The Tuesday prayer group met this morning. Tutoring will resume on Wednesday afternoon. And our Lay Institute for Equipping will meet Wednesday night. Our schedule is returning to normal.
Over the past two weeks, we have seen hurricanes bring devastation to communities to our east, west, and south. Yet, Lake Charles has been largely spared.
For our friends who live away from the Lake Charles area, Hurricane Gustav brought damage to much of Louisiana, cutting a swath from the southeast to the northwestern portions of the state. Then, Hurricane Ike, a large hurricane with hurricane-force winds stretching to Lake Charles, brought great devastation to our west. Although the winds in Lake Charles were substantial, things have been nailed down and repaired since Hurricane Rita in 2005, and the wind damage seems to be light. Hurricane Ike was more a flooding event from the storm surge than a wind event for us.
Nothing in Lake Charles is much over 15' above sea level, and some of us live much lower than that. Yet, to date, it appears that all church property and the homes of our families have been largely spared from major damage.
To our knowledge, the one major exception to that has been the Vincent fish camp on Moss Lake, which was to have been the location for two church events this past weekend. As of yesterday, it is still inaccessible, so the damage has not been determined. Yet, we know that it was in an area that received 10+ feet of storm surge.
For our friends away from Lake Charles, thank you for your prayers and expressions of concern on our behalf. It appears that we have been largely spared. We anticipate assisting our neighbors to the south and west for many months.
A group of hardy souls met at the church for prayer and worship this past Sunday. Following that, many traveled around our community, cleaning the yards of those of us who evacuated.
It is a disquieting experience to drive up to one's home for the first time after an evacuation. Even if one anticipates light damage, it is still something of an anxious experience.
How nice it was to gain a first sight of your home with a house intact, and with fallen branches on the curb, already prepared for pick up! For that group of hardy souls: Thank you! It was a real blessing. It was a sign of God's care and of the love of his people.
With the evacuation now over, we are returning to Lake Charles. Many of us have already arrived, and the rest of us will come home in the next day or two. We thought we would leave up this partial list of who was where.
Anna Geery has also returned from the hospital in Shreveport to Lake Charles. She has further medical tests ahead.
Pearl Akers
Houston, TX (with her son, Bruce)
Rebecca Bowers
Lake Charles, LA
Christy Brown, Kent & Emily
Alexandria, LA (at her parents' home)
Kendell Brown
Lake Charles, LA (keeping Entergy going)
Daryl Burckel
Lake Charles, LA
Mary Burckel & girls
Houston, TX
The Collins family
Lake Charles, LA (Cindy will keep Caterpillar open)
Suzy & Calli Comeaux
Livingston, TX (with family)
Kathy Dixon
Shreveport, LA (with family)
Matt Dougay
Cincinnati, OH (with Jon Frantz)
Edna Mae Emmons
San Antonio, TX (with son, Barry Blackwell)
Debbie & Holly Evans
Mobile, AL (may have had to evacuate from there)
Eric Evans
Lake Charles, LA (maintaining the blood supply)
Vic Evans
Lake Charles, LA (keeping Entergy going)
Angie Ewing
Lake Charles, LA
Jonathan Frantz
Cincinnati, OH (with Matt Dougay)
Anna Geery
Shreveport, LA (Anna was transferred from the LC hospital to Shreveport by ambulance)
Kay Geery
Lake Charles, LA (working at the hospital)
Brian Hamilton
Jackson, TX
Bruce Hamilton
The Woodlands, TX
Steve & Drucy Hardesty
Lake Charles, LA (Drucy will have to keep Walgreens open)
Jessie Harris
Lake Charles, LA (Jessie is working on Friend Ships with disaster relief)
Josh Harris
Arkansas
Mari Harris
Lake Charles, LA
Mariece Harris
Palmetto, LA
Don Hill
Wimberly, TX (out of Austin, at his daughter, Donna's house)