doran club

We just finished up shopping for and wrapping Christmas gifts.  It’s DORAN CLUB time

We gathered the money that was collected all year in the children’s Bible Classes and took up donations from the members.  This year we were able to help five needy families for a total of 15 children ranging in age from 3 to 18 years.

We also helped 3  families within the congregation.

LADIES DAY @ HICKORY KNOLL

Ten of our sisters went to New Orleans today (Saturday 25th).  They had a great time.

The congregation, Hickory Knoll Church of Christ, was severly damaged during Katrina and Rita.

They have come back strong and added a “Spanish” congregation in the past two years

Our ladies had great time. Cynthia Guy was the guest speaker…. her presentation included See’s chocolates.

They had a bigger than expected crowd.  That is always a good thing.

Still Putting Things Back Together

A group from Tennessee working in Baton Rouge came down for the day, Tuesday (Oct7th), and did some great work.  We went to three separate houses in the Point-Aux-Chenes area.

Cleaned up debris and cut trees-

We also carried debris and damaged household goods to the road and cleaned up the yard at this house.

I was busy at one of the homes and didn’t get any pictures from the third house (sorry).  But, part of the group cleaned up their entire yard and carried debris to the road for pick-up and removal.

THE DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER

Today we spent the afternoon cleaning up some brethren’s home.  We pulled, drug, and hauled their ruined belongings to the road side for pick up.

Both from the front and from the back door…..

And took it all out to the road…..

And five minutes after getting home we got a call from one of our college aged sisters…..

She is at home with her mom recovering from bruises, bumps and pain.

THIS PAST WEEK

Still helping the brethren recover from the storms.  We spent all day Friday and Saturday tearing down Mr. Paul’s home.  A wonderful group from the Crieve Hall church of Christ came down and did the bulk of the work.  Hurricane Gustav pushed Mr. Paul’s house into his neighbor’s house and then Hurricane Ike filled it with mud and water.

We were able to save only about three clothes baskets of items from the house, some dishes and a few clothes.  Susan washed the clothes and we will return them to him today.

Today I am delivering a used refrigerator and some food to put in it to another family (brethren) that lost everything.  The fridge was given to us by another member of the congregation. Here was their home after Gustav

KIND OF AN UPDATE

We had our first Bible classes in the building this past Tuesday (16th).  This Sunday (21st) will be our first Worship Service back in the building since the storms hit.

Basically, Hurricane Gustav came almost right through us (just to our southeast about 10 miles).  We had strong Category 1 winds for a sustained time and there was minimal to substantial damage to the brethren’s homes.  Two of our brethren lost their homes completely in Gustav.  Then Hurricane Ike scurted our coast line for a long time.  We had southeast and southerly winds of 40 with gusts to 65 for two-and-a-half  days.  I didn’t think the wind was ever going to stop.  That brought in the storm surge and the elevated tides.  Ike was the “flood event” for our area.

This was Paul D. house.  If you look closely you can see the red arrows where it used to set.  Gustav’s winds carried it along on the storm surge right into the neighbors house.

The Naqin’s home had its roof removed by Gustav.  This picture is after Gustav.  We brought a 20 X 30 tarp to them to cover their roof.  They had no water pressure to clean it out.  They could only wait for the mud to dry and scrape it out with shovels.  Ike came through with a wall of water about 4 feet and wiped out all their work and their home.  That pile of brown stuff is dried marsh grass that was removed from inside their home.

Michael (my son), Mitch (young man who attends here) and I have cut trees, cleared debris, cleaned out refrigerators, pulled out carpets, delivered ice – water – food – cleaning supplies.

We have one of our families living in the building.  They were able to get to their home to have a “look see” only just today (Friday, 19th).  They had about 7 inches of water in their home.

We finally made it back to one sister with a toddler who is surrounded by a little over a foot of water.  We brought her a food box, some water and some baby items.  Her house is above the ground about 3 feet so the water is about 18 inches below the floor of her home.  She has electricity but no phone so I’ll keep a closer watch on her.

Brethren Coming Back

The brethren are starting to come back home to debris, no power, limited or no water supply, no gas, limited food supplies…. But they are back.

Please, please pray for those in the path of Hannah!

Tomorrow Is The Day…. for some

Tomorrow is the official day that residents of Terrebonne Parish can go back to “have a look see”.  The parish is locked-down with a dusk-to-dawn curfew.  Residents can enter the parish at 6:00 AM Friday and go to their homes.  They cannot go to any other neighborhoods or “check out the damage”.  Sheriff’s Officers, Houma Police, State Troopers, and National Guard are patrolling the entire parish and locking it down at 8:00 PM to any and all traffic.

The roadways are littered with debris, trees, and utility poles. When I say “littered” that means most roads within the parish are impassable.  The water supply to lower Terrebonne Parish (Bourg, Montegut, Presque Island) is off- a crew boat crashed into the main water supply line.

Headed Back Shortly

The Parish has decided to open up Friday, Sept 5th.  I am headed back Friday or Saturday.  The power is still out and will be from 1 to 3 weeks.  There is extensive debris and most sources estimate that 50-60% of the utility poles in Terrebonne Parish are down.

There was no flooding due to levee “topping” or breaching.  The damage is mostly the result of wind force and falling trees and power poles.  The recovery efforts will be almost exclusively debris removal and waiting for the power to return.  Then we get to find out what appliances didn’t survive the power- surges, outages, and fluctuations.

We will resume Worship Services as the brethren return and resume Bible Classes when the power returns. There will be no Worship Services this Sunday (Sept 6th).

Hmmmm………