Time with Dad building
We survived the storm. To be honest we all slept through the worst of it. Thankfully, the Lord gave us rest as we would need it to begin surviving without power. It is funny to me how quickly we forget what life is like without electricity. Things I rarely think about anymore that run automatically by electricity…like our septic system suddenly become the most important necessity. I am not even sure that I knew how or what the septic system was powered by or how it worked, but I can tell you we do now!
When Rita hit three yrs ago David and I survived four days without power or water. The Lord provided for us through a friend the use of a generator that was the key to surviving the last 2 days. Before we had the generator we cooked on a propane gas burner and had to go in search for water. Everything was abandoned and closed in total darkness except for The Home Depot. Home Depot had lights and water and we were able to fill some bottles and ice chests with water enough to take a bath and cook. It was rough…so when we heard about Ike we made much better preparations.
Although, we did not buy a generator…still thinking we could do without this large short term investment, but when a friend (thanks, Kenny) told us of a group selling generators up at 1488 the day after the storm hit we decided this was the Lord’s provision. We did however have both sets of parents on standby to meet us with a generator to borrow, but we were not sure we would be able to come back once we left and we decided it was time we had one anyway since hurricanes seem to be a way of life in this part of the country.
Living without power has made us grateful for the yearly camping trips we try to make as a family. Our camping trips have been great times of “electric age” de-tox and gave our children the opportunity to practice real life survival skills. My husband grew up tent camping with his family, which cultivated a love for the outdoors and a knowledge of survival skills that is often lacking in our generation. In his wisdom my husband saw the need for his children to be trained in survival skills…knowing how to help themselves in times of crisis and to help others in need. In our current situation it has paid off. Our children have not been panicked, but have been a blessing and have seen this time as an adventure and opportunity to work together towards a common goal…making the most out of little. How valuable this time has been for them to see how the Lord continues to provide for us daily and how He has protected us from harm.
Judging by our yard we thought that our area had not sustained the damage that was predicted. After driving around our neighborhood we saw otherwise. Many homes had trees on top of them including our neighbor just two doors down from us. Huge pine and hardwood trees laying in the streets and yards with 5-10ft root balls sticking up in the air of an 80ft tree. Power lines are down all over the place, and even utility poles snapped in half with transformers on the ground. We also thought that flooding was not so bad until we saw that many homes in our subdivision had water up to their porches…their entire yard a lake. We came home praising the Lord for his protection we did not deserve, but He clearly gave us.
Our driveway
The backyard
Tree behind the tree house...
fortunately it fell away from the
treehouse.
One of our neighbors yard under water
Near our subdivision...in the
words of Andrew "this is not beautiful tree"
Not good!
Whole tree just pushed over
All four of our children have weathered the aftermath of the storm with a good attitude and a serving spirit. Much of their routine is the same other than more time with Daddy and some extra yard clean up. I must say it has been nice to have so much time together without easy computer access and other electronics. I definitely see how much time we spend doing individual pursuits and have had a renewed commitment to the simpler life from this experience. Emily and I have had fun washing dishes together instead of using the dishwasher and Daddy cooking out on the grill with the dutch oven has been nice since we are all working together to make it. Sleeping arrangements have changed slightly as we had to centralize by putting all of the children in one room in order to devote enough fans to keep everyone cool enough to sleep. Boys are in their regular beds while we moved Kathlena’s mattress to the floor in the boys room and both girls are sleeping on it. It has worked out great so far…they actually like being all together and have a great time working out what music they all get to listen to before bed.
So far temperatures have stayed relatively mild and nights are getting cooler. On our second night we have had to open a few windows and prop fans in them in order to get the inside temp down as it had gotten over 80 degrees in the house and as Emily would say the air was “smuficating”. The growing problem besides the septic issue is the uprising of mosquito armies that are threating to carry us away. Kathlena was nearly airborne but we got to her in time *smile* This might be the straw that breaks the camels back that leads to us evacuating north for some family visits.
We have gained limited internet access through a wireless signal (hence this getting posted) but our best access is outside in our front yard a.k.a. the red zone of the mosquito army! We have also been able to gain access to a short list of area stores and gas stations open. Last night we drove to College Station before we found gas and could only get 18gallons max as the station had limited it. It was enough for us to recoup the gas we had used for the trip and fill up two gas cans that we needed for the generator so it was worth trip…not to mention a/c for 3hrs!!!! All four kids slept for most of the trip and upon our return at 11:40 we were stopped by the Sheriff as we were about to turn off of 1488 because a curfew had been placed on our area for 11pm. He let us go and was very nice…it was somewhat a comfort to know that law enforcement was keeping an eye out for looters and suspicious activity. The reports we are hearing for power to be restored are anywhere from 2-4 weeks. After Rita we were without power for 6 days in our area, but we had rolling blackouts for 6wks following. Entergy our electric company has said this is “the worst natural disaster in their history…a catastrophic failure of their power system” as 99% of their customers are without power.
*had more pictures to post but connection is so slow and times out easily so this is all I could post for now...will try again in the next few days.
