Hurricane Ike

With Hurricane Ike bearing down on the Texas coast, I can feel that knot of anxiety growing in my stomach. At Stake Leadership last night, out stake president spoke about the "Bridge Call" that they were participating in with SLC leadership and 16 stake representatives from Texas to Florida. In an attempt to have resources available the church has already brought pallets of emergency kits into local LDS storehouses. They are fairly organized and have a comprehensive plan in place. In areas that have mandatory evacuation, each home teacher is to call his families and get the name,address and phone number of where each family will relocate. This is then compiled into a master list to help prevent some of the chaos of Hurricane Katrina. This storm is over 600 miles wide and far reaching, so many saints will be effected.

Thought I'd share an insight that I recorded in my personal history when Hurricane Katrina was approaching New Orleans in 2006. "Hurricanes have had a significant impact on my life. Being a Navy brat, I recall living in Chincoteague and Norfolk, VA and also Pensacola, FL when various hurricanes hit. Dad would always be called into work several days before the storm – Off they go….taking the ship out to sea out of harms way. Mom would consult and plan with the other Navy wives - they'd decide whose house was safest AND on highest ground. Then they’d gather kids, sleeping bags, flash lights, pets, food and games together and head to the designated home for a day or two to ride out the storm.

In the 50’s and 60’s weather predictions and reporting left a lot to be desired. We basically had little of the intricate weather information that is available now. We’d stay tune to the sketchy weather reports on TV and radio until the electricity went out and then just hope for the best. An old transistor radio that ran on batteries would then provided vague, sometimes-garbled information about the storm raging around us. There was little information about the strength or speed of the approaching storm. Sometime in my teens they started flying near the storm to determine size and direction. Before that, ships reported most info. Fortunately we were never in anything too damaging- just tons of rain, some flooding and damage to trees and roofs.

It wasn’t until Hurricane Ivan that hit Pensacola FL on Sep. 16, 2004 that I realized that I felt compelled to have storm info, even though it was 800 miles away. As I watched and listened to all the updates and predictions, I recognized an all too familiar feeling of uneasiness and anxiety- and yet also a feeling of being independent and capable no matter what. As I pondered this, I realized that as a child I had been anxious and fearful, but because of the brave front that my Mom and other women displayed, that I too had kept a stiff upper lip and hid my fear. The things I had always remember were the games we played, the food that was pooled together to make meals and wanting to be home in my own bed. I knew without a doubt that Mom would protect us and Dad would arrive home safe and sound – or that is what I had told myself.

Hurricane Ivan had winds of 130 miles per hour when it came ashore. The storm also brought coastal flooding, with a storm surge 10 to 15 feet above normal high-tide levels and heavy rain. I learned some years later that our brick home located on the Bayou Grande, just north of the Naval Air Base, was hit by a 15 foot storm surge, causing so much damage that the home could not be rebuilt.