Home and Safe

We're back home now--came back to the house last night. Our power came back on briefly on Saturday evening, but went off again Sunday morning. It was restored Sunday evening again, but Cooper and I stayed one more night at Chris's sister's just in case it didn't last. Chris stayed at the house to "hold down the fort" with the dog & his gun collection. :}
We were very fortunate. I think Chris found one loose shingle on the roof, and our fence looks like it has been white-washed (it was stained) and leaning just slightly, but it's still sturdy. Other than that, just without power. Ours went out Friday evening at 8:15pm. I couldn't believe it happened that early; it wasn't even blowing that badly. A tree must have fallen just right or something. Tony & Lindsay (Chris's sister & husband) only live about 5 minutes away, so it was pretty easy. They never lost power or water. They have twin 2 yr olds, so we were pretty set for a baby-friendly environment! We are so grateful for them and pray God blesses them tremendously for their generosity.
The pics on the news of Galveston are unreal. And Bolivar--where my family stayed at a friend's beach house together several years ago-Bolivar is practically gone. In some parts of Crystal Beach, where we were, the only thing left of the houses are the concrete foundations for miles. The scary thing is there were reports of several hundred people who refused to evacuate Bolivar ahead of time, then couldn't get outonce the storm hit. They haven't been letting anyone over there; only pics from helicopters. It makes you wonder if it's a pretty grisly scene up close. So sad.
Chris's uncles and 2 cousins live in Bridge City, which is on the road to Port Arthur. They took his grandfather and evacuated to Dallas and have just now been able to get back. Both uncles' houses had about 4 feet of water. They haven't gotten to one of the cousin's houses yet; they were on the bay side of the highway. And his grandfather lives in Groves, a little further west, but they haven't been able to check on his house yet either. Chris left this morning to go help a family in our Sunday school class--they also played trumpet & cello in our wedding--who lost a large portion of their roof, which meant their 2nd floor is flooded and ceilings are caving in. They are moving as much as they can salvage to storage and trying to rip out sheet rock before it mildews. They live in Sugar Land. My Uncle Clarence & Aunt Pat had a tree come through their roof and lots of water damage as a result. They're pretty far north in Tomball. Debbie, however, who lives just inside the Loop, didn't even lose power! So, damage was widespread and random!
Chris is off work until Thursday. I don't know how much damage our area schools got, but with the gas shortage, the districts may simply not have enough fuel to run buses, etc. for awhile. We'll see. What a mess! Thanks for all the prayers. There are a lot of people around here that still need lots of help, so keep praying.