Back at home.

We did end up evacuating to Dallas after all. We left our home at 1:30 AM on Friday and arrived in Ft. Worth to reunite Rex (my brother in law) with his family at 12:30 PM. It was quite an adventure. We were able to find some side roads and finally found some gas when we were down to about 1/4 a tank. The dogs were a little stressed after it all, but we were all safe when it was all said and done.

While we were in Dallas, Carrie and I stayed with a great couple, Michael and Diana George. They were very kind to us and our crazy beagles and made us feel at home. Despite the difficult circumstances they even helped us have a little fun. They introduced us to a new card game called Double Euchre. Carrie and Diana beat Michael and I. They also have a dog, a beautiful Irish Setter named Noel.

Carrie and I drove back here on Sunday after we went to Church in Dallas. It took us about 7 hours to get home. We should have waited until today, but we were anxious to get home.

Everything at home seems to be in order. One of our bushes is leaning a bit in the front, but when we got here it was hard to believe that the hurricane had even come.

I will go back to work tomorrow. Seminary will start back up on Wednesday.

Thanks again for all you love and concern. We feel very blessed that our situation turned out as good as it did.

We are safe.

We are OK. Most of the storm missed us. We will report more later.

Still Bunkered Down

The I-45 situation has deteriorated. We are going to stay here and monitor the situation. If the road speeds get to above 20 mph by tomorrow morning we will leave. We have set 8:00 AM as the decision deadline as to weather we should stay or go.

I-45 Looking better. We may try to evacuate tonight.

Rex Billings ( my brother in law ) has joined up with us now that we are back at our house. We are watching the situation, trying to find more gas, and talking to the neighbors.

Good news! The evacuation seems to be working on the freeway that is very close to our house. Right now Rex and Carrie are looking for more gas, and I think when they get back we will decide to head to Dallas. I will keep all of you posted.

We feel safe here, but if we have the opportunity to leave, I think we will.

Carrie's Aunt Lisa has a good friend in Dallas that has offered Carrie and I and the beagles a place to stay. Carrie's Sister Anne and her friends are already in Dallas.

The news from the storm is mixed. There are reports that it may gain strength again due to some warm water and it's path seems to be unpredictable. The latest projections have it striking east of us, which is good for us since it puts the "dirty" side of the storm away from us. There are concerns that the system may park over all of East Texas and dump rain on it for several days causing massive flooding. We sure hope not...

Hunkering Down

I'm just adding a few of my own thoughts to Matt's. It was frightening out there actually being in the traffic & heat. So much despair . . . . I have a new understanding for all that the Katrina victims went through. Many people had been on the road 16 hours and made very little progress. It feels very good to be in our own home and much safer. The thought of being stranded on 290 with no gas, no open stores, and no idea when help would be coming was frightening. We have no clue how strong the storm will be, but we feel it is much safer to be inside here with food and water than outside stranded on a freeway.

I am grateful we heeded the counsel to be prepared . . . the only thing we had to purchase was batteries. We already had plenty of water and food. Matt did get some extra water bottles. But we feel like we have plenty to sustain us if there are severe power outages (I just bought an extra 24-pack of toilet paper - YAY!)

This evening I'm going to work on making our little bunker in the laundry room. We'll move some of our food storage in there along with blankets, our 72 hour kits, some cushions. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thank you for all of your prayers and concern.

Carrie

Hurricane Rita

We are a little nervous right now. We attempted to evacuate Houston toward Austin at 10:30 AM this morning. We drove for six hours and were only able to travel ~30 miles when our gas tank was down to around 1/2 a tank we decided to turn around. The scene on the roads were very frightening. Many people were out of gas and congregating at gas stations and on the side of the road. There was a air of desperation that hung over everything.

So, instead of taking our chances with no gas on the roads, we decided to come back. We are fortunate to be in an area that is not in any of the flood zones and that we have a house that is built to modern standards that should be able to withstand the storm we are expecting. We will continue to monitor the situation and hope that the roads clear up enough to get out in the next day if it becomes necessary for us to attempt to evacuate again.

There is a group of about six of seven guys from Church that are also staying around and we will probably all hunker down together when the storm gets closer.

Don't think that we are crazy for staying. No public officials have recommended that anyone in our situation evacuate unless that just don't feel safe. We are not in manditory evacuation zones. Many people in our neighborhood are staying and we will not be alone.

The storm looks to be weakening and heading for a more favorable strike then we originally thought.

Our cell phone service is spotty, but some calls do make it though if any of you want to get in touch with us.

Thanks for all your love and prayers. We feel like we are in a safe place and that all will be well.

I will try to update this blog as the hours tick down. We are about 18 hours before we should start to feel tropical storm force winds. Landfall is projected in sometime late Friday night.

Matt

Just trying out this new fangled blogger thing.

Matt, Carrie, and Daisy by our houst. A photo credit goes to Mindy.