The Aftermath

So today is a whole new day. We are still camped out in Dallas ~ thought we would try and head back South today, but we are under a sunset - sunrise curfew so we are not going to try and tempt it for fear that with the traffic (even though we will be headed back via back roads which adds time since it is not a direct route) that we will not get back before the curfew goes into effect. So we are more than likely going to head out under the cover of darkness around 5:00 AM and start making our way back. We are going to pick up a U-Haul trailer before we head back and load it with all of the stuff we are going to need ~ coolers full of ice, fence material (apparently we no longer have one), gas for the generators that we hope BP is going to come through with through their Humanitarian Aid program, etc.~ we have gotten reports that our house itself appears to be okay ~ we lost several trees, but fortunately none of them fell onto the house ~ lots of people have lost shingles and are taking on water in their house because of it, but my neighbor said that it looks like our shingle situation is okay ~ we are hoping that is the case at least! Guess we will see when get there. There is no electricity in the neighborhood and who knows when we will be getting it back ~ that is miserable, but at least a cold front has made its way down so that should help to make it not so miserably sweltering!
As for my parent's and brother's house they are trying to head back and survey the damage for themselves. Apparently in my parent's yard several trees have fallen and landed on the garage apartment ~ my dad probably helped that situation by starting to cut them at the base so they would fall and take the garage apartment out so none of us could possibly ever move back in there! For those who don't know all 3 kids have passed back through there after having moved out at 18. My brother was the first back, then I moved back after college ~ no sense in paying rent somewhere when I was gone 6 months of the year, that and I am so cheap, and then when my sister got divorced a couple of years ago she moved back in. Every time one of us has come back upon our departure my dad has threatened to pour gas on the joint to burn it to the ground! Their house appears to be alright from the outside ~ they don't think the surge actually made it all the way up the hill so unless it is flooded from rain because of a roof problem it sound like they may be alright.
My brother's house on the other hand is apparenty under 4 feet of water. They have 2 cars ~ a Trail Blazer with a million miles on it that they parked at my parent's house hoping it would perish with the surge and then a little Mazda 3 that is their reliable car and the newer one which they left parked in their own garage ~ they vacated the area in my parent's H2 since it is reliable and higher off the ground. As Murphy's Law would have it NOTHING happened to the Trail Blazer that needed to float away, but the Mazda is flooded! La Porte is continuing to flood today so the level of water is more than likely continuing to rise in my brother's house. That sucks!