a tree and scratch.
Thursday morning couldn't get here fast enough. I barely slept for the itching. Had to be in Memphis by 0830. Ugh. The deja vu of the early morning wreck five years ago was haunting me. The cotton fields are ready to be picked. That's what I plowed through when I wrecked my car. I drank a 20 oz Dr. Pepper for the caffeine.
Got to the VA hospital, and was first in line at the clinic. They stripped off the allergy tests and found I am sensitive to fragrances and potassium dichromate. Well, how do you do? What the hell did that mean? I have a list now of things with which I shouldn't come in contact. Leather goods. Green fabric. Chrome plated stuff. Some stainless steel. Building materials like drywall, brick, and mortar.
At least, it's not the cats.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Sunday, September 25, 2005
News at last
No sooner than I finished putting the last entry in this blog, than the cell vibrated in my pocket. I fished it out and flipped it open to find my sister on the other end. She was weeping. I finally got out of her between sobs that they had contacted a neighbour after he got a connection and that even though a lot of trees and a good portion of town are history, the house is relatively unscathed.
I do hope that in their haste to return (they were getting water and gas and getting on the road) that they don't run into the type of thing they had during evacuation. I know it's normal to want to get back to your home, but sometimes when disaster like this strikes, and there is no power and safe drinking water, it can be best to wait a little. But I think they will be ok. Someone has their back. I am so relieved for them.
I do hope that in their haste to return (they were getting water and gas and getting on the road) that they don't run into the type of thing they had during evacuation. I know it's normal to want to get back to your home, but sometimes when disaster like this strikes, and there is no power and safe drinking water, it can be best to wait a little. But I think they will be ok. Someone has their back. I am so relieved for them.
As you can tell by this entry, I did not blow away in a tornado last night. I had shut down a lot of stuff during the height of the thunderstorms, and had the tv going to let me know if anything were headed down my direct alley. I was packed and ready to run next door to the concrete bunker, but I am not like my mother, who would have spent the night down there with a radio and a kerosene lamp. I am way too claustrophobic to stay in a tornado shelter for any length of time.
Good news in that the thunderstorms lost some momentum just south of us, but it has rained incessantly and we are still under a flood watch until 7 pm. It's not been a hard rain for the most part, thank goodness, and right now it's just a steady drizzle which we actually need around here. That, I can deal with on an OK basis.
I was up almost until dawn, really exhausted from all the fretting more than anything else. I dreamt about taking an exam, one of my recurring dreams, and then about going to some sort of event for which I had to get dressed up. Of course, I could not seem to get my ensemble pulled together. (Anything more than a tshirt and jeans is an ensemble for me.) Part three of the dream was something I'd never had before that I recall. I was borrowing someone else's car to run an errand, and after pulling out of the parking lot, I noted it had no power steering and I was having to muscle this beast to control it. Suddenly, I was having to steer it by looking at a screen inside the car, with a birds'eye view of my location. I could not see out of the car around me and this was the only way to maneuver it. It was like a video game, but I was trying to keep from crashing into some other vehicle around me. A cat bounding across my chest woke me up, keeping me from finding out how well I might have handled the situation.
No word today on my sister's situation. My brother never did call to find out what was going on. He seemed clueless that they could even be in any danger when I talked to him beforehand. Must be nice to live in such a secure little world.
Today being Sunday, I did the routine we have established here: go get some fried chicken and hot apple pies from Popeye's, and take it to have lunch with my mother and Mrs. Harris, her roommate. They chow down on that chicken like it's prime rib, loving the little cinnamon apple pies. It makes them so happy, and it's such a small thing. I did not bring up the hurricane. In fact, well after we had finished eating, I finally said that my sister had taken her cats with her when they left. My mother did not seem overly worried about the property, so I said nothing about it. Some things are best left unsaid.
Instead, I regaled her with stories about what my cats had been into this week, and that a friend had a new baby boy, because she loves to hear baby stories. She enquired after my friends in the UK, because I always have a little anecdote to tell her about the Things, even if it's an old story, because they are new to her. She got a kick out of me playing Scrabble across the internet with Thing One. The time passed, and I left to retrieve my entries from the district fair.
I judged the quilt show in the fair last week, so was ineligible to enter that division, but there was a place in the crafts division where I entered the Daredevil origin quilt panel and the Murdock's Law quilt panel. I am pleased to report that not only did I receive blue ribbons on both, but a whopping prize check of $11.00! I didn't know you got cash at this fair. Maybe next year I can come up with more stuff to enter. Heh.
Good news in that the thunderstorms lost some momentum just south of us, but it has rained incessantly and we are still under a flood watch until 7 pm. It's not been a hard rain for the most part, thank goodness, and right now it's just a steady drizzle which we actually need around here. That, I can deal with on an OK basis.
I was up almost until dawn, really exhausted from all the fretting more than anything else. I dreamt about taking an exam, one of my recurring dreams, and then about going to some sort of event for which I had to get dressed up. Of course, I could not seem to get my ensemble pulled together. (Anything more than a tshirt and jeans is an ensemble for me.) Part three of the dream was something I'd never had before that I recall. I was borrowing someone else's car to run an errand, and after pulling out of the parking lot, I noted it had no power steering and I was having to muscle this beast to control it. Suddenly, I was having to steer it by looking at a screen inside the car, with a birds'eye view of my location. I could not see out of the car around me and this was the only way to maneuver it. It was like a video game, but I was trying to keep from crashing into some other vehicle around me. A cat bounding across my chest woke me up, keeping me from finding out how well I might have handled the situation.
No word today on my sister's situation. My brother never did call to find out what was going on. He seemed clueless that they could even be in any danger when I talked to him beforehand. Must be nice to live in such a secure little world.
Today being Sunday, I did the routine we have established here: go get some fried chicken and hot apple pies from Popeye's, and take it to have lunch with my mother and Mrs. Harris, her roommate. They chow down on that chicken like it's prime rib, loving the little cinnamon apple pies. It makes them so happy, and it's such a small thing. I did not bring up the hurricane. In fact, well after we had finished eating, I finally said that my sister had taken her cats with her when they left. My mother did not seem overly worried about the property, so I said nothing about it. Some things are best left unsaid.
Instead, I regaled her with stories about what my cats had been into this week, and that a friend had a new baby boy, because she loves to hear baby stories. She enquired after my friends in the UK, because I always have a little anecdote to tell her about the Things, even if it's an old story, because they are new to her. She got a kick out of me playing Scrabble across the internet with Thing One. The time passed, and I left to retrieve my entries from the district fair.
I judged the quilt show in the fair last week, so was ineligible to enter that division, but there was a place in the crafts division where I entered the Daredevil origin quilt panel and the Murdock's Law quilt panel. I am pleased to report that not only did I receive blue ribbons on both, but a whopping prize check of $11.00! I didn't know you got cash at this fair. Maybe next year I can come up with more stuff to enter. Heh.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
It's 7 pm. My sister just called, in tears. She reached the police dispatcher in Silsbee, and the town is under martial law. A dawn to dusk curfew is in effect, and people are not allowed to go back into town. Looting has already begun. What didn't blow away will probably not be there when they get back. The dispatcher said she has not gotten a report from the street where my sister lives, but the entire town looks like a bomb went off. The worst part here is that they don't know what to do.
The weather alarm just came on the local station here. There is a possible tornado on the ground two counties south of here. I'm trying to decide what to do here. I have the emergency bag by the door and the cat kennel ready. This is insane.
The weather alarm just came on the local station here. There is a possible tornado on the ground two counties south of here. I'm trying to decide what to do here. I have the emergency bag by the door and the cat kennel ready. This is insane.
I heard from my sister yesterday about 6 pm. She and the family finally made it to the shelter of the Second Baptist Church in Marshall, TX. A trip that should have been less than five hours took almost twelve. I was very relieved to hear they made it safely, with all the chaos of evacuation.
Today, I finally reached her via cellphone around 2:30 pm. They have been hunkered down in the basement of the church because Marshal has been under a tornado warning. She has gauged the winds by watching a limb from a huge pecan tree rolling from one side of the road to the other. The kids have been entertaining the Church Cat (that's his name) who is a Morris lookalike, and taking care of the cats that they brought along with them.
News is not good from Silsbee. All she knew to tell me was the Walmart is gone, the Dairy Queen and some other fast food places have been leveled. Tornadic winds came right through the center of town. They have no way of knowing if their house is still standing.
She also told me of the convenience store owner who sold them the last tank of gas in town, and how he was trying to close up to gather his family from Port Arthur. She asked him why he had stayed open this long when all others are gone. He replied that the food or gas he still had may save someone's life up the road, it certainly wasn't the money. I do hope he got his loved ones out of harm's way, as Port Arthur really took a hit. His store is history, according to the scattered news my sister has been able to glean from all the reports.
It's now just past 4 pm here, and we are now under a tornado watch. Rita is not done. I have my emergency bag packed, and the cat kennel ready to shove the two cats in if I have to head into the "fraidy hole" next door. Weather can be a frightening if beautiful thing sometimes.
Stay tuned for your local forecast.
Today, I finally reached her via cellphone around 2:30 pm. They have been hunkered down in the basement of the church because Marshal has been under a tornado warning. She has gauged the winds by watching a limb from a huge pecan tree rolling from one side of the road to the other. The kids have been entertaining the Church Cat (that's his name) who is a Morris lookalike, and taking care of the cats that they brought along with them.
News is not good from Silsbee. All she knew to tell me was the Walmart is gone, the Dairy Queen and some other fast food places have been leveled. Tornadic winds came right through the center of town. They have no way of knowing if their house is still standing.
She also told me of the convenience store owner who sold them the last tank of gas in town, and how he was trying to close up to gather his family from Port Arthur. She asked him why he had stayed open this long when all others are gone. He replied that the food or gas he still had may save someone's life up the road, it certainly wasn't the money. I do hope he got his loved ones out of harm's way, as Port Arthur really took a hit. His store is history, according to the scattered news my sister has been able to glean from all the reports.
It's now just past 4 pm here, and we are now under a tornado watch. Rita is not done. I have my emergency bag packed, and the cat kennel ready to shove the two cats in if I have to head into the "fraidy hole" next door. Weather can be a frightening if beautiful thing sometimes.
Stay tuned for your local forecast.
Friday, September 23, 2005
I am frantic
I just got a phone call from my sister. She, her two kids, husband, six cats, the car and the boat are stuck in gridlock near Center, TX. They have been on the road for six hours already and have not yet made it to the halfway point to the shelter they are seeking. Once they get off the two lane highway that has just been turned into northbound only, they should begin to make progress.
She reports that hundreds of cars are abandoned alongside the road, from people who couldn't get out yesterday and either ran out of gas or the car overheated in the nearly 100 degree heat. Today, TDOT (Texas Dept of Transportation) trucks are bringing gas and water to stranded motorists. A busload of 40 elderly residents of a nursing home burst into flames while caught in gridlock on the way to Dallas from Houston, and most of the people on it died. Horrible. This is a nightmare.
I won't rest until I know she and the family are in the shelter. To add insult to injury, the forecasts for local weather here say we will have tornadic storms beginning Saturday and lasting possibly until Monday. I have to go out and buy some non-perishable food in case the power is knocked out here. I will get my cat kennels ready in case I have to retreat to the tornado shelter in the neighbour's backyard.
The Weather Channel is showing us pictures of Surfside Beach, and it will be toast in a few hours. The waves are hitting the houses up on stilts along the beach. In Galveston, the surf is up to 17 feet and will breach the seawall. The Port Arthur fire department is staging everything to Lumberton, which is five miles or so from where my sister lives. There are three levees in New Orleans that have been breached already, and the worst case scenario is here. As if they didn't have enough already.
I have to go now. Stuff to be done.
She reports that hundreds of cars are abandoned alongside the road, from people who couldn't get out yesterday and either ran out of gas or the car overheated in the nearly 100 degree heat. Today, TDOT (Texas Dept of Transportation) trucks are bringing gas and water to stranded motorists. A busload of 40 elderly residents of a nursing home burst into flames while caught in gridlock on the way to Dallas from Houston, and most of the people on it died. Horrible. This is a nightmare.
I won't rest until I know she and the family are in the shelter. To add insult to injury, the forecasts for local weather here say we will have tornadic storms beginning Saturday and lasting possibly until Monday. I have to go out and buy some non-perishable food in case the power is knocked out here. I will get my cat kennels ready in case I have to retreat to the tornado shelter in the neighbour's backyard.
The Weather Channel is showing us pictures of Surfside Beach, and it will be toast in a few hours. The waves are hitting the houses up on stilts along the beach. In Galveston, the surf is up to 17 feet and will breach the seawall. The Port Arthur fire department is staging everything to Lumberton, which is five miles or so from where my sister lives. There are three levees in New Orleans that have been breached already, and the worst case scenario is here. As if they didn't have enough already.
I have to go now. Stuff to be done.
Educating Rita (or being educated by Rita?)
I couldn't watch the Katrina coverage. But here I am, glued to the Weather Channel, since all I have is basic cable, watching and waiting for my hometown to be leveled.
I am also worried about my sister, to whom I spoke last around 3pm yesterday. She was loading up to leave. I had pleaded with her Tuesday to get out. She tried to tell me that they were fine, on "the highest spot in town". Bullshit. When you only live less than 30 miles inland and a storm like this comes up, that means nothing. Nothing. She then told me that she had things packed, and they would decide on Thursday. So I called, got no answer and left a message asking her to let me know what they decided.
She called me about 15 minutes later, said that they were scheduled to go to a shelter in Marshall, TX. That's about halfway from her house to mine. I told her she could come here, but all I have is the floor to offer. She said they would be leaving as soon as they were packed. Hmmm...thought she was ALREADY packed. I told her I loved her and be careful, call me when they get to the shelter.
I tried to call Thursday evening around 9 PM. The lines are jammed. I can't reach her. The Weather Channel reports people stranded on the gridlocked freeways, running out of gas and throwing baby diapers out the windows of the cars. I don't know where she is. I feel frantic. I am going to have to report to my mother and I have never really been able to lie to her. I have avoided telling her the entire story, but I can't lie to her. Maybe I can say that she headed for higher ground, and that she will call when the lines are open.
During all this, neither of us has heard from my brother. Seems like he could have offered my sister refuge in Central Texas. Guess he's got other fish to fry.
All I can do is stay tuned. And sleep with the cell phone next to me. And pray.
I am also worried about my sister, to whom I spoke last around 3pm yesterday. She was loading up to leave. I had pleaded with her Tuesday to get out. She tried to tell me that they were fine, on "the highest spot in town". Bullshit. When you only live less than 30 miles inland and a storm like this comes up, that means nothing. Nothing. She then told me that she had things packed, and they would decide on Thursday. So I called, got no answer and left a message asking her to let me know what they decided.
She called me about 15 minutes later, said that they were scheduled to go to a shelter in Marshall, TX. That's about halfway from her house to mine. I told her she could come here, but all I have is the floor to offer. She said they would be leaving as soon as they were packed. Hmmm...thought she was ALREADY packed. I told her I loved her and be careful, call me when they get to the shelter.
I tried to call Thursday evening around 9 PM. The lines are jammed. I can't reach her. The Weather Channel reports people stranded on the gridlocked freeways, running out of gas and throwing baby diapers out the windows of the cars. I don't know where she is. I feel frantic. I am going to have to report to my mother and I have never really been able to lie to her. I have avoided telling her the entire story, but I can't lie to her. Maybe I can say that she headed for higher ground, and that she will call when the lines are open.
During all this, neither of us has heard from my brother. Seems like he could have offered my sister refuge in Central Texas. Guess he's got other fish to fry.
All I can do is stay tuned. And sleep with the cell phone next to me. And pray.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Time to adapt
I got a call last week from the state services for the blind last week (now I know they refer to themselves as the DSB), and went down to the office for my interview. "Down" to the office turned out to be correct, as they are located down a flight of stairs in the basement of the Arkansas Services Center. There was a small printed paper sign pointing down the stairs, and it crossed my mind that most people looking for this place would have someone else with them. All sorts of irony has been hitting me lately.
The closer I got to the office, the more I wondered what this "interview" would entail. I don't generally get nervous about such things, but the 95 degree afternoon and the descent to the basement office had me literally in a sweat. All this was dispelled when I went in the door. These are some of the friendliest government employees I have ever met.
Much more than merely cordial, the vocational rehab guy and the independent living lady were extremely helpful and upbeat about what the service could do for me in the future. Things are not so bad right now for me; I mean, I still am driving and can still read the computer screen as long as I've hiked up the resolution and made all the fonts bigger. I do qualify for services since Mr. MacDee is never going to leave, and even though it might not be next week, things will be downhill from here.
What they did do now is take my application and start my file. They have to get medical records and such, and coordinate things with the VA. This all makes me feel much relieved. My big worry was having no resources when the time comes to need them.
So now I have this great clock with giant black numbers on a white plexiglass open face that also has tactile markings. Seems like such a small thing to get excited about, but I have been guessing at the time for a while now, because I can't read my watch or my clock without my glasses when I first get up(or, more correctly, haven't gotten out of bed yet). They gave me some cool little stickon things for the appliances, and a lighted magnifier. Woohoo! I can read the phone book! (Please don't laugh. Too much, anyway.)
Adaptive technology, and rethinking some of the ways I do things. I can handle this. Right?
The closer I got to the office, the more I wondered what this "interview" would entail. I don't generally get nervous about such things, but the 95 degree afternoon and the descent to the basement office had me literally in a sweat. All this was dispelled when I went in the door. These are some of the friendliest government employees I have ever met.
Much more than merely cordial, the vocational rehab guy and the independent living lady were extremely helpful and upbeat about what the service could do for me in the future. Things are not so bad right now for me; I mean, I still am driving and can still read the computer screen as long as I've hiked up the resolution and made all the fonts bigger. I do qualify for services since Mr. MacDee is never going to leave, and even though it might not be next week, things will be downhill from here.
What they did do now is take my application and start my file. They have to get medical records and such, and coordinate things with the VA. This all makes me feel much relieved. My big worry was having no resources when the time comes to need them.
So now I have this great clock with giant black numbers on a white plexiglass open face that also has tactile markings. Seems like such a small thing to get excited about, but I have been guessing at the time for a while now, because I can't read my watch or my clock without my glasses when I first get up(or, more correctly, haven't gotten out of bed yet). They gave me some cool little stickon things for the appliances, and a lighted magnifier. Woohoo! I can read the phone book! (Please don't laugh. Too much, anyway.)
Adaptive technology, and rethinking some of the ways I do things. I can handle this. Right?
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Hurricanes I have known
I have really been in a major funk for the past week. The tv set has only been turned on to pop in a dvd, because I cannot bear to watch the coverage of the disaster known as Hurricane Katrina. I've seen hurricanes first hand. They terrify me.
This makes me feel guilty in a way, but watching the horror and anguish of the survivors is even more gut wrenching than what we all witnessed when the tsunami struck last December. Part of it is that there was warning for this event. People knew it was coming.
Certainly, everyone was not able to evacuate from the area, for economic or physical reasons. The thing that struck me the cruelest were the jokes that were being circulated before the storm struck, like the sign that said, "We don't run from hurricanes, we drink them." There are always going to be idiots. Those people I do not fret over. They should know better, but they choose to hang around. My heart goes out to those who cannot flee.
The reason I turned off the tv coverage was seeing people smiling and waving at the camera as they looted stores, carrying out racks of sporting goods and expensive electronics. Need is one thing. Greed is a whole something else. These people stayed around because they were thinking about the spoils of disaster. They were there for what they could get because they knew they could get away with it. Bad karma, people.
I heard enough on the radio to keep me informed, but I couldn't deal with the pictures that I knew would haunt me. Maybe this is a huge character flaw in me, but knowing that there is nothing in this world that I can do about any of it left me feeling powerless, remorseful, and grieving for people I do not know.
I've been through hurricanes. I grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast, a few miles inland and at about 11 feet above sea level. Back then, we had some warning about storms, but nothing like we have now. My father taught me how to listen for the coordinates of the storm on the weather radio broadcasts, and showed me how to chart those locations on a gridded map that we kept on the wall of the dining room. He diligently watched the barometer that hung next to the map, and would try to make some best guesses about what to do in case it came to close to us. There was no Weather Channel with technicolor radar and up to the minute coverage. The only thing we saw on tv was the little hurricane symbol stuck onto the weatherman's map at 6 and 10 o'clock. Between then, all you could do is plot your own from the latest on the radio, updated every four to six hours.
In 1959, there was a hurricane that came up our alley, and my father boarded up the windows with big planks except for one on the north side of the house, so he could look out at the storm. We did not leave that time. The part I do remember is how dark the house was, and that my mother brought out a kerosene lamp and some candles in case the power went out. I played Zorro with my red cowboy hat, a red felt apron someone had given my grandmother for some reason wrapped around my shoulders for a cape, and a TinkerToy sword to make the mark of Zorro on anything that would stand still. I colored pictures in my coloring books. I'm sure I whined to go out and play in the rising water in the yard. But the sense of dread that I got from the adults in the house made me know there was something to be afraid of in this odd event. The wind howled and the rain blew sideways down the streets. The ditches filled up, and the yard flooded up to the top step. But no major damage other than tree limbs downed.
Official stats:
July 22-27, 1959 -- Hurricane Debra, Galveston: $6 million damage.1959 hurricane debra in july press 29.07. Winds gusted to 105 mph near Freeport. Hurricane force winds were experienced 100 miles inland. Storm surge 8 ft over 14" of rain.
Debra (Cat. 1 Hurricane - July 24th landfall)
Debra was called a "mild weather upset turned suddenly into a vicious storm." Debra hit Freeport with 100 mph winds only 36 hours after forming and maintaining hurricane winds 100 miles inland. The eye passed directly over Deer Park and La Porte on the 25th. Highest Houston winds were 82 mph, and 8.08 inches of rain was recorded.
~~~~~
We had been in school less than a week, starting the day after Labor Day for the new year. The weather reports were not good, and the teachers were getting antsy about how they were going to make up the time we might lose to the storm. We were released early one day, and that evening I held the nails as my father once again boarded up the windows on our house. He was doing the front side when the neighbour, Frenchie LeRibous, came across the street.
"Whatcha doin', Woody?" he said, even though it was pretty obvious.
"Gettin' ready to leave before the storm", my dad replied, still hammering nails.
"Well, hell, I ain't goin' nowhere." Frenchie boasted, "That house was built for wind."
I will never forget thinking to myself, Yeah, it was built for you, you old windbag.
We packed the 1959 Buick LeSabre, piled us four kids, my grandmother, and my parents in, and left early the next morning before daylight, heading north of Houston to Huntsville. My father worked as an electrician for the state department of corrections. The new prison farm they were constructing wasn't complete, but some of the housing for the prison guards' families was almost done, and the state offered us that as a place of shelter. We got there mid morning, and it was so hot and dry that the sticker-burrs were all over the yard and getting in my feet. There was no real grass yet, as the construction was barely done.
We had no luggage, just a few clothes in paper bags, and a box with some non-perishable food in it. I remember eating vienna sausages and Ritz Crackers, sitting on the floor in the duplex. We had a battery radio, and someone had gotten some cots for us to sleep on. We might have brought those with us, since my father was a scoutmaster. That part I don't remember.
By that evening, we went over to a Red Cross shelter set up in a school for a hot meal. They had hot food for us when we could come out and get it, and I remember not really liking the beef stew and cornbread, but eating it anyway. They had clothes that people had donated for the refugees; I got my first pair of denim jeans at the shelter. They were grey, not blue, but I thought it was great.
It began to rain the first evening, and we hunkered down in the house as the power went out. The house got very hot inside, and it was a miserable time. It stormed rather hard considering how far away we were from the coast; power was out in half of Texas. My father fiddled with the radio, trying to get some news from our hometown. There wasn't much coming out of the Freeport/Galveston area, because the water was so high no one could get in to find out what had happened. That was the first time I remember hearing the phrase "No news is good news", but I could tell he didn't believe it. We had no idea if we would even have a home when we got back.
Finally the word came through that the roads were passable. It had rained the whole time we were in Huntsville. By the time we got ready to leave the place, there was so much mud that one of my brothers carried me piggyback out to the car so I wouldn't get stuck and nasty. A far cry from the sun-parched yard a few days earlier.
The closer to home we got, the more evident things were bad. Power lines were down. Trees were flattened. Water was in ditches everywhere. We heard that people needed to watch out for snakes in houses. The radio reported dead cattle were hanging in powerlines and in trees. We figuratively held our breath as we turned down our street and headed to the house.
It was still standing. Our cedar trees were uprooted; the huge antenna for my father's ham radio was wrapped halfway around the house. Water was still in the yard and when we got out, our cat came out of the neighbor's garage, looking half drowned. She had evidently been up in the rafters. The worst damage was the warped hardwood floor where the water had been so high under the house, and the water leaks where some shingles had blown off. But we were very lucky, indeed.
Official stats:
Hurricane Carla, September 10. 1961: Hurricane Carla was the largest and most intense Gulf Coast hurricane in decades. On September 8, Carla's center took aim at the Texas coast. By the 9th, Carla's circulation enveloped the entire Gulf of Mexico with fringe effects along all Gulf Coast states. On the 9th, the largest mass evacuation to that date occurred, as an estimated one-half million residents of low coastal areas and islands off Texas and Louisiana were evacuated to higher ground. As the center approached Texas on the 10th, winds near the center were estimated at 150 mph. Reconnaissance aircraft indicated a central pressure of 931 mb just prior to its striking the coast. Only 46 lost their lives because of early warnings. Severe damage ang a wide expanse of the Texas coast was caused by unusually prolonged winds,high tides and flooding from torrential rains. Damage was about $2 billion in 1990 dollars. [Source:www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/mgch.html]
Hurricane Carla. 465 injured.
Winds: 150mph. Pressure 931 mb. Hurricane force gusts were reported all along the Texas Coast from a short distance north of Brownsville to Port Arthur. 26 tornadoes. Hurricane Carla is the largest storm on record.
***
The thing that stands out most for me was the story of the family at Oyster Creek who decided to ride out the storm. This family had several adopted children, and they all drowned except for one, who was found floating on the roof of the house miles away. His story was told on the cover of Life Magazine. The most ironic part is that to have survived this horror, he was later killed in Vietnam.
***
Now for the last big one I experienced: Allen. My husband and I had already lost a car to a flood in Houston, and we decided that we were leaving town when Allen approached. Everyone else had the same idea. We attempted to get a taxi to the airport. None available. So we took the car, and it was several hours before we could get across town to the airport, and by then, it would be morning before we could fly out. We sat up all night in the airport, taking an early morning flight to Atlanta, then Virginia. By the time we reached Virginia, the storm had turned southward and made landfall near Brownsville. We stayed two days in Virginia, looked around at possibly where we might live, and when we went back to Texas, we began plans to move away from the Gulf Coast. I've never moved back.
Official Stats:
Hurricane Allen. Auqust 9-10. 1980: When it was over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Allen was one of the most intense hurricanes ever. Allen reached Category 5 status three times. It obtained a 911 mb (26.89 inches) central pressure in the eastern Caribbean on August 5 while south of Puerto Rico. After weakening near Haiti and Jamaica,Allen again strengthened and a minimum pressure of 899 mb (26.55 inches) was recorded by a NOAA aircraft on the 7th when it was off the Yucatan Peninsula. Only Hurricane Gilbert with the all time low pressure reading of 888 mb in 1988, and the infamous Labor Day hurricane of 1935 with a central pressure of 892 mb were lower than Allen's 899 mb central pressure. Allen lost strength again near the Yucatan Peninsula but regained it over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico with a central pressure of 909 mb (26.84 inches) on 9th.
The center of Allen did not cross any land until it moved inland north of Brownsville, TX on the 9th. Just off the Texas coast, Allen hesitated long enough to weaken to 945 mb (27.91 inches), and then moved inland north of Brownsville bringing highest tides and winds over the least populated section of the Texas coast.
Only two deaths were directly attributed to Allen. The strongest measured winds were gusts to 129 mph at Port Mansfield, TX. A storm surge up to 12 feet along Padre Island caused numerous barrier island cuts and washouts. [Source: www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/mgch.html]
Now, maybe you might realise why I could not watch all the coverage of Katrina.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Coming to the bend in the road
I did what I said I would. I called the state services for the blind and talked to a really nice lady who explained to me what type of things they could do for me in the rehab and life skills departments. Things depend on what the doctor's report says, as I have to be at 20/50 corrected vision to be eligible, or I have to wait. She said she would refer me to the vocational rehab specialist, and he would call me later.
Wow, all this happened in one day! He will be over on Thursday if he can work it into his schedule since I live here in town not far from their offices. He said he would evaluate what type of skills and equipment I use now and determine what it will take to either keep me doing what I am now, or get me the training to do something else. This is exciting news, because I do not want to feel like I am on the dole. So tomorrow will tell me more.
~~~
In other news, dealing with my lack of organisational skills, I could not locate the renewal slip for my car licence. Holy shit, today is the last day. I called the DMV, or whatever Arkansas calls it, and asked what happens if you can't find the renewal notice. She said I needed proof of insurance, last year's registration, and proof that the car had been assessed and the taxes paid on it. Holy 'nother shit, Batman! I had no idea if it had been assessed. Another problem you run into when you divorce. She gave me the number to the tax office, and I called to see what that would entail. She told me I would have to come down to the office to sign papers with the name change.
I have a list of things I have to do now, and it's growing longer. I hate running errands. I go to the tax office, get a primo parking space for once, and was in and out in less than five minutes. That has to be some sort of record. Then to the DMV for the tags (actually only a teeny sticker to cover up last year's number) and was second in line. Stopped by my post office box, and had a new book waiting for me! (Thanks, V!) And there was no waiting at the post office to mail a parcel, either. Today, I wished that Arkansas had a lottery. I would have bought a ticket.
Hope tomorrow is half this good.
Wow, all this happened in one day! He will be over on Thursday if he can work it into his schedule since I live here in town not far from their offices. He said he would evaluate what type of skills and equipment I use now and determine what it will take to either keep me doing what I am now, or get me the training to do something else. This is exciting news, because I do not want to feel like I am on the dole. So tomorrow will tell me more.
~~~
In other news, dealing with my lack of organisational skills, I could not locate the renewal slip for my car licence. Holy shit, today is the last day. I called the DMV, or whatever Arkansas calls it, and asked what happens if you can't find the renewal notice. She said I needed proof of insurance, last year's registration, and proof that the car had been assessed and the taxes paid on it. Holy 'nother shit, Batman! I had no idea if it had been assessed. Another problem you run into when you divorce. She gave me the number to the tax office, and I called to see what that would entail. She told me I would have to come down to the office to sign papers with the name change.
I have a list of things I have to do now, and it's growing longer. I hate running errands. I go to the tax office, get a primo parking space for once, and was in and out in less than five minutes. That has to be some sort of record. Then to the DMV for the tags (actually only a teeny sticker to cover up last year's number) and was second in line. Stopped by my post office box, and had a new book waiting for me! (Thanks, V!) And there was no waiting at the post office to mail a parcel, either. Today, I wished that Arkansas had a lottery. I would have bought a ticket.
Hope tomorrow is half this good.
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