Category: weather

Posted in hurricane, weather

OPERATION COMPASSION

Posted on by sassysheisme

Chronicle story about Operation Compassion.

THE MEETING:

Already, the refugees have become a moving target in the effort to provide relief. Things keep changing. In 24 hours, location has already changed. Now we are responsible for feeding the 8500 people in the George R. Brown Convention Center. The Astrodome and Reliant Center (which are side by side) are covered now by enough Red Cross (and other) volunteers and supplies. By the time my church takes their turn, we may be sent to yet another shelter housing a large number of refugees. Only time will tell. There are still more evacuees arriving each day.

I attended the training meeting this morning at Second Baptist. All creeds, races and faiths were represented. It was an amazing sight. The priority to meet the basic needs and bypass evangelical agenda at this time was addressed and I was thankful. The level of cooperation of this faith-based effort is high and will have to be maintained for weeks or months.

Many of you know my comfort zone. I have already been stretched out of it, but it’s kind of interesting out here. I went to this meeting by myself as I am still meeting people at my new church and getting involved there and I didn’t know which meeting my work colleagues were attending. So, I walked in and sat down by myself, confident that the sea of humanity would not swallow me whole and I’d be home in an hour or two eating lunch and still be okay. You laugh, but I’ve come a long way, baby.

I sat next to a man who was there from his mosque. On the other side of me was an older couple from Second who happen to be parents of one of the deacon wives at the church I work for. They were so sweet. In all, 4500 people attended the meeting, the first of many this weekend.

A friend of mine said that her apt complex is now full and that is what I am hearing from other places. It was such a God thing that we signed a lease last week and do not have to be looking for a place to live. My friend also said that several displaced Louisiana teens have enrolled at her daughter’s high school on the West side of town. I don’t know of anyone in Houston who is not coming into contact daily with someone affected by Katrina.

Again, prayers are needed. We were cautioned again today that they expect people to still be in shelters after Thanksgiving and that we will be serving more than once. Pray that people stay diligent to the task and that hope can be restored to these devastated people.

Posted in hurricane, receptionist ramblings, weather

PEOPLE STILL SURPRISE ME… AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY

Posted on by sassysheisme

Today I worked the switchboard at the church I work for. The phone rang off the hook ALL day long as I fielded calls from people who genuinely want to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They were not my problem. Dealing with compassionate, giving people is not draining, even if the calls are pouring in faster than I can answer them.

The calls I received from people who wished to vent about various things that have gone wrong during the aftermath of the devastation in New Orleans and the people who were just generally annoying… those calls wore me out today. I will give you a sampling of some of the calls I received.

CALL NUMBER ONE: THE MAN AFRAID OF THE “BUREAUCRACY.”

Caller: We’re from out of state and we want to know how we can help.
Me: You can donate money to the Red Cross or Salvation Army or volunteer at the nearest chapters of those organizations.
Caller: Yes, but we prefer to volunteer outside the bureaucracy.
Me: What do you mean by that sir?
Caller: Well, we don’t want to get caught up in the political struggle of the bureaucracy. We want to help people… directly.
Me: Then you would travel here?
Caller: No.
Me: Then…
Caller: Are you a black church?

Huh?! And that has to do with…

Me: Not particularly.
Caller: Oh, because we figured the black churches would be the most involved (I assumed he was implying that the black churches would be most involved because most of the evacuees in the Astrodome are of the same race… because I can’t think of any other ignorant reason to say something like that).

At this point I took a deep breath and prayed that God would keep me from losing my job if I said what was going through my mind.

Me: Sir, all churches, regardless of race or denomination, are directly involved in the relief efforts here, but you should also know that for the most part the Red Cross is in charge of the relief efforts at the Astrodome and the churches, regardless of race or denomination, are working with the Red Cross.
Caller: Oh. Ok.
Click.

Sadly, there’s more.

I had people call from all over the country, obviously parked in front of their tv’s viewing the devastation from far, far away. This is a sampling of what was said to me.

CALL NUMBER TWO: LADY, PLEASE TURN OFF THE TV

Caller: I am in Chicago. I am watching CNN. Why isn’t anyone from your church feeding the people outside the Astrodome? (At one point this morning, 11,000 people were waiting outside waiting for placement).
Me: Because, Ma’am, the Red Cross is in charge and they have not asked us, as an organization, to do so.
Caller: Where are the Baptist Men? (Denominational Organization that works with the Red Cross to feed people during disasters and has been doing so for years). I’m ashamed to be a Baptist!
Me: Ma’am, the Men’s organization has been in Louisiana since early this week feeding people there and just because the news isn’t talking about it and they are showing it on tv, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
Caller: Oh. Well…
And, as I am about ready to explode, wishing I could slap this woman, I said: So what is your local Red Cross or Baptist organization doing to help with the disaster?
Caller: Uh…. I guess I should find out.

My point exactly.

CALL NUMBER THREE: THERE’S PROBABLY A GOOD REASON BEHIND IT

I received calls from Idaho, Nebraska and Minnesota (who knew about the church specifically) with various complaints about the church not being a shelter during such a difficult time. I said, “The Red Cross has not activated us at this time,” more than I needed to today.

Caller: Why aren’t you a shelter?
Me: The Red Cross has strict guidelines about what buildings pass for shelters and we are way down the list.
Caller: But you have that big gym…
Me: Yes, and it has windows in the roof, and per Red Cross guidelines, shelters must be set up in places with no windows. Our church, unfortunately for this situation, is covered in windows. We also have a school and daycare facility and they fill most of our available rooms during the day. We have few rooms approved for a shelter and I’m certain we are far down the list as possible shelters. Did you want anything else?
Caller: Uh…

And, the best example I can think of that just really made me the angriest was this call:

CALL NUMBER FOUR: HITTING A HURTING INDIVIDUAL OVER THE HEAD WITH THE BIBLE BEFORE YOU FEED HIM MAY RESULT IN YOUR OWN DEATH

Caller: So, what evangelistic efforts are going on in the Astrodome today? Why isn’t anyone down there telling people about Jesus?!
(deep breath)
Me: Well, Ma’am, a hungry man doesn’t hear anything but his stomach growling, nor does a thirsty man hear anything but the sound of his raspy throat.
Caller: Huh?
Me: Ma’am, I’m certain that the spiritual needs of these people will be tended to at some point, but the purpose of the shelter is to meet their most basic needs. Food. Water. Clothes. Hot shower. Sleep. I would assume that after those needs have been met, the people will be more open to evangelistic efforts.
Caller: Oh. I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.

God help me, I made it through the day without losing my mind… and this is only the tip of the iceberg of what I heard today. Fortunately, more sane, loving, compassionate people called than the ignorant people.

I am in Houston. Let me tell you what is going on. BASIC needs are being met, albeit much slower than needed. Money is needed. Clothes are needed. Hands/Volunteers are needed. Patience is needed. Leave your criticism where it belongs (in your head) and DO something instead… or shut up and write a check to the bureaucracy that can help people the most.

There. My rant is finished.

Posted in hurricane, weather

COMPLETE DEVASTATION

Posted on by sassysheisme

I used to think that movies like Mad Max were truly science fiction… that the world of Mad Max would never sprout from the throes of civilization in my United States. And then I turned on the news last night and people were shooting at rescue teams with AK47’s and raping survivors of a catastrophic flood. The looting, the holdups, the riots, the filth, the anarchy and chaos… is only about a five hour drive away east on I-10.

New Orleans is now a hellish cesspool and many of those poor people have lost their minds and any shred of civility to which they had been clinging… and some, some have even regressed to brutality and evil. Even the world of Mad Max seemed to be more civilized.

I can only watch news coverage for about 15 minutes at a time. I usually end up on the verge of tears, my mind twisted by the images it’s absorbing. I can’t even imagine what those people are going through, yet I know that if Houston had faced a category 5 hurricane I could be waiting for evacuation from the Astrodome, if I was lucky.

While people are rushing to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina, I have stepped back, as I used to do, and see where the greatest need is, or find something that has been missed, and I step in to fill the hole.

As I was sitting here tonight contemplating what will happen when the thousands of eager volunteers trail off after a week or two of action, I got an e-mail from my church about opportunities to serve at the end of the month.

The Mayor of Houston has asked the faith community to band together to feed the refugees in the Astrodome for the next few months. My church, along with other Episcopal churches in Houston, will join the Lutheran churches, the Christian Church, the Disciples of Christ, The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, The Society of Friends (Quakers), and The Hindu Community in providing the food and the volunteers for a seven day period beginning Wednesday, September 28th. I plan to serve Saturday, October 1st during the lunch shift (10 AM – 4 PM). Please keep all involved in your prayers.

In the meantime, I will continue to gather what I can to help the relief effort… donate clothes, and whatever else I can. The first thing that entered my mind was books, because if I was stuck in the Astrodome with no money I’d go bonkers if I didn’t have SOMETHING to do. So we’ll see what I do with all these ideas that pop into my head.

And I need to quit watching the news and let myself relax or laugh and know that to serve I will need my sense of humor as well as my compassion.

There but for the grace of God go I.

Posted in weather

RAIN, RAIN, AT LEAST LET UP!

Posted on by sassysheisme

It’s been raining all day. It’s been a rainy “winter” in fact. It’s supposed to rain for the next few days. Today it was 70 and humid, by Thursday it will be a low that night of 40. I LOVE this weather. NOT!

It wouldn’t be so bad if every parking lot around my workplace didn’t flood. Only one parking lot exists that doesn’t flood and it’s nowhere near my office. Since the major freeway construction, the flooding in our parking lots has been worse, but at least the access road between us and the freeway is free of flooding now.

Shae row your boat ashore, allelujah…

Posted in holidays, pics, weather
Posted on by sassysheisme


More Christmas Eve snow. Posted by Hello

Both pictures taken by Jene’ (c) 2004

The snow didn’t end yesterday morning. I drove through the snow on the way to Christmas Eve service and when I came back outside almost two hours later, my car was covered in snow! The ground was too warm to hold the snow for long, so the snowman was made from the snow on my trunk.

Other areas near Houston got as many as 10 inches. I couldn’t believe it. In Galveston, people were making SNOW ANGELS on the beach. Totally crazy, but we had fun.

Sadly, the beady-eyed snowman melted just two short hours later and tomorrow it will be 60 degrees. However, this will be a Christmas to remember because of our flaky visitors!

Posted in holidays, weather

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME… IT’S SNOWING!

Posted on by sassysheisme

My first day off on my Christmas break, and I was sleeping in… all nice and toasty. It was about 10:15 and I heard my roommate leave to go to work. I got up to go to the bathroom and there’s this knocking on my bedroom door…

“SHARON, IT IS SNOWING!” And then she left for work.

I put on my bathrobe (it’s cold downstairs) and checked out my roomie’s weather report. There were a few flakes drifting down (when I say few, I mean like four or five at a time, but they were distincly snow, not sleet or ice). Yes, I enjoyed the intermittent flakes and they melted as soon as they hit the ground. My roommate called from her car, gleeful about every flake that hit her windshield (and we’re talking maybe six flakes), BUT…

I wrapped my fern two night ago in a towel to protect it from the below freezing temps and when the flakes hit the towel, they stuck to it!

So, it may only be a few flakes, but it’s SNOW! In Houston. On Christmas Eve.

I curled up with a cup of coffee downstairs and watched the intermittent flake or two fall, thinking, “Merry Christmas to me, there’s snow on my fern!”

I said a little prayer and thanked God for my snowflakes. I was still in my bathrobe and was about to come upstairs and take a shower when I heard someone screaming outside, “Merry Christmas! WOO HOO!”

I looked out the window again and it was SNOWING. MAJOR FLAKAGE. It accumulated on the ground for a few minutes and on hoods of cars. I grabbed my camera and ran around outside and I was having so much fun!

The girl across the way (she looked about college age) was screaming and pointing at me, “She doesn’t think I’m crazy!” and then I realized…

I’m running around outside in my bathrobe.

So, I dashed back in the house, put on some pants and a flannel shirt and ran back outside with my camera. I hope the shots turn out because it’s the only evidence I have it snowed. In Houston. On Christmas Eve.

Then I took my tiny snowman cupcake topper (you know, a head with a stick on it to decorate cupcakes) and put him in the folds of my towel that’s wrapped around my fern. Snow accumulated around him and didn’t melt, so technically, I made myself a snowman.

In Houston. On Christmas Eve.

With all I’ve been going through lately, I know it’s nuts that something that simple just totally lifted a weight off my shoulders this morning, but it did.

Amazing how the moment after I was thankful for what little snow I did get to see, the sky opened up. It was a reminder that no matter how bad things get, even if I’m not thankful, God will continue to remind me of His faithfulness even if I’m not looking.

I would still like to see “real” snowman pictures, though so if you’re snowed in somewhere and you have kids, send them outdoors on their yearly mission of mercy to make me a snowman! (don’t forget to take a picture and send it to me!)

Ah, merry Christmas to me!

Snow. In Houston. On Christmas Eve… a miracle indeed!

Posted in weather
Posted on by sassysheisme

WELL SNOWBUNNIES, I WENT TO THE BEACH LAST NIGHT

Please don’t hate me.

Well, Blogger just ate this wonderful post I just made about going to the beach last night. It was very long and I don’t want to go back and recreate it all. Let’s just say it was 75 yesterday and I was wearing shorts and my friend LaRee took us to the beach to help her collect some sand and shells for a school project (LaRee teaches preschool — 2 year olds). Today it was 72 but a cold wind has descended upon us and it is now in the mid 40’s and should be freezing by morning. So much for shorts weather for a week or so.

I wish I had my blog back. I’m so sad. There was beautiful sarcasm and everything! Oh, well. That’s life.

Until later!

Posted in weather
Posted on by sassysheisme

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY

AND TAKE THE TORNADOES WITH YOU…

Today was a long, long day on the switchboard. Not only do we have two major events this week (plus a church wide dinner Sunday evening) and the Christmas program in 3 1/2 weeks, but Houston began to flood around 11 a.m. this morning, shortly following the first tornado in Sugar Land (southwest suburb of Houston). Therefore, in addtion to the high volume of calls I usually get, I received phone calls from panicked parents and people with events scheduled for the evening.

The church I work for usually gets “flooded in” during heavy, heavy rains. The freeway and access roads all flood, our parking lot floods, and the surrounding streets flood, and nobody can get in or out. It was reported, shortly before 1 p.m. that the access roads were flooding, but they made us stay at work, thinking, if the rain let up, we would be able to exit the parking lot by 4:30 p.m.

So… at 3 p.m. many people (esp. parents — we have a daycare and elementary/middle school) became genuinely concerned that we were all stuck there and they couldn’t get through. I was upset because people were told to leave at that point (though they had to stay b/c there was nowhere for them to go) and I wasn’t. UGH… and I’m part time and I need EVERY hour I can get… so I didn’t put up much of a fuss.

Many people ventured out about 3:30, calling me and telling me how bad it was out there, and telling me to send out e-mails advising people what routes not to take. Finally, my supervisor’s secretary came out and told me we were leaving at 4:15 so we’d have some daylight to see to get home. It didn’t rain for about a half hour, which helped the water level go down enough so many of us could leave the building.

Granted, this flood is nothing compared to Allison (June, 2001) during which we got our yearly average total of rainfall (38″) in two days… but slap a few tornadoes on top of all this rain and it’s a mess out there. I have friends who got home 2 hours later than usual, but all are safe. It only took me a half hour or so to get home (it takes 15 minutes) but I live in an area of town that is actually above sea level and not near a bayou.

Another band of thunderstorms are headed this way, but I should be able to get to work tomorrow. 🙂 I should hear some interesting stories when I get there!

Posted in weather
Posted on by sassysheisme

RUMBLE, RUMBLE…

Ok… this is some storm (totally unrelated to Grace). My entire room just shook. I will post this before there are any power outages… I hope there aren’t any power out…(just kidding).