I left Houston on Wednesday evening along with my friends Brian & Mary Ann and their daughter Sydney. We left around 7:00 and headed east on Hwy 90 towards Beaumont. It took us about 2.5 hours to get to Beaumont with some heavy traffic. After getting on I 10 we made good time. There was heavy traffic but it moved well. We arrived at my parents’ in Covington at 1:30 am making the trip in 6.5 hours. From the news reports that I’m sure you have seen, it looks like we left at the perfect time. I’m certainly glad we weren’t in the largest traffic jam in US history!

We’re trying to find things to occupy our time instead of just watching the TV all day, but it is hard. We do expect some good rain here in Covington, but they are in desperate need of it. With all of the down trees and debris and no rain since Katrina three weeks ago, my parents’ yard is like a dust bowl. Now if we can just get rain here and not in New Orleans, that would be perfect although I don’t think it’s possible.

I do know a few people that are staying in Houston to ride out the storm, including my roommate. Please keep everyone, where ever they may be in your prayers.

Two words describe last Sunday: hot and poor as in poor performance. Sunday started early as we loaded Arnold’s truck with coolers, BBQ and TV and headed for Reliant Park. It was way too hot to be mid September. After claiming our parking spaces, we started unpacking and setting up camp.

The first priority was to setup the tent to provide relief from the sun even though it was not yet 9:30! Soon after, the BBQ was roaring in preparation for the steaks Brian had marinating for the past 48 hours. Our next priority was to get the TV setup. We managed to get power and a great signal, but the glare was a huge problem. Using black trash bags we tried to block as much of the sun as possible to make the TV viewable. All the randomly placed trash bags made our setup look pretty white trash and got us plenty of stares.

The steaks went on the grill and were awesome, which is more than what I can say about the Texans. The heat and the bad game caused us to pack it up just before halftime. We spent the rest of the day at Brian’s in comfort.

Photos from the day

I’ve returned from a trip to Covington to help my family with the clean up from hurricane Katrina. I have brought back photos and video to share.

My aunt Sherry flew to Houston from California on Thursday to ride with me to Covington. After she arrived in Houston, we went to pick up gasoline containers from Kevin, my cousin. After that we went to Wal-Mart to stock up on food, water and supplies to bring to Covington. We ended up with 20 gallons of water, 200 pounds of ice, 30 gallons of fuel and plenty of food and supplies to aid in the clean up. Friday morning I rented a trailer so that we could easily transport all of the provisions. After loading the trailer, we left Houston and headed east along with emergency workers and repairmen from many different states.

Our trip was mostly uneventful. We were surprised to find gas for $2.55 a gallon in Jennings, LA when we stopped to fill up since the price in Houston was hovering around $3 a gallon. Although St. Tammany Parish was “closed”, we had no problem getting to Covington.

Our first stop was Pinecroft. Pictures describe the property best:

More photos are available in the photo album. A video is also available.

As you can see, the porch is completely destroyed by the uprooted tree. There are several holes in the roof from limbs that caused water damage inside. The boys’ room and bathroom, girls’ room, hallway, and dining room all suffered water damage. The ceiling and carpet will have to replaced in these rooms along with some furniture, doors and shelves. There are five trees down on the property and likely a few more that will need to be removed for safely.

Our next stop was my parents’ house. Their home has two trees on it, although not as large as the one at Pinecroft. When we arrived, most of the clean up in the front yard was complete and the roof was patched. Lindsey’s room has some water damage from the limbs that protruded into the room and let in rain. The second tree did not cause as much damage to the house luckily.

Most of my time was spent with the immense task of cleaning up the yard at Pinecroft. There were four of us working in the yard: Dad, Lindsey, Ryan and myself. We were able to make steady progress cleaning up the limbs closest to the house while the seemingly constant sound of military helicopters and aircraft buzzed overhead. Dad had already cut many of the branches off the tree on the house and a tree service had lifted the tree off the house before we got to work. Ryan’s truck was a great help in transporting all of the limbs and debris to the street to await pickup.

After two days of bending over and cutting our legs for tree limbs, we decided to give the pool some attention, although this wasn’t the usual refreshing activity we as most accustomed to at Pinecroft. Scuba Steve and Limb-fetcher Linz dove to the bottom of the murky green water to retrieve branches, while I used the skimmer to get as much pine straw from the bottom of the pool. We think we were able to remove most of the large limbs and stick from the pool, although it is hard to tell when you can not see the bottom! Once power is restored the filter will easily clean up the pond-like water.

With the power out, we were lucky that my parents were able to buy a generator and two window unit air conditioners. This made the stay not so much like camping out since we were able to sleep in comfort and watch satellite TV. Although, it was humorous when the generator would run out of gas and we were all left in the dark. Luckily we all kept a flashlight close by.

There is still a lot of work needed at both homes. We’ll need contractors to clear most of the remaining debris. Estimates for power restoration are between 1-5 weeks. Once power is restored, hopefully the renovation will quickly follow.

Links:
Pinecroft Photos
Mom & Dad’s House Photos
Pinecroft & Mom & Dad’s Video