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Location: Clearwater, South Carolina, United States

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

TX 0908 3

9-17-08: Since Sunday the weather has been beautiful, with clear skies and a somewhat moderated temp in the Dallas area. We decided that we had enough of Dallas and FSIL and I packed up his truck with all the larger luggage and stuff and headed south toward their home territory. The further south we got, the more damage was evident along the highway. Mainly signs were blown down, limbs broken and some whole trees uprooted.

We passed one apartment complex in which a large tree had fallen and crushed one side of a building. All this made us a bit apprehensive as to the condition of the home place. When we pulled into the driveway no damage was evident other than many small limbs scattered over the yard. The first thing we checked was the roof for damage but we didn’t even see a loose shingle. The power was back on and all the appliances were working.

The first thing to be done was to clean out the freezer and fridge – the garbage man was passing by so we hurried and got all the freezer stuff and gave to them. We then cleaned up the front yard and piled the limbs at the curb. FSIL was then going to mow the yards but had no gas, so we cleaned out the fridge and he took it to a pickup point and got gas for the truck and mower. Fortunately he found a station with no lines.

As we came down from Dallas we started noticing that past a certain point the gas stations were either closed or had long lines – one queue was even wrapped around a large parking lot. Our theory on this was that many of those in the lines were evacuees and folks around Houston and by the time we got down as far as Lake Jackson – their town – most all the traffic was local folks with very few just passing through.

By the time the ladies and young ones arrived all the yards had been cleaned up and mowed, the freezer and fridge were cleaned out of the stinky food and the table and lawn furniture were back in the screened-in porch. We then got all the stuff out of their van – pictures and such as well as luggage. A little later we picked up pizza for supper since most restaurants were closed and a limited amount of grocery stores were open.

We closed the day out very grateful for the protection of God for us and their property. A couple of shrubs were laid on the ground but we pulled them back up and staked them in place. Minor damage to their fence gate is repairable and will be fixed by the weekend. The evidence is in; God is good, all the time. TBC ec

6 Comments:

Blogger Brenda said...

I know you are all thankful that more damage was not done by the hurricane. And I know your daughter is very happy to have you and the Spice there to help her family through this.

9/17/2008 10:59:00 PM  
Blogger ancient one said...

Yay for you and FSIL cleaning up...Our yard is 'kinda big and it is a chore to get up limbs and leaves and such. So happy for all of you that the damage was light. God is Good!!

I had a gas question on my blog tonight and you 'kinda answered it.

9/17/2008 11:12:00 PM  
Blogger mreddie said...

brenda - Things are slowly getting back to normal with OD but only 25% of this area has power - we are blessed. OD and I actually went grocery shopping at Kroger today - they got their power back on yesterday.

ancient one - The Spice scrubbed out the fridge while we were grocery shopping, just like starting over. I actually started on the to-do repair list today that she had for me before Ike interrupted. ec

9/18/2008 11:32:00 PM  
Blogger Merle said...

Hi Mr.Eddie ~~ I am so glad that your older daughter's home was OK and the branches etc were all cleaned up. Lots of food wastage unfortunately. But all are safe and well and that is the main thing, God is good. Take care,
Regards, Merle.

9/19/2008 08:09:00 AM  
Blogger Kila said...

PTL that they didn't have much damage! What a relief. How wonderful that you could be with them.

9/20/2008 02:55:00 PM  
Blogger mreddie said...

merle - They were so happy that their home was OK that the wasted food was a minor thing. Indeed God was good in protecting their property.

kila - The trip has been an adventure of a different sort but we were so glad to just be with them. ec

9/21/2008 10:14:00 PM  

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