Doris & Hemie Update

Dragon Mood? -- thankful and relieved

Three weeks ago, hurricane Rita was pounding the Texas/Louisiana coastline. I know because it was the day before Sarah and Matt's wedding, Lina and Yosh had arrived from Wisconsin early on Friday morning and Sally and Grandma were here, too.

But Doris & Hemie were on our minds, as well. They live in Port Arthur, Texas, a fading refinery town right on the coast. I had called them late Thursday night; in fact, I woke Uncle Hemie up (Hemie is a nickname for Herman), scolded him about staying even for the night and encouraged them to leave.

Thankfully, they left within an hour and made it safely to the farm.

Now for the update part. I called Aunt Doris Wednesday evening, trying to locate them. I had no luck then, but happily, Aunt Doris called me back yesterday morning. We had a rapid-fire exchange for over 20 minutes, me asking questions and her answering them just as quickly back.

They got back to Port Arthur sometime late Sunday. Their house is still standing, the roof is still on (minus only ONE shingle!), the big old live oak in their backyard is alive and standing. Even the single-car carport on the hurricane-side (the east side) of their house was standing and in good shape, while Doris noted that 95% of nearby carports were damaged, if not destroyed. She thanked God while I sacriligiously noted that the standing carport was a testament to Hemie's superlative carpentry skills.

They didn't escape completely unscathed. Their step-down den, an addition sitting on a lower slab of concrete, and an adjoining "patio" which is a rustic, closed-in porch had both been inundated with six inches of water. Aunt Doris reported that the water was gone, but there was plenty of black mold, high-water marks on the wood furniture and carpeting still squishy with moisture. She said it smelled. And we didn't linger on the topic of all the frozen foods, good ol' farm sausage, shrimp and other meats they had to completely throw out -- after nineteen days of no electricity for the freezers. I told her all that can be replaced.

She said their yard was filled with debris. She briefly alluded to the fact that they spent a couple of days cleaning that up. She also credited the debris with channeling the storm surge away from their house, sparing the main living areas. (After spending a few days with them last spring though, I'd say Doris and Hemie do most of their living IN the den and the "patio." Ironic!)

As she talked, Aunt Doris expressed frustration at how long it is taking to get an insurance adjuster to the house to assess the damage. I guess not just one adjuster, but several. She noted that they had flood insurance (which I was very thankful to hear!) which requires a separate assessment. We never talked about their car or truck.

They are spending evenings and nights with Hemie's nephew(?) and wife, Doug and Sharon. Again, thank you, God, for caring family! Doris commented on how nice it was that Sharon is fixing meals for them. She also mentioned that the chemicals she's been using to clean are causing her body to itch. She said she's tried a bunch and had settled on Lysol for cleaning and removing the odor. I cautioned her on breathing that stuff too much. Her body's itchiness is already a VERY CLEAR sign of warning!

I asked about their church and their pastor. She reported that Pastor Dinger is "up" in LaGrange at Camp Lone Star. I presume he evacuated there, but we got sidetracked before I could follow up with her on that.

Just for all the folks who might be reading this, their house phone is back up and working (thanks to Uncle Hemie's sweet nature and asking the phone man "n-ah-ce and friendly"). Aunt Doris says she'd love to talk on the phone. But she also knows they've got a mighty mess on their hands and she's gonna be plenty busy for awhile.

Let's all give thanks that we still have our Aunt Doris and Uncle Hemie.