A calm within the storm

The remnants of Ike barreled up the Mississippi before turning East and hitting other cities (like Cleveland). Some areas of St. Louis had extreme wind conditions and other areas were pelted with rain. We had some crazy wind that caused 1) our sturdy grill to blow all around 2) the ornamental grass in the backyard to take on a new shape and 3) our tomatoes plants and sand toys to be whipped throughout the yard. But despite this, our wind was not as bad as other areas. Our problem was Rain. Lots and lots of rain......Almost 6 inches in a relatively short time span.

We woke up Sunday in an attempt to arrive at church 15 minutes early. Jared and I were both speaking and I had sharing time. I wanted to be set up for sharing time before church so I could catch my breath between Sacrament and Primary without rushing around like a crazy woman. We were amazed at how hard the rain was coming down and rushed outside to secure items in the backyard. If that is how hard it was blowing and raining here, I have no desire to ever be anywhere close to an actual Hurricane. We dug rain gear our for everyone and headed on our way. We were still in our development when we almost lost control of the car. There was a huge lake of water in the street, but it was raining so hard we didn't see it until we were in it. After turning out of our neighborhood we could see a "river" ahead of us. The water was draining from the driving range, across the street, and into another development. (We'll get back to this neighborhood). It was flowing quite fast and we were hesitant to attempt to go through. We slowly made our way through and continued to church; amazed along the way at how parking lots, parks, and yards dry the day before, now looked like ponds, rivers, and lakes.
When we pulled into the parking lot there were only a handful of other cars (the Leadership meeting attendees). On my way to the Primary room I overheard the Bishop and 2nd Counselor debating whether or not we would have the last 2 hours of meetings. They advised me not to set up for Primary. Relieved to not have to speak and do sharing time on the same day I joined my family in the Chapel. Five minutes before start time with only a few people trickling in we were told we would not be speaking.
One town within our ward boundaries is right by the Mississippi. That town had suffered a lot of flooding and even had sewers backing up into homes. Several families in other towns had also suffered flooding, or had big trees blown down. One family had a large tree graze the window of their wheel-chair ridden son's bedroom on its way down. A family who lives in the developement next to ours, had close to a foot of water in their finished basement. I think that some of the childrens' bedrooms were even in the basement. The father of that home recently had surgery and could not lift or peform manual labor. (Remember the river draining from the driving range? It was headed to a drainage pipe in a basin behind this family's house. The water backed up so much it starting coming over the 5 ft fence in their backyard) Other people arrived at church late after having to take several detours and find new routes to church. The brother behind us told me he saw several abandoned cars floating down the street as he turned around to find an alternate route.

The sacrament was administered and then we got to see the organization of the church in action. The bishop asked us all to call the families we home/visit teach. The bishop and 2nd counselor gave our their cell phone numbers so we could report back as to which families were in need of help. A count of pumps, and wet/dry vacs available was taken. Reports were made of families that were already known to need assistance. Then we split up and went to work. The elder quorum president and his wife dropped their children off for me to watch, and Jared joined them in helping families clean up. It was really neat to see how everyone pulled together and helped each other out. The church is set up in such an inspired way. Compared to wards and stakes in Texas we didn't really have many problems to deal with, but its comforting to know that the same system is in place everywhere to help families. Even in the aftermath of terrible disasters, the Ensign is always filled with stories of how the organization of the church was able to efficiently account for members and issue help and supplies. The church really is a calm amongst storms.

In the excitement of it all, I didn't think to take pictures. I did steal this one from my friend Kirstin's blog though (Thanks Kirstin!). Don't worry Mom, this is not the "river" we drove through. This is on the way to the kids' school and the YMCA (which are less than 2 miles from us and just over the hill in the background).