25 Sep 2005 #0539.html

Evacuation

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Dear Family and Friends,

Welcome to this week's "Thoughtlet."

These words are my personal diary and a weekly review of ideas, beliefs, thoughts, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit to you: my children, my family, and my friends.

"I'm not sure what day during my lost week (0538.html) we became aware of Hurricane Rita. As I recall, Les Denham was one of the first to point out to me that this looked like a pretty serious storm. After that warning I was watching to see what happened and how the storm grew and where it went. On Friday a group of men from the ward went to Mississippi and they returned on Sunday evening when Andrea and I were at the church setting up for her seminary class. I was disappointed I was not on the list. I did not know about the list because I was teaching Primary. Oh well! By Sunday evening we had seen enough news that we were pretty sure Houston was in danger from this storm.

On Monday the following note was sent out by our brand new Relief Society Presidency:

`Dear Sisters, Bishop Harlan has asked that we give you advance warning that it now looks like Hurricane Rita will be headed in our direction. The storm is intensifying and he wants us to be sure to be prepared. Please take this opportunity to go to the store and stock up on necessities. Bishop Harlan would like each of us to make emergency plans if there should be a need to evacuate. We hope this turns out NOT to be the case but "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear".....or starve! Please pass this information on to those you visiting teach, since not everyone checks their e-mail on a regular basis. We already love you and are concerned for your welfare. Be safe, Be careful, Be prepared. Love, Your Relief Society Presidency Elin Young, KelleyAnne Miner Anne John'

There was also a note passed around the ward, which we did not receive, from Jim Siebert, a professional meteorologist in the ward (0537.html), warning that the storm was coming directly towards Houston. We started to do some preparation, buying water, cleaning out the garage enough to get a car in it, etc.

Tuesday I received the following e-mail from George Schultz:

`Subject: FYI Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:39:55 -0500 From: "Bill McPherson" Latter-day Saints to Mobilize Another 4,000 Volunteers in Chainsaw Brigade's Second Wave SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The buzz of chainsaws will again fill the air this weekend as thousands of volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints descend on the Gulf Coast to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Setting aside their weekday routines as bankers, accountants, contractors, attorneys, managers, dentists, retirees, students and salesmen, volunteers are on their way to Louisiana and Mississippi in carpools and buses, bringing with them tents, sleeping bags, food, water, clothing, chainsaws, ladders and even backhoes. These volunteers, dubbed the "chainsaw warriors," are expected to drive late into the night from their homes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas. By Saturday morning tent cities will again surround Latter-day Saint chapels in Collins, Columbia, Covington, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, LaPlace, Laurel, Meridian, Pascagoula, Picayune, Slidell and Waveland. In the days immediately preceding the mobilization, Church leaders from the volunteers' home congregations divided them into crews and gave them instruction, while those at the points of destination identified community residents in greatest need and drafted work orders in preparation for an early start the next day. The volunteers will work through the daylight hours on Saturday and to midday on Sunday, cutting and clearing debris from fallen trees and covering damaged roofs with tarps to prevent water damage as residents await insurance settlements and repairs. Last weekend volunteers cleared literally thousands of yards in a mission of mercy. As of Monday evening, a tally of the Church's combined volunteer efforts in hurricane-stricken areas included 9,204 man-days and 4,832 work orders, providing assistance to over 4,800 people. "I don't think that we've ever had that kind of effort in a sustained way," said Elder D. Todd Christofferson (a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, one of the bodies that provide leadership to the worldwide Church from its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah). The ongoing relief effort to which he referred began as soon as the receding storm allowed trucks loaded with relief supplies to enter the stricken areas. "And it's not the end," he promised. Over the next two weekends, Latter-day Saint congregations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas have committed an additional 4,000 weekend workers to the ongoing cleanup and relief effort, which will extend to some areas hardest hit by Katrina that are only gradually becoming accessible to volunteer work crews. Another 1,800 will follow over three weekends in October. Behind the numbers lie the individuals. Tales of struggle and survival emerged as the visitors and local residents worked side by side in the cleanup effort: * Chelsey (age 7 and an energetic helper with the debris removal) and James Barron (10) of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, spoke animatedly of their experience in the hurricane, with its loud wind, "limbs flying around," the crash of the wall that surrounded their property that "sounded like dynamite," and the "scary" time when a tree -- one of several that was to litter their property -- fell onto their home. * A Hattiesburg mother, whose battle with multiple sclerosis makes her particularly susceptible to the loss of power in the oppressive late-summer heat, has chosen to stay with her family and help with the cleanup, which seemed an insurmountable task after the magnitude of the work led to the demise of both of the family's chainsaws. * An observer of a crew's labors in Petal, Mississippi, asked if they would be able to clear the debris from the yard of that town's police chief, who had been too busy helping others in the storm's aftermath to clean up his own property; that became their next stop. * A grandmother raising her three grandchildren in a beautifully kept mobile home outside of Toomsuba, Mississippi, found her life disrupted when a falling tree tore a floor-to-roof gash in its back wall, rendering it uninhabitable for the children -- until the "Mormon Helping Hands" crew, working well past sunset, provided the necessary stopgap repair that allowed the children to return. At the same time that their chain saws were taking apart fallen trees, the Latter-day Saint volunteers forged bonds with people of other faiths." * A Baptist family in Mississippi, surprised at the offer of help from a Latter-day Saint work crew, named the mountain of debris that they and their newfound friends from Georgia jointly hauled to their curbside their "Mormon pile." * In Louisiana, after losing two trucks, a fully stocked freezer and more in the flooding that accompanied the hurricane and forced her family's evacuation, Slidell Harts United Methodist Church member Mildred Eden found her attempt to return to her home thwarted by a jumble of fallen trees and wires spread across her yard and driveway. "You are the best thing that has happened to me since the hurricane," she said. "I'm a volunteer, so when we get back in our home and you need help, I'll help you." That spirit of reciprocity played out repeatedly, with people of other denominations contributing spontaneously to the effort. * As one crew was cutting and clearing debris from a home in Picayune, Mississippi, a neighbor pulled up with his four-wheel drive and front-end loader. After moving the accumulating debris to the curbside with his loader, he exclaimed, "You go back and tell your group that Mr. Seal from the Pine Grove Baptist Church helped you." * A United Methodist congregation in Slidell, Louisiana, allowed volunteers descending on that community from Houston, Texas, to sleep in their church. When the local congregants arrived at their church on Sunday, they found the debris cleared from their churchyard and their hurricane-damaged flag mounted as a keepsake while a bright new banner flew from the flagpole. In a shared worship service, the pastor voiced a feeling of unity shared by those of both denominations: "The Mormons are now our friends." "When I hear these stories, I am humbled by the tremendous service that is being rendered between people of all faiths," said Elder John S. Anderson, director of the Church's Emergency Operations Center in Slidell, which coordinates the relief effort throughout the Southeast. "We are all children of God, and that's what matters." As volunteer workers and those they were assisting bade farewell, a common realization emerged that all parties involved were beneficiaries. A crew leaving the home of an elderly couple in Meridian, Mississippi, after removing the debris from several large trees that had fallen in their yard, reported hearing their last tearful "thank-yous" as they pulled away. "Before last weekend, most of us had experienced the satisfaction of contributing money to relief agencies," said B. Jeffrey Strebar, bishop of the Whitewater congregation near Atlanta, Georgia. "But the pure joy of looking into the tear-filled eyes of those whose lives have been so overwhelmingly altered was an experience that will never be forgotten." For more stories and photos go to:

http://www.lds.org/newsroom/extra/0,15505,3881-1---2-916,00.html'

So as we congratulated ourselves on doing a wonderful job, Rita kept coming towards Houston. I was called by our Elder's Quorum President, Wade Hutchings, and asked if I have a map showing where ward members live. I have the Spotfire maps I put together a few years ago, which plot members from longitudes and latitudes derived from Select Phone. I printed maps on the little computer upstairs. It was very slow, and I had several maps printed before Wade showed up. He called later and asked me to be Team Leader #1. They ended up dividing the ward alphabetically, and I had a dozen families to contact. I was to make sure they were prepared, and to find out if there was anything they needed.

Work was not normal on Wednesday. First thing in the morning there were e-mails and then phone calls with Frank Lott, Dave Agarwal, and Don Vossler regarding the Shackelford County wells. Frank has come to the conclusion the Vossler anomaly could be prolific conglomerates. This is an exciting turn, and means the well certainly will get drilled. He needed the synthetics, and I told him were the screen captures are on my web site. About 10:00 Dave Johnson said to close down GDC, and that there would be no work on Thursday or Friday. The building wanted everything important moved from outside offices, like mine, to hallways or internal offices. They provided big sheets of thick plastic. I moved my computers and wrapped my filing cabinets and book cases with plastic. Nicolas and Dave wrapped up Mike Dunn's office, since he was in China. There were several e-mails with Mike, confirming everything was OK, both at the office and when I got home.

Wednesday evening when I got home things really started to get hectic. I had not been able to get hold of three of my assigned people. Since one of them was a divorced lady, I took Andrea with me to visit her, get her new cell phone number, and make sure she and the others were OK. We never did contact one person. Oh well! Then we started to take care of our house. I took my primary lesson over to Chris Schmidt. Since GDC was closed Thursday and Friday, and since there was this giant storm on the television headed straight for Houston, Andrea and I had decided to go to Kim Shirts' wedding in the St. George Temple. We knew we would not get out of the Houston airports, and so we planned to drive over to Austin and do standby to Salt Lake City. As I was walking out to go over to Schmidts, Jennifer Lozier next door flagged me down and we talked. Jackie ended up going over to Schmidt's with me. Then I talked to the Lozier's for a while. Jennifer could not understand why everyone was not a mass evacuation. They had taped some of their windows, and so when I went back, I started taping some of our windows. Then I put the big walls from the Christmas Tree Parade, which have been in the garage for a couple of years, over the bedroom windows, and held them in place with duct tape (this is not best practice, and we need to fix up a way to quickly board up our windows in a way that they will stay boarded up).

Between packing up the house, boarding up and taping windows, there were additional calls and e-mail reports on how well the people on my Team were prepared. It was pretty hectic. I finally sent my e-mail report to Wade Hutchings Wednesday night about 10:00 PM. Shortly after I sent it, Wade called me with the news that the Stake Presidency had decided to issue an evacuation recommendation, and they would appreciate if each of our families could be told before we go to sleep. I was able to contact each of my assigned families between 10:00 and 10:45 PM.

Then Andrea and I went back to work packing up the house and taping the windows. Paintings were taken off of the wall and put under the covers of the bed. http://www.walden3d.com was shut down for the first time in almost a decade, and the computers and disk drives loaded in the the trunk of the silver Saturn. All of my journals and a box of important papers from the office were also loaded in the trunk of the Saturn. The blue Saturn was parked in the garage. It was about 2:30 Thursday morning when we had pretty much got ready to evacuate. I gave a blessing on the house, we packed for a week, and we left. After packing up my office and then the house, I was really tired, and so Andrea drove.

As we drove up to the freeway, it was obvious all of the cars were stopped dead on the freeway and on the frontage road. The Loziers and Nelsons were obviously not the only people evacuating. One of the families I called had told me the freeway was a parking lot. It is interesting to me that even though she is less active, she was the only one to leave Houston and go to San Antonio, as instructed by our Priesthood Leaders. When I talked to her on Saturday, she told me it had turned out to be a good experience, and everything was fine.

So I told Andrea to go straight under the freeway. We went up to the road by the bowling alley, drove until it ended on the far side of Katy, dropped back to Highway-90, and took it to Brookshire. It took us about a half-an-hour to go this far, and some folks on the freeway took 4 or 5 hours to go this far. It took us an hour to go from Brookshire across the Brazos River bridge to the Sealy exit, which is about 10 miles. Then we got off, went out to New Ulm, where Ken Turner lives, then to Industry, then to La Grange. There was quite a bit of traffic on into Austin, and it was not stopped. We filled up with gas when we got to Austin, and were at the new Austin airport about 4 1/2 hours after we left, with what was normally a 2 1/2 hour drive. Most friends we talked to that made the same drive took between 8 and 12 hours to make the same drive. So Ben and Sarah, have several evacuation routes mapped out for when the big earthquake hits L.A., and do not count on being able to use the normal freeways.

I slept when I could, and when I wasn't asleep, I couldn't help but think about the forced evacuations of early church members. Members were forced to leave Jackson, Clay, Davies, DeWitt, and Carroll Counties in Missouri in 1838. Governor Boggs ordered the Saints exterminated or driven from the state for the public good. Seventeen people were killed and thirteen wounded at the Haun's Mill massacre on October 30th. Whole communities were forced to leave their homes with nothing but the clothes on their back in the middle of the winter and march across Missouri. This led to the settlement of Nauvoo, and less than 10 years later the church members were forced to evacuate Nauvoo in the middle of a mini-ice age, crossing the Mississippi River with their wagons on the ice starting on February 4th of 1846. Grandma Hafen's maternal Great-Grandfather (note that for you kids this is the same as my Grandpa Hafen or Andrea's Grandpa Baird) died in September of 1846 as part of this evacuation/ He died near Bonaport, Iowa striving to provide you kids and me with an opportunity to live the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ. His death was the same month Winter Quarters was established in Iowa. These evacuations were certainly much harder than Andrea and my evacuation from Houston for Hurricane Rita.

When we got to the airport, we parked in the parking lot, to provide some protection for the computers, family photos, diaries, and other papers from the 95+ degree heat wave. Andrea is getting pretty good at the fly stand-by stuff. We went inside, and within a couple of hours we were on a flight to San Francisco. Certainly different than dying in an unusual early snow storm in Iowa. From San Francisco we flew to Salt Lake City, then to Cedar City. Here we watched the ongoing evacuation of Houston and surrounding areas in the safety of Grandma Shirts' home. I had written a possible stanza for Prime Words on one of the plane rides, from a Time Article (a) called "Moon Struck" about Tom Hanks Lunar IMAX movie (26 Sep 2005, p. 70):

`There is a difference Between the rapture Of looking through a telescope And the rigor of science' (a)

It was interesting that the first call of concern came from Uncle Tony in St. George. He was glad to hear from me, and wanted to make sure I stopped and visited. Saturday I slipped out to visit after the wedding photos at the temple and the dinner and reception on Saturday evening at the St. George Opera House where Andrea and I had our reception. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

On Friday I went for a hike on mountain in back of Walmart and Home Depot to the south of Leigh Hill and to the southwest of Cedar City. It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed the walk. I took some nice photos of Shirts' Canyon, showing it's spatial relationship to Cedar City and Red Cove. However, the sage brush was in bloom, and by the time I made it back to Grandma Shirts' house, my eyes were literally swollen shut with large bags of water under and above my eyes because of an allergic reaction. And I tell myself regularly that I am ready to move back home to Cedar City?

The previous Saturday I had spent several hours fixing the Cedar Valley water well data base and displays, and had hoped to show the results to Eldon Schmutz while in Cedar. It didn't work out. Oh well! Mayby he was involved in an evacuation. Andrea and I met Matt and Rachel just before lunch at the student center and took them to lunch at the nice restaurant in on 1st west in back of Ray Gardner's office. Then I went to see the County Engineer, who wasn't in, to the bookstore, to visit Ray, to visit Sara and Des, and back up to the house. In the evening Andrea and I joined with Sara and Des at an Orchestra Patron's dinner at a neat house in Cedar Valley. Took a bunch of digital photos of a beautiful sunset (see ../../photos/SouthernUtah/Cedar/050923_Cedar_Sunset). It was especially nice to see Gen Gardner and Carmen Jones. It was a very nice evening, and even though my eyes were still swollen, it reminded me why I want to move home to Cedar City.

Saturday morning I did not want to go for a walk. So I read and waited at the house until it was time to go to St. George for Kim Shirts' wedding. For those who do not know, Kim is Russell Shirts' daughter, Andrea's oldest brother, and she looks a lot like Heather. It was a beautiful wedding in the St. George Temple. The Temple Worker that ushered us all into the sealing room, after we had put on our white temple clothes, was Jerry Tousa (../9711.html, ../9848.html, ../9951.html, and 0315.html). It was so good to see him. He looks just like a football coach. The service was very nice, and there was a very good spirit there. After the wedding, and after changing clothes, I saw Jerry and went to say hi. He was talking to someone, and saw me and said, `I talk about you regularly. Do you remember that Muslim guy you worked with at Mobil? Remember when you told him about our Bishopric meetings at 6:30 Sunday mornings, and he said to you, `Roice, even God doesn't get up that early on a Sunday morning!'' It was good to catch up on what is happening with each of his kids. And he asked about each of you, including my new kids whom he only met when he came to Andrea and my wedding. Kim's wedding was nice, and it was a real highlight for me to see Jerry Tousa.

After the ceremony we went to the back of the church, where the families were gathering for photos. I took a bunch of photos, which are at http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Family/MorrisShirtsFamily/050924_Kim_Shirts_Wedding. It was fun to watch everyone interact. Especially Matt. The professional photographer did not like me requesting she take a photo with my digital camera of the entire wedding party. Oh well! It was hot and I was still stuffed up from the rabbit brush. After the photos I took Matt back to Cedar City so he could ride on the tank in the parade in Cedar City. We had a pretty good talk on the way back. He asked me questions about geology, and I answered to the best of my ability. He asked for advice, and I told him to work hard, play hard, and avoid any kind of addictive activities, including anything even suggestive of being pornographic. He is a good young man, and I love him.

On the way back to St. George, when I checked voice mail, there were calls from both Quentin Reed in New York, and Riley Skeen in Casper, Wyoming, making sure we were OK. A hurricane and an evacuation is certainly one way to find out who your friends are. I went out and ate some excellent salsa at Uncle Tony's, which Buela had made. It was good to see them. They are very nice to me. They found a pendant with my name and birthday and Sara's name and birthday on it, which I lost there. I put it someplace save, and have not found it since we returned. Oh well! We talked about a Hafen Cousin Reunion. He will come, but the DDD reunion did him in on organizing another one.

I got back to Kim's wedding reception just in time for the dinner, and just after the ring ceremony. In fact, I got lost and called Andrea during the middle of the ring ceremony. Opps! Oh well! Heather came by the reception. She was dressed to be noticed. We didn't talk. I wish I knew how to be of help to her. Rachel was the first bridesmaid, and was even more beautiful as ever. Audrey was working and could not be there. Randy and Katherine, and Steve and Jill were there. Good people! Wonderful family! I wish you all knew them as well as I do.

We were going to go to an annual concert Sara organizes when we got back, but we were late. Andrea had called our neighbors to see if there was any damage. They said there was so little rain, that they had just turned on their sprinklers to water the lawn. Oh well! There was some wash to do, talking with Grandma Shirts, and it was almost 10:00 before we made it over to Sara and Des's to stay Saturday night. Randy and Katherine stayed at Grandma's house.

We got up early on Sunday, Aunt Sara took us to the airport. Karl and Kathy Nelson were there dropping off their son Carl, who works for Sky West in Salt Lake, and was flying home on stand-by. There were not seats for us, but a group of 5 scheduled to go to New Orleans did not show up, and so all three Nelson's got on. When we got to Salt Lake it seemed touchy as to whether we would be able to get on a flight. However, Andrea found a direct flight on a smaller plane, and we were home from our evacuation by 4:00 PM. I could not help but compare the ease of our evacuation, to the trials and problems and death that accompanied the early Saints in their evacuation."

Since the 38th week of 1996 I have written a weekly "Thoughtlet" (little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me). Until the 43rd week of 2004 I sent these out as an e-mail. They were intended to be big thoughts which mean a lot to me. Over time the process evolved into a personal diary. These notes were shared with my family because I know how important the written word can be. Concerned about how easy it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of daily life, I thought this was a good way to reach those I love. It no longer feels right to send out an e-mail and "force" my kids and my family to be aware of my life and struggles.

Everyone has their own life to lead, and their own struggles to work through. I will continue this effort, and will continue to make my notes publicly accessible (unless I learn of misuse by someone who finds out about them, and then will aggressively pursue a legal remedy to copyright infringement and I will put the Thoughtlets behind a password).

The index to download any of these Thoughtlets is at http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets, or you can e-mail me with questions or requests at rnelson@walden3d.com (note if you are not on my e-mail "whitelist" you must send 2 e-mails within 24 hours of each other in order for your e-mail to not be trashed).

With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)

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Copyright © 2005 H. Roice Nelson, Jr.