Ivy Tied Up |

Things have been tough. Emmotionally, mentally, physically.. TOUGH..

We’ve put new meaning to hanging in there..

We have managed to rip up most of the carpet still havent gotten the roof patched or the window replaced.. Still trying to get the yard cleaned so the kids have a place to play..

Wed was the start back to school..
Bug didnt go he was sick. Now Diva.. I got her up, dressed, and off to school. Only to go changes clothes and come outof my bathroom and find her asleep on the living room floor. She pitched a fit screaming and crying nad refused to get out of her best friend’s mom’s car. So they brought her home. I think that everything over the last 3 weeks caught up to her and it became too much for her. She went thursday but she tried to get out of going today.

She is also getting glasses. In 3 weeks they will be in. she is thrilled.. To her its a fashion statement.. gotta love 6 year olds!

Now more about my experience with hurrican Rita..

I had been through a few hurricanes in my 25 years. They were nothing compared to this.. First the evacuation. Normally it takes us 2 hours to get to my aunts house in Lafayette.. We drove for 9 hours!!!.. That would have been a safe place for us to be when the hurricane was headed for galveston. But when whe got to Lafayette they ordered a mandatory evacuation for us from there. We were forced to leave as Rita was headed for right where I live and lafayette just was not far enough.

We had no choice but to head back home.. We got here.. stayed the night and then friday turned around nad headed a lil further north to hubby’s grandmothers house. Got there and started getting things together for thes torm. They were so not prepared. As the day went on you could feel the sky changing. Slowly but surely the storm was coming. We sat outside for awhile. watching the wind build and the trees blow. At about 4pm it started really coming. The rain started. The kids were getting antsy already. At about 7 the wind really started to pick up and you could feel everyones nerves starting to build. I cant remember exactly what time the electricity went off.. But it wasnt too much later. The kids kinda freaked when the lights went off.. At that point everyone decided to go to bed. It was already hot and they were tired. I was the only one up. At about 11 pm the fun began. It started getting bad outside and we were really getting some wind gusts. At about 2am is when the worst started hitting. The eye walls had found us. I was listening to the radio and about 2 hours into the really tough part the guy on the radio says,”Only 4 more hours of this” at that point I was so scared. I was terrified. I could hear the wind ripping the awning off the carport, I could hear trees falling and metal crashing. I knew I was dead. I was sure I would never make it another 4 hours with out dying. It just didnt seem possible. Things were crazy outside. You could hear all this stuff going on. I was sitting in the hallway with my kids (they were asleep) and I had my head phones on and was sitting with my back on the air conditioner unit. I could feel it breathing in and out. You could hear the walls and the windows creaking when they would be sucked in and out. I knew I wouldnt make it..

When daylight started coming it was still scary outside. At that point I could see what was happening and that terrified me even more. Trees were down all over the yard, the swingset had been turned over and thrown, the yard was a lake. It was so scary. You could see the funnels going through the air. At 7:20 i had spoken to my dad who was about 10 minutes south of where I was. It had cleared up there and he had already been outside to observe the damage. At that point we still had another hour and half left of the storm where I was.. It kept on and on and on. Once it let up and we wree able to go outside I was amazed. You could see where the storm tried to take the awning off, where it had destroyed the lil farm house in the back of hte property, the trees everywhere. It was amazing. All day saturday we had wind and some rain. The wind gusts were still strong through out saturday.

I still cant believe we survived. It was extremely scary. next time Im moving. I will pack up all my things and never look back. The next day was hard driving through and seeing all the destruction in my town. places wiped out. The hardest part was calling my inlaws to see how my house made it. I was relieved to hear it was still standing. But the destruction around my house our yard and road was extreme. it looked like the storm picked up our houses and just threw them in the middle of a pine forrest that had been cut down and the timber just thrown about.. It was unreal.. I just cant describe the destruction. I wish I had a way to post photos fromw here I live..
Here are a few I found online..

[img]http://www.venusspeaks.com/ivytiedup/photos/data/media/26/churchsteeple.jpg[/img]

this is the steeple at one of the big churches in town

[img]http://www.venusspeaks.com/ivytiedup/photos/data/media/26/bank.jpg[/img]
The big bank in town

[img]http://www.venusspeaks.com/ivytiedup/photos/data/media/26/brookbros.jpg[/img]

Grocery store in town

[img]http://www.venusspeaks.com/ivytiedup/photos/data/media/26/town.jpg[/img]
Driving through town

[img]http://www.venusspeaks.com/ivytiedup/photos/data/media/26/trees.jpg[/img]

Downed trees in the area..