Two weeks after Rita

Yesterday Kayla and I went out on our 4 wheeler to take some pictures of the neighborhood. You'll see the Grainery Compand and the Lumberyard both only a copy houses from us, and a house just a couple streets away.

Hurrican Rita

It has been a week since I started back to work, and many days it has been difficult not to cry. I have not seen the community come together as tightly as it has. I have seen the National Guard, Coast Guard, Red Cross, and others hand out help on t.v. , but never thought I'd be one of the ones in line for food, water, and ice, but have been now. It is a very humbling experiance for us, especially since taking is a difficult thing for me to do when I know I can never repay the kindness given.
In the days following Rita it has seemed a dream, the Military, the Disaster organizations such as FEMA and Red Cross, and our town's people ( even me and Kayla ) pulling to help the community in our time of need. At work it is difficult not to cry, seeing our towns people try to take care of the Men and Women who are here to help us, them paying for thier drinks, snacks, and offering warm showers and what they can for the kindness they have shown us.
As a child I have lived with out electricity, done with out hot water, and survived without watching television. But now, after all the years of Air Conditioning, Computers, and Television... I had forgotten that there other ways. I am no longer a youth, nor do I have the resilantsy that comes with it, however I know that I can still survive without electricty and all that comes with it. I can still make tea w/ a perculator, make dinner over a flame, and be comfortable doing so.
It has been nearly two weeks now, and today I had a Whopper for lunch... the first since, and it tasted AMAZING !! Today, I got my first day off since last Wednesday when my store opened back up. Even the owner of the company lent a helping hand and directed traffic in our parking lot/ pump stations. He even made sure that those of us who hadn't a home, had a place to stay during all of this. two of my co workers lost their home, and two other couldn't go there homes because of the surrounding damage.
The school had some roof damage to the luch building, and the Winnie Community Building took all the food from there to cook ( and keep from wasting away ) for those of us who needed a good meal. Kayla starts back to school tomorrow, and we all look forward to a bit of normalcy.

Rita's Tantrum

Here are just a few pictures of what Rita did while we ran for cover. They were taken just two days after she hit our small town. The pictures are of the local lumberyarn (which is only a few houses down from my house), our Sonic , which half of the awning is gone and alot of damage to the main building; all the in the third picture is from the roof off the building to the left, a block away, and last is David Self Ford Dealership, they were smart enough to have moved all of the merchandise out of town to a safer location.