Hurricane Rita

September 20, 2005

Just three weeks ago we watched Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast and destroy New Orleans and parts of Mississippi.  People around the country pulled together to donate money, time, and resources.  Many came to Houston for refuge.  The citizens of  Houston volunteered at the Astrodome and in many ways that are unknown to most.  Our church congregation alone devoted one evening for the women to assemble hygiene kits.  We made 400 kits with a bar of soap, comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, and hand towel in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. 

Today we've been told that Katrina's sister, Rita, is headed for Galveston and it looks like it will come right across Houston.   The nightmare of New Orleans is all too fresh in our memories and people are scared.  We won't take the evacuation orders lightly after seeing thousands stranded on the streets of New Orleans.  Now all of those who have relocated in Houston are being taken somewhere else.  Even further from their homes. 

Our stake president called a special meeting tonight for the leadership of our wards (congregations) to give instruction.  In our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a home teaching program where companionships of two men have families they are assigned to watch over.  www.lds.org   They were told to contact the families they home teach and see if they plan to stay here or leave the city.    If they were leaving, they were to ask them to let their home teacher know where they went and a contact number so everyone would be accounted for. 

All church meetings for the rest of the week have been cancelled - even on Sunday.  This is with the expectation of getting hit by the hurricane.

We filled up the cars with gas.  If we choose to leave, we want to be sure we have enough  gas to do so.

September 21, 2005

My husband, Eddie,  and I own a 9 hole golf course in Houston.  I worked in the pro shop all day while he started making preparations for the hurricane.  He ordered lumber to board up the windows and picked up new chains for the chain saws.  Eddie went to Sam's Club and loaded up on food that we could eat without much preparation or having to cook.  Six missionaries showed up for their weekly service project at our golf course.  We put them to work in the cart barn organizing things so that we could bring all of the equipment inside.

I made calls to insurance companies.  We don't live in a flood plane, but if we were going to get hurricane winds and rain, anything could happen.  I learned that you have to have coverage 30 days before you're covered.  Insurance companies weren't writing new policies on anything.

I took about 200 digital pictures of the pro shop, the golf course, and the apartment and uploaded them to the internet for safe keeping in case everything was destroyed and we had to make a claim.  I love this information age where you can do that and not have to drag all of your photos with you.  I sent a copy to my daughter in Vegas, just so she'd know they were there.  Just in case. 

A customer called today and wanted to know if we were open.  Eddie told him no, that we were boarding up for the hurricane.  Both our hearts were touched when this customer told us to take care and that he would be back when we opened up.  Part of the charm of this course is the family atmosphere and the nice people who come here to play golf.  While there are always some who abuse it, there are many others who appreciate what we have to offer and keep coming back. 

Eddie attended another church meeting tonight and came home feeling that I needed to take my 85 year old mother, who lives with us, and get out of town.  We have family in San Antonio and in Athens, TX, so we had a place to go.  He felt like he needed to stay here to watch over the business.   I prayed about it before I went to bed and hoped that I'd know the answer when I woke up.

September 22, 2005

I slept well and woke up thinking that I probably would leave the city.  About 7 am, I turned on the tv and saw all the cars on the highway trying to get out of town.  I knew without a doubt that I would not be leaving.  People were already running out of gas and fights were breaking out.   I couldn't see my mother being able to endure the trip and I didn't have enough patience to endure the traffic jam.  Before I even had a chance to tell Eddie, he came to me and said he felt strongly that we should stay in town and stay at our house.  I agreed and we moved forward with that plan.  Family members kept calling and encouraging us to leave, but we felt we were doing the right thing.

We didn't even open the golf course today.  We got a call at 9 am that the lumber was in, so Eddie jumped in the truck for the 20 minute drive to Tomball.   He got stuck in traffic with those trying to get to I-45 and head for Dallas and it took him three hours!  He finally loaded the trailer and got back home at 2 pm! 

We are especially grateful for our good friend, Joe.  Joe has been off work and is always there to help with anything that needs to be done.  He stayed until about 10 pm tonight and helped Eddie cut plywood and board all the downstairs windows.  I cooked dinner for all of us and they went right back to work.  I spent my day pulling things off the wall and packing them.  I put all of my pictures behind the couch on an inside wall.  I put dishes inside cabinets.  I wrapped curio items and put them in plastic tubs.  I went through mail and paid any bills that needed to be taken care of in the next few days.  I did my filing and as I did so, hoped that everything I had just done wouldn't be strewn all over the city.  We both went to bed absolutely exhausted.

Mom has been busy packing all of her glass things.  She has quite a collection of Precious Moments figurines that my sister has given her over the years.  Mom is a great packer, after living out of her suitcase most of her life in her sales job.  I know the anxiety and stress of this is taking its toll on her.   I had suggested earlier in the week that she go visit my sister so she could get away from here, but today there are no flights available going anywhere from Houston.  Looks like she's here for the duration.  She's not in the best of health and uses a walker, so we're hoping that if we have to move fast, we'll be able to manage her.

the 9th Ward in New Orleans is flooded again because the levy busted.  How much more can they take?  At least that area is uninhabited at this point and hopefully no more lives were lost.

Our son in Phoenix called and wanted to know what we were doing.  He has other friends here and they were all staying.  He said thought it was more stressful being there and watching it than it was for all of us.  He said we were all so busy preparing that he didn't think we had time to stress. 

I went to the grocery store to buy milk and found plenty in the cooler.  I think people were afraid to buy anything that had to be refrigerated because we all expected to lose electricity.  The bread aisle was completely wiped out in all the stores.  I came home and made some in my bread maker so we'd have something to put our peanut butter on.  As soon as that batch was finished, I made another.

September 23, 2005

This morning a busload of elderly people who were being evacuated to Dallas exploded and half of those on the bus died.  People are stranded on the side of the road because they've run out of gas.  Today the National Guard is going to try to reach motorists and give them gasoline.  There is road rage and exhaustion.  People aren't using their air conditioning to conserve gas and it's in the 90's here in Texas.

If you decided not to evacuate then it's too late now.  We still feel comfortable that we've made the right decision.  Family members and friends are nervous about it.  We've gotten calls from so many people and their concern means more than they can know.  

Eddie bought tarps that could be used for covering holes in the roof, but today he wanted me to cut them and tape them to the inside of the windows.  If the windows broke, then at least the tarps would keep the water out.   We are currently living in an apartment above the pro shop while trying to sell our home.  We don't feel good about being on the 2nd floor with hurricane winds, and that's why we're not staying here.  However, if we are at the house, 15 miles away, and can't get back here for a week, we want to make sure it's protected.   I measured, cut, taped, and covered 11 windows!  Two others had shutters and by the time I got to them, I was too tired to care.   I backed up two computers, disassembled them and put them in the kitchen in plastic tubs.  Thank goodness we used those tubs to move here so I didn't have to go buy any. They have sure come in handy.  I grabbed my 3-ring binder with Vital Information (see home page here) and my Book of Remembrance which is filled with personal things that are of a more spiritual  nature, and also my husband's.  Sure felt good to just pick them up and be ready to go without searching through the house for things.  Be Prepared!

Our plan was to try to be out of the apartment by 3 pm.  Mom watched the news non-stop and told us winds would be strong by 6 pm.   Joe was there again all day with the boarding.  We were eating whatever we could from the freezer, imagining that we would lose power and all of our food.  It was chicken pot pie for lunch.  Eddie and Joe put the two big tractors in front of the cart barn to help protect it.  They covered what they could on that open end with plywood, but didn't have quite enough.

The bishop sent his family to Austin with every intent of following them.  Today he called and said he didn't leave.  Too many here who were either afraid or had nowhere to go.  He was going to open the church and stay there with them.

We have an ice maker in the pro shop and I bagged all the ice and put it in the freezer outside.  Again, anticipating losing power and trying to save our food.  Later in the day one of our employees came in looking for ice.  She said she'd been looking for ice for two days and couldn't find it anywhere.  She was so grateful we had enough to fill her cooler.  She told me I could go out on the street and sell it for $50 a bag!

I loaded the car while Eddie and Joe worked outside.  Here is a list of some of the things we took.  I wish I had a nickel for every trip I made to the car!  One last thing I did was forward all my calls from the house to my cell phone. 

ice chest
ice
bottled water
water jugs
first aid kit
clothes for 4 days
Swiss army knife
camp stove
propane for stove
propane for outside grill
air beds
air pump
vital documents notebook
book of remembrance
flashlight
candles and lighter or matches
money
trash bags
toilet paper
toiletries - toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, brush, lotion
duck tape
batteries
battery-operated radio
scriptures
paper, pen
journal
laptop with car converter
cell phones fully charged and car charger

Single servings of food:
Star-Kist tuna to go
soup
Dole fruit & gel
Chef Boyardee spaghetti, lasagne
Pop Tarts
Grandma's individually wrapped cookies
potato chips
Spam
energy bars
beef jerky
peanut butter
bread

We also took freezer items that we could prepare either inside with electricity, or outside on the grill or camp stove.

We took one last look around the apartment and headed to our house.  I took mom in my car and Eddie drove the truck, loaded with tools and chain saws.  We stayed together on the roads and didn't run into traffic.  By now, if you were on the road, you were really at risk.  Mom and I found it amusing that everything was closed except the bars!  It was like Christmas Day except even the 24 hour stores were closed.   In 10 miles of highway. we saw 15 cars tagged for towing.  No doubt owners ran out of gas or had car trouble trying to evacuate.  Today Metro busses picked up stranded motorists and took them to shelters. 

We got to the house and unloaded almost everything.  The winds were picking up and the trees rustling in the wind sounded like rain.  I cooked dinner there and it seemed like any other day except for all the food piled in the kitchen.  We watched Fox News and couldn't believe the risk the reporters were taking in other areas where there were higher winds and rain.  Shepard Smith was literally blown down at one point and finally had to hold on to a pole to stay in one place!  We called family to let them know we were at the house.  We even called a neighbor to let them know we were there, just in case.  No one would look for us there if we turned up missing.   From time to time I stepped outside just to feel the wind.  Not at any time this week have I been afraid.  I can't even really say that I was worried.  I knew that we had done all we could to prepare, and the rest of it was out of my control.

We stayed up until about 11 pm and just couldn't take any more.  There were people calling the local station and complaining about their inaccuracy in reporting that Rita was going to hit land in Galveston.  It sounded like they were mad because we weren't going to be destroyed! 

We went to bed and I slept well. 

September 24, 2005

When I woke up at 5 am, I looked out the window and the trees were blowing but the street was only slightly wet.  I went back to bed, and got up another time or two before Barbara, my SIL, called to check on us.  She asked if we were okay.  I told her if it had already hit, we never even knew it!  She told me that Rita had gone more to the east and Houston had been spared.  I turned the tv on and started watching again.  We got more calls from people checking on us.  I made a few calls to others telling them we were fine.  I called our friends, Sandy and Steve, who live in Silsbee, just outside of Beaumont.  They had evacuated to Austin, but had talked to friends back home whose home had been destroyed.

Talked to our daughter, Denise,  who lives here and they didn't sustain any damage.  They were fine.  I cooked breakfast - bacon, eggs, and toasted my homemade bread.  I started packing up to go back home, and then Denise called to say her electricity was out.  The golf course is only 2 miles from her house, so Eddie left to go see if ours was out before we came back.  It was on, so I finished packing and cleaning up and left.  I didn't see much damage, but there were a lot of pine needles on the ground and people were already outside cleaning them up.  Street lights were out so you had to be careful going through intersections.  Just about 3 miles from the golf course, I saw about 15-20 police cars, all with their lights and sirens on.  I couldn't see what happened, but it was right next to the Conoco gas station at Jones Road and Cypress North Houston.  It seemed to have too much attention for a car wreck, and I learned later that a fight broke out over gas and the police hauled several people off to jail.  I passed another Conoco where there were 10-15 people in line at each pump.  On the news they showed a line a mile long waiting for gas.  Haven't seen that since the 80's.

I spent the entire day unpacking everything we'd taken to the house!!   I organized one cabinet and put all of our "survival" food listed above in one area in case I ever need to do that again.  It's simple food that my mother can fix on her own if I'm not home, so it will get eaten and I will continue to rotate it.  Our church leaders have always counseled us to have a year's supply of food and at one time I had a pretty good stash, but being in the middle of moving and selling our home, I have tried to use as much as I can.  While I can see the need for storing wheat and other things, I think we do need to expand it to things that are more simple to prepare. 

I took one look at my office and decided that I would rearrange things a bit when I put the computers back together.  As I write this, I can now look out the window over the golf course.  It's a much better view than before, when I could only see the top of the cart barn and traffic on Jones Road!

We had no damage to the building at the golf course, but some of our nets are shredded.  The mats from the driving range got picked up and blown around but I think all are accounted for. 

One of our employees, Jose, called to see if he needed to come to work tomorrow.  He has very little gas in his car.  He was one who tried to leave town and had to come back because he had no gas.  We told him to wait until Monday.

September 25, 2005

I woke up wanting to record the events of the past week.  I want to write an article to use in my newsletter, Family First but had to record the information before I could do that.  I am going to walk the course this morning and see how things look.   The cart path is one mile, and most mornings I walk it 2-3 times for exercise.  I always have to be finished before 8 am when the golfers show up, but today I will have the entire day available.  Of course we won't have any income today, but for one day I have the luxury of living on my own private golf course!  Today is the 5th day with absolutely no income.  Meanwhile, there are bills to be paid and expenses to cover.

There is no church today.  While the original intent for canceling it was anticipation of flooding, now I believe it is because we are all trying to conserve gas.  Schools are closed Monday and Tuesday so the busses won't use gas.  We don't know how long it will take to get a new supply of gas.  I am so grateful that our tanks are still full and that we live at our business, so we won't even have to use our gas to drive here.  I also have my own work-at-home business and am VERY grateful that all I need is a computer and phone, AND that even if I were unable to work this month, I would get a paycheck next month.  

Now that we've gone through this experience, we have the tools we need for next time.  We will remove the plywood but leave the framing inside the windows so that next time it won't take so long to put it up.  (Hoping, of course, that there won't BE a next time!)  We will find a place to store the plywood for future use.  I will fold up the tarps used inside and put them with emergency items.  Now that they're cut, it will take much less time to tape them next time. 

Today is Fast Sunday, where members of our church fast for two meals and then give a Fast Offering for the bishop to use to help other families in need.   We typically fast on the first Sunday of every month, but next Sunday is General Conference where we hear from church leaders in Salt Lake City, so it has been moved back to today.  Generally we fast for something we are in need of.  Today I am fasting to give thanks for all the Lord's blessings.  We are so fortunate to have been spared from this hurricane.  We are blessed to have minimal damage at the golf course.  We are so blessed with good friends and family who stayed in touch and expressed their love and concern for us.  We are grateful for friends like Joe who worked hour after hour making sure that our property was secure.  We are grateful for our health that allowed us to work together to protect our property.  We are grateful for our different talents and abilities that allowed us to work separately to make it all happen.  We are thankful for the means to fill our cars with gas and to buy the food to sustain us in an emergency.  We are grateful for the power of prayer and the whisperings of the spirit that confirmed to us that staying here was the right thing to do.  We are just so grateful for all of our blessings and have learned a great deal from this experience.

The sun is out and the trees are barely swaying in the gentle breeze.  It is a beautiful day.