Thursday, September 22, 2005

Roll Call: Rebecca and Shannon

Our daughter and son-in-law, living in Hardin.

4 comments:

  1. Rebecca was told to report to work today, but I'm hoping they've let her go by now. She called me from there earlier this morning, but I was not able to get in touch with her this afternoon. I'm a bit worried since the storm is shifting her direction now, and she still didn't have firm plans to share with me. Also, she has Madison and Mason with her, so I'm a little extra concerned. I'll try to report again when I get news.

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  2. After calling over and over, I was able to get in touch with Shannon on the cell phone. He told me they are crawling through traffic at Lufkin, on their way to some of his family in Jefferson. They've got Madison and Mason with them, and I was really relieved to hear from them all!

    I asked about his mom as well, and he said they will be leaving the area in the morning. Good news from Hardin!

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  3. I got another update from Rebecca and Shannon about 11pm and thought I'd share it with you.

    They are extremely tired and still a ways from their target destination. They have been traveling for 10 hours, and have progressed only 162 miles. They called me hoping I might help them find a place to rest for a few hours, but I encouraged them to go on, since there are no hotel rooms to be found anywhere in Texas.

    Rebecca was also quite discouraged by things she has seen along the way. They passed a motor home that had burned "to the ground", and later passed a van that was completely destroyed, and still burning. She said it was very sad because she could see the man had loaded up a lot of his possessions (she noticed one was a grandfather clock), and they all were destroyed.

    She also told me the "craziness" was a bit scary. People were driving on both shoulders, driving in the medians, and even saw a group of 30 or so frustrated drivers pass across to the other side of the freeway and begin driving the wrong way.

    They also saw people doing some of the everyday things typically done in a person's own home or neighborhood, all along the route. These included eating and drinking, using the bathroom, walking the dog, and more.

    Rebecca told me the kids are doing surprisingly well for such a long trip. Madison got sick and threw up in the car, which makes traveling a bit difficult for all of them [the smell is hard to get rid of], but the kids have been watching movies and are, in general, doing well.

    I hope they get to their destination soon. She sounded so tired and depressed and I felt so sorry for them.

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  4. Rebecca called to say they are doing fine this morning. They are far enough north north-west to not have any rain or wind from the storm.

    She was able to talk to someone who did a "drive-by" at her home in Hardin and reported some trees down, some damage to the carport and the walkway cover between it and the house, but said her car is undamaged and the house appears to be undamaged as well.

    Shannon is a little antsy to go back home, but I reminded Rebecca that if they don't have electricity there, that could be quite miserable. She promised to give me an update on their plans later.

    My grandaughter Madison still seems to be a bit sick, having another spell of vomiting this morning. I worry about the little ones, but Rebecca says they seem to be doing fine overall and are having a bit of fun with the "adventure".

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