Day 13

We arrived in Mississippi after dark, so I was unable to see the destruction and devastation in increasing measure.  Rather, I arrived in a shroud of darkness, knowing that tomorrow I will wake to see the changed world so many have been living in for the past two weeks.

We left San Antonio around 10 am.  The van started acting up again between San Antonio and Houston.  It does seem to be a fuel problem, because Jon dumped some fuel stuff in the tank and after we filled back up again with gas, it seemed to run fine.

Houston was a mess to drive through, with all the traffic, construction and pouring down rain.  Once we got out of Houston, the rest of the drive was pretty quick and smooth.

Around Baton Rouge, we started to see some of the snapped trees in increasing number as we drove east.

Jon and I drove straight to our house, since Jon had a token of appreciation to deliver to our neighbors for their hospitality when Jon and Bob were conducting damage control on our house.  As we drove into Diamondhead, the tears started.  The normally busy and bright entrance to Diamondhead was dark.  The entrance road was covered in broken trees.  My tears flowed more as we drove down Analii and saw entire households, people’s lives, memories and comforts, piled out on the side of the road.   The piles were huge.  The only homes that did not have piles in the front were homes that looked like the owners had not come back yet.  My heart was breaking for the pain and suffering each of our neighbors were going through.  We stopped in front of my house, but I did not go in, since it was dark and after curfew.  I just looked at the pile of our stuff laying along side the road.  I chose not to look too closely.  We chatted with our neighbors for a few minutes.  They only had a couple of inches in their house, however the power was still out.

We spent the night at Staci and Bob’s.  They have electricity (AIR CONDITIONING) and water, but not cable or internet access.  Tomorrow, we’ll get up, and if time permits, stop by the house before going to church.  Then Rocky and Matthew are supposed to come over with Jon and Bob to help finish ripping out carpet and kicking holes in our wall.

Some impressions that I thought interesting:  There’s Humvees with national guard soldiers driving through our neighborhood, along with the occasional helicopter.  Jon and Bob like to share their stories of the stench from the spoiled meat in the freezers and fridges when they cleaned it out.  Staci and I truly appreciate the men taking care of that for Staci and me.  Jon has also speculated that my cedar chest actually exploded from the water pressure building up from within.

Grace & Peace