To give you an idea of how close we are to the area affected the worst by Ike, League City sits just west of Kemah and only 20 miles NW of Galveston. It’s right off Galveston Bay so you can imagine there were parts of the area that got hit pretty hard.

Clear Lake Shores is a little island separated from the mainland by an inlet, and it was as recent as late this week that police were restricting access to the island for residents only. The guards were gone today so we were able to get onto the island and help one of Mark’s co-workers, and to get to her house we had to dodge massive piles of damaged personal belongings ranging from couches to refrigerators and pictures. Not only that, but we passed a multitude of sunken boats and yachts…and we passed some houses that had yachts sitting in their yards, at the intersections of roads, etc. Pretty surreal.

We helped Mark’s co-worker Nancy remove plywood that she had used to board up her stained glass windows and also helped hand out some Salvation Army meals to the neighbors who were still throwing stuff out onto piles for dump trucks to come by and pick up. We met many neighbors and they are all great people, and I can tell you if there is one positive that comes out of a crisis like this, it’s the fact that people band together and help each other. That was really evident today and it was neat to be a part of it.

After that was over, we took a little drive through the town of Kemah and saw the Kemah Boardwalk, which to say the least is not open for business. After that we went through Seabrook and saw even bigger piles of furniture, clothing, refrigerators, tree limbs, you name it. And the neighborhoods smell horrible…all the mold from the water damage has a sickening smell to it. As such the folks cleaning up were wearing dust respirators and taking multiple trips back and forth.

You get the feeling that in effect the stories of people’s lives up to before Ike hit are what is sitting on the side of the road when you drive by, and that’s really sobering. It hit me hard when I saw a pile of toys and stuffed animals in one family’s yard and you know there is a kid in there whose young mind isn’t ready to even begin comprehending something like this. It’s overwhelming to a point just to think about that.

Even two weeks after Ike hit, a lot of the neighborhoods we passed through still have no electricity or running water. As a result, schools have opened up their gymnasium showers for free, but as for living arrangements, it’s so hot in some of the houses that the people are living in tents in their front lawns. As we passed Dolphin Avenue in Seabrook today I saw a young woman with her child sitting in a tent, and staring blankly…as if they just wait it out and time will heal everything.

The most eerie thing I saw today was an entire apartment complex gutted, with cyclone fence constructed around it. Instead of being full of cars, the parking lot was full of mattresses, splintered wood, cabinets, more tree limbs, personal belongings — just a mess. The place had been declared uninhabitable to the point residents cannot even re-enter to retrieve their personal belongings. What a nightmare.

We passed houses with large spray painted red circles with an X in the middle. Just add two and two together on that one…no one will ever live in those houses again.

We helped some more folks over in Pasadena remove their fenceposts and I pruned some tree limbs that were looking pretty ugly, all the while fending off a neighbor’s mini-pinscher. Hey, if helping someone means helping them get their backyard to some sort of normalcy then so be it. After we were done there we ate at a barbecue joint, and I stuffed myself on a pulled pork sandwich and some good fries.

Tonight Mark and I just hung out, and headed to a movie theater to go see Eagle Eye. It was alright.

On the agenda for tomorrow, and this will be interesting, is that Oak Meadows Community Worship Center (Mark’s church) has decided to have church. Praise God! Only thing is, there is no electricity and no A/C in the building. The pastor has suffered a health setback so this means Mark gets to moderate the service. It should be a good one, and their first since the hurricane — hopefully it provides a touch of normalcy to some people whose lives have been topsy turvy over the past two weeks.

We’ll more than likely use tomorrow to ask folks from their church if they need help with anything and just give them a hand. I’m sure we’ll receive a few requests.

I have shot some decent photos, but alas, Mark does not have Wi-Fi in his apartment and even though my laptop is tethered to my iPhone, the data network is horribly spotty for obvious reasons. The best connection I can get is GPRS, which for you non-tech gurus is roughly the equivalent of dial-up speeds.

Thanks for the prayers, it’s been cool down here so far, and I am driving back up on Tuesday.