Neighborhood News

The rain and wind lasted until around 1 p.m. We got outside and started to clean up. (Yes, I mostly sat and watched everyone - dumb foot). All the neighbors were out and most of them had big limbs down as well. Mr. Jerry's pecan tree (next to our garage) was snapped into little pieces. A tree fell on some cars down the street.

Ben and Nate started piling up all the branches and shredded leaves for the trucks to start picking up next week.

Around 3:00, there was a huge explosion and then a woman came flying out into the street yelling "We have lights!" Sure enough, the power was back on. But no internet or cable service yet. And the water pressure is still very, very low.

At 4:00, we headed over to Heather's to check on her and some other ward members. As we turned the corner, I could not believe my eyes. Earlier, Mr. Jerry had commented that "God must like you better than he likes us." I didn't have any idea what he was talking about, but now I could see what he meant. All streets around our block were totally trashed. The new townhouses had big holes in the sides. Roofs had come off, fences were down, it looked like a hurricane had been through (go figure). Nearly every block had a tree that came down on cars and houses. Trees were across the roads and we found it quite difficult to drive the 4 blocks to Heather's.

Heather was outside cleaning up. One of her pine trees lost its top. I could not believe the destruction I saw in her neighborhood and mine. Compared to that, we did look blessed by God. Thanks for all of your prayers - they worked!

Church has been cancelled for tomorrow. We will spend the day cleaning up the backyard and helping neighbors.

School has been cancelled for Monday as well.