My Evacuees

I have my evacuated family here with me. They live in one of the 8 zip codes that were evacuated for Hurricane Ike...since we moved there in 1986, I don't remember ever having a mandatory evacuation. Yesterday morning at 6 am my mom was getting the house ready to "ride it out" and just a couple of hours later she got the call from the city that they had to leave. They're house is only about 20-25 feet above sea level and they're only a few miles from Galveston Bay. They will likely have water in the house (from the storm surge and rain)...We just hope it's not too much and that the roof stays on and in one piece. Since they will be on the east side of the eye, tornadoes are possible. She and my sister did the best they could to put things in safer places...upstairs, in closets. But, I guess there's only so much you can do. They were instructed to only take one car per family.
They arrived in Dallas this morning at 2:30 am, after a 7 1/2 hour drive from Houston (a drive that's usually 4 hours)....although, because officials could only evacuate the cities around Galveston Bay (that will be affected by the storm surge), the drive to Dallas was nothing like what is was during Hurricane Rita when everyone was evacuated. With them in the car was a cooler with drinks and some food, my mom's hard drive, the safe, some clothes and shoes, 6 cats (each in a kennel...my mom is known for rescuing cats from roadsides and taking care of strays), and a big Labrador Retriever. Can't get much else in one car. Have you ever thought about what you would take with you in a situation like this? Of course, as she kept trying to do more and more to protect things at their house, I was on the phone saying, "please...just leave". I can only imagine it must be hard to finally walk out and lock the door behind you not knowing what you will come home to, or when.
This storm is amazing...almost the size of the entire state of Texas, the eye 50 miles wide, hurricane force winds extending out from the eye more than 100 miles. We've been watching live Houston news coverage on the computer all day and we are in awe. We just heard that Houston now has 40 mph sustained winds with 60 mph gusts...and the storm is still 6 hours away! We've been watching the water from the Gulf pour over the 17 foot seawall in Galveston all day today with hundreds of miles to go before the storm officially makes landfall. I've also just heard from a friend, that some houses in my mom's town are already are taking on water...and the worst has not even arrived.
So tonight, hug your family, be grateful for what you have. And if you pray, please do so for my family, the others that will be affected, and those who are still there "riding it out".