A Strange Perspective of Time

I’m not sure whether it is a blessing or a curse to have experienced another significant hurricane so recently. The weather nerds all say that an upper level Category x storm is the equivalent of the next higher category. So, by that definition, Southeast Texas has experienced two Category 3 hurricanes within the past 3 years. In such a situation, what would any normal brain do? Why … try to expect the exact same things to happen after each of them, of course!

Unfortunately, my brain seems to have retained a somewhat skewed perception of the events immediately after Her Horribleness and what’s happening now after HIS Horribleness. What makes it even more difficult to deal with is that both Rita and Ike hit the area in almost the same time frame at almost exactly the same time of the same month in almost the exact concurrence of two major storms within a short period of time. Katrina clobbered Louisiana about 3 weeks before Rita, while Gustav hit southwest Louisiana just 2 weeks before Ike. YIKES!

So, of course, our experience of the two storms must be exactly the same. Right? … Wrong.

Certainly, there are some similarities. I’ve already mentioned a few. Another is that, for the most part, southeast Texas seems to be once again overshadowed by the devastation experienced elsewhere. If you watch the major news channels, Galveston, Bolivar Peninsula, and Houston receive the vast majority of the coverage, while Beaumont, Bridge City, and Orange may crop up in passing. My brain screams “Not fair! Not fair!” at the tv set.

There are differences as well. When Rita came roaring through Sabine Pass, we ended up on the “clean” side of the storm. There was some storm surge in the area, but most of the devastation experienced by the area was wind damage. With Ike … well, we got the “dirty” side of the storm. I knew that water was insidious and capable of major destruction. But I don’t think I ever really realized that water coming up into an area with such deceptive slowness could produce such incredible damage as what I’ve seen in the pictures of Bridge City and elsewhere along the coast. It totally boggles the mind.

If I really put my thinking cap on, I’m able to remember that 3 days after Rita hit we were almost as clueless about what’s going to happen and when as it feels we are right now. About now, someone might be asking, “Well, didn’t we learn something from Rita? Can’t we do it better this time around?” I have a feeling we did, and probably are doing it better this time around, but it doesn’t feel that way because there are differences between the two storms.

Stop and think for a moment. When Rita hit, the vast majority of the community had evacuated and only a very few souls remained in town. In my congregation, only one family weathered the storm in their home, and only one family who came back before the third day after the storm. This time, about a third of our congregation stayed in their homes while Ike roared through. They’ve experienced the immediate desolation and lack of resources, information, and air conditioning. True, within the first week after Rita, there were just as many, if not more, back in the 100+ degree heat, which we haven’t had this time around. (Praise God!!) But by having so many in town to experience the aftermath so quickly, it seems as though we should already have power and clean water and sewage and full grocery stores and on and on right now!

I find myself getting really frustrated because I’m not back in Beaumont yet. When Rita hit, on the day she hit, I was able to make it back to Texas from my meeting in California and, on Sunday, I made it to Mom’s in Houston. I was just a hop, skip and a jump away from getting back home. This time, it will be at least a 4 ½ hour drive to get there, and I won’t have the easy resources of Mom’s electricity, phone, and internet connection to fall back on. Her home is in about the same shape as mine: powerless, grocery-store-less, resourceless.

I have to remind myself that it’s only been 3 days since the storm came through. At 3 days after Rita, we had National Guard personnel posted at the exits to town and no one could easily go in or out. That has not been true this time around. We’ve actually gotten a bit more information and a bit more healing happening a bit more quickly than it did after Rita. Who would have ever imagined that Lumberton would have power by now? Or downtown Beaumont? By the first Sunday worship after Rita, we were still without power at the church. They’ve already had power for two days this time around!

I have to remind myself that the first day we were permitted to come in, take a quick look, and get out after Rita was almost exactly a week after the storm. I already know that my house doesn’t have a tree through the roof, and I knew that on Monday. My backdoor neighbor was able to see what damage had occurred and called me to let me know. What a blessing!

Yes, we’ve had two somewhat similar storms happen way too closely for my comfort zone. Yes, there’s still the frustration of not having things happen as quickly as we’d like them to. Yes, I’m Oh! Sooooo! ready to be in my own home with everything back to normal, once again.

But I’m beginning to realize that we’re Oh! So! Blessed this time around in so many ways. Sure, there are glitches as things which didn’t happen during Rita, like the major flooding, are being addressed this time around in the different ways that are now called for.

Yet I’m reminded that God is truly in the midst of this experience - walking alongside us, mourning losses, feeling our frustration, calming fears, bringing sanity back when it feels that we can’t handle any more. I guess there’s one more similarity between those two storms: We made it through Rita with God’s help as communities have come together to help each other stitch up the wounds and heal the injuries we‘ve sustained. I’m pretty sure we’ll make it through Ike the same way.