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We had a very short and very spiritual sacrament meeting. The young men passing the sacrament did so in shorts and t-shirts. I don't think I'll ever see that again! There really wasn't much said, but the songs we sang and the spirit we felt was just perfect. We had reason to rejoice without knowing yet what we were about to face.
We returned home in much less time than it took to get to Louisiana. There were policemen guarding the entrance into Vidor. They said we needed a police escort. We went to the side of the road and spent three hours trying to get a escort. After that time, the policemen guarding the road left. They told us, "You are entering this county at your own risk" and then we were allowed in.
As we drove down the roads, we had to weave from one side of the road to the other to avoid debris and trees. We drove up through Texla Road. There is a lot of damage. However, there are so many homes that we saw where the trees fell just to the left or just to the right of the house and we recognize that, for Vidor at least, things could have been so much worse as a whole.
Our house is OK. We have some water damage in our play room. Our fence is completely gone and our chimney fell off. My In-Laws had one limb through their roof, about 6 huge pine trees in the front and side fall, their carport and deck are damaged, and their telephone and cable wires are down. The store had some damage to the roofs of their catering room and pit. The carport there is completely down, but the store itself looks great. This is our only source of income and so we felt a tremendous amount of relief from this.
For those of you from Beaumont or Vidor... don't go back. It really is that miserable. I think we were the last family there with little ones (that I knew). There are work crews of mostly men being organized each day through the church so there is room for help there. But it is too miserable to keep track of a family there. There are no hospitals in Beaumont open. Looting is starting to become a huge problem. Generators and gas is a necessity and people are getting desperate. Communication is down so it is hard to find out where and when to get ice, etc. It is SO HOT! There are no traffic lights, so it is dangerous to drive. Its just bad and the worst part is they say it will be 3-4 weeks before we get electricity!
As I'm writing this email, many of you have seen many more pictures than I have. I have not been able to see anything from Orange or Lake Charles. I know that they have been affected much more than us. I am staying at my dad's in Katy if you need to get a hold of me.
Love y'all' |
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paradoxes