Evacuation Monologues Vol. III (De Comes Home)

I was awake all Friday night and most of Saturday morning watching the storm coverage.
I couldn’t believe that just 24 hrs before, I was expecting my hometown to be washed away or blown to bits by record-breaking winds.
Now this storm was a Category 3 heading into Louisiana.
Fox News had a camera near the water just 2 miles from my mother’s house. Yes, the waves were choppy and the tide high, but I knew we’d be fine. The water gets like that in a big thunderstorm. This would be a piece of cake for us.
Finding words to describe the relief flowing through me is difficult. I was relieved for myself and my family but I couldn’t help but think of those in the path of the storm. Most of them were caught off guard. No one was expecting it to come their way.
Many people evacuated the Houston area and went to East Texas and that part of Louisiana. They might not be prepared.
I prayed they would be ok.

I think I might have slept for a few hours but early Saturday morning, my mother was ready to hit the road.
I kept hearing people on the news telling evacuees to stay put, there was no gas in Houston but Mom had made up her mind. We were going home.
I wasn’t so sure this was a good idea. We both had full tanks but if the roads were anything like they were when we left the Houston area, we might not make it with one tank of gas. What would happen if we couldn’t find any gas between New Braunfels and Houston?
However, Mom mapped out us a route through Texas that never touched a major highway. We were going to take the scenic routes through Texas country.
We loaded up our cars and strapped the dogs in again and headed out of New Braunfels and I admit, I was pleased with our results. We flew along those back roads without a care….for a while.
We stopped in Shiner to take the dogs out and for Mom to grab something to eat.
A local directed us to one of the only fast food joints in town, a chicken place called FryDays.
I still hadn’t had much to eat since Tuesday evening but that’s the difference between my mom and me. I don’t eat a thing when I’m stressed and she eats all the time when she’s stressed.
Without having to leave the dogs in a hot car, Mom ran inside and got some chicken to go and I encouraged her to eat it while we were still there instead of trying to drive and eat at the same time.
While she ate, I grabbed the map and tried (without much success) to figure out where we were and where we were going. I’ve never been very good at reading maps so I finally quit pretending I knew what I was doing and folded the thing back up and offered to throw Mom’s empty food container away.
I walked up to the trash receptacles at the front of the restaurant and a large, dirty man with black teeth stopped me.
“Saw ya lookin at the map. You lost?”
“No, Sir. I was just trying to find the best route back home.”
“Where ya from?” he asked, displaying his rotting teeth proudly.
“Galveston.” I answered. “We were thinking of taking Alt. 90 to 36 and then to Hwy 6. Do you think that’s a good idea?”
I was greeted with a few moments of silence as the wheels in his head whirred.
“I saw some buildins on ‘far’ on the Tee Vee in Galveston.”
I stared for a moment and realized that his parents were probably brother and sister.
“Thank you.” I smiled and I walked away.

On Alt 90, just past Rock Island, we encountered a traffic jam. We sat there for nearly an hour and didn’t even move 100 yards.
My gas gauge was at half a tank. Zoe and Crash were whining incessantly and I didn’t have sedatives for them for the trip back.
I didn’t know how long we would sit there and I started to panic.
I wanted to turn around and go back to New Braunfels and wait until traffic and gas stations returned to normal. I didn’t want to get stuck out in the heat with my 3 dogs and cat on some obscure country back road.
I tried to call my mom on the cell phone to tell her this but, of course, the cell service we pay out the ass for every month, wasn’t working. I kept getting a busy signal.
I tried deep breathing, I tried playing soothing music, I tried to think of other things but the tightness in my chest increased and breathing was becoming increasingly difficult.
Finally, I was sobbing hysterically, trying to take in deep breathes but only getting loud wheezing sounds. I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest and I was going to die.
I kept thinking, “We’re going to run out of gas. We’re going to run out of gas.”
I also couldn't help but think that something bad would happen, somehow. We were too lucky up to this point. There had to be SOMETHING horrible waiting for us. To make matters worse, sister #2 (who had stayed behind in New Braunfels) called to find out where we were and how the roads were looking. When I told her we were stuck on Alt 90 with only half a tank of gas, she kept saying “Just turn around and come back! It’s stupid to be out on the road now!”
I agreed but when I tried to call my Mom, I couldn’t get through. Each time I dialed her number and got a recording or a busy signal, I would get more and more hysterical. I guess the dogs were picking up on my panic because the more I cried, the more they cried and the more they cried, the more panicked I would get.
I’ve only had a few panic attacks in my life but they are real and I truly feel as if I’m going to die.
I only wanted to get back to a comfortable hotel room and wait this nightmare out.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, my call got through to Mom and I was sobbing on the phone begging her to turn around so we could go back.
At that very moment, traffic started moving.
She assured me that we were too close to home to turn around and go back but she had been looking at the map and found another route for us to take.
In soothing motherly tones, she told me we were getting close to El Campo and that we’d stop there, find a place for gas, walk the dogs and regroup. If I felt like we couldn’t go on, she was sure we could find a place to stay the night in town but I was only feeling this way because I haven’t slept or eaten in days.
Her soothing call and the fact that we were actually MOVING on the road was calming.
We did get to El Campo, we did find gas and we were able to walk the dogs. I felt much better.
While at the extremely crowded Shell station in El Campo, a man approached my mother and asked, “Where are you from?”
She told him and asked, “How about you?”
“Across the street.” He said and pointed. “I just thought I’d come over here and talk to people. Who knows? I might find myself a wife.”
I jumped into my car before my mom could point out that I was single.

The rest of the trip was great. We went right through El Campo, hit 59 and even found the perfect spot in which to take the dogs out.
It was at some fair grounds and there were picnic tables and lots of grass. We let them off the leash and they explored and peed on everything.
I felt SO much better. I knew we’d get home now.

We made a plan to first stop at my apartments, check them out, then stop at each sister’s house, check them out for damage and then stop finally at Mom’s house.
As soon as I turned on my street, I could see the roof of my apartment building. It was intact. I pulled into the parking lot and saw my bedroom window, it was in one piece.
My home was fine!
I was damn near giddy with relief and I thanked God profusely.
I even had electricity so I dropped the dogs and cat off with food and we headed back out to inspect houses.
Everyone’s home was fine, no major damage except for a fence or two. No big deal.
Mom’s house was perfect. She never lost power and her internet and cable were still working.
Suddenly, I felt hungry and Mom made me a tuna salad sandwich. That was the best fucking sandwich I’ve ever eaten!

Driving through town was a surreal experience. There were very few people there. I’m sure on Saturday 85% of the city were still gone. It was like a ghost town.
We were so lucky; so much more fortunate than so many others.
Why were we spared? I don’t know but I’m not taking it for granted.
I will take those days off and clean my apartment like I promised. I just never said I’d do it SOON.

Posted by De at September 30, 2005 01:43 PM | TrackBack