The Riley family has been in Houston during Hurricane Ike to spend time with Tara’s parents. Tara’s parents have been in Houston for a few weeks due to needed medical treatments. About 36 hours before Ike’s landfall we were forced to pack up from the trailer park where we were living, becoming Hurricane Ike evacuees.
We traveled to Conroe, Texas, which would normally take about an hour, but, in the midst of so many others leaving the Houston area, our travel took 3 hours. There, we moved into a two bedroom condo and enjoyed a day of relaxing by the pool, playing, and reading.
The next night we were greeted by the storm.
All was quiet until about 3:00 a.m. The wind was fierce and the electricity went out quickly. Once dawn came we could see the horizontal rain and the impact of the wind on the trees and nearby lake. We also could hear the sound of metal roofing being torn and battered. We remained safe and dry, thank God. The wind did blow an awfully long time, but I think I was more frightened during the earthquakes we experienced in Hawaii and England.
Because of the power outages, we were only allowed to stay one more night at the Piney Shores Resort in Conroe, and thus we evacuated yet again. We now find ourselves in College Station, Texas, about 95 miles away from where we started our journey, but we have electricity and running water thanks to the hospitality of Scott and Laura Senseman (Scott was one of Tara’s dad’s former graduate students). And, we are close enough to Houston that we can drive Tara’s dad in to the treatment facility once it opens.
We praise God for the “training” we’ve had in packing and unpacking and living in small quarters. We’ve been so blessed along the way throughout our time in Texas. We stayed our first night in North Richland Hills with the Whittingtons in their lovely home. Then, we were able to stay the night in the small trailer the Lavy’s rented in Houston before heading to Conroe, and now to College Station.
We hope to be able to get back to Houston soon. We shall see. Regardless, we have seen the goodness of God in providing safe shelter, food, and transportation throughout. We also see how God has prepared our family for times such as these through our international mission trips, as travelling and moving to so many “new” beds with our children, age 9, 7, and 4, could have been quite a difficult family journey otherwise.
Please pray that Tara’s dad (Terry) is able to begin his treatment again on Tuesday (we know Monday is cancelled). We aren’t sure how many days can be missed before he would have to begin again (if he can begin again). Thank you so much for your faithful prayers!