A weekend in Austin

Since I am not working on the weekends in this deployment, I took Saturday and hooked up with a church group and assisted in cleaning up two properties in Bastrop. It was quite an adventure as well as an emotional experience. The area we were in consisted of, I would say 3 to 5 acres lots, in a rural area with lots of trees. Lots of dead and burned trees. As well this particular area had mostly manufactured homes on the lots, as you can see by the runners still there, melted and bent. That is all I saw..runners after runners..but NOTHING else..everything was burned to ashes..except of course the appliances which were just boxes of burned metal. Our job was to pile the metal in one spot, appliances in another and misc. kind of things in another, along the "curb" not that there was one. Then we raked as much as we could from inside the runners to the outside, suppose to when they pulled the runners it would be easier to see where the tie-downs were.

One could make the arguement that the manufactered homes were not as safe and they burned easier etc..just like they say for tornado's etc. But frankly, I saw lot after lot of what were BRICK homes....with nothing standing, nothing left except the chimney. Now, some of the bricks were scattered on the ground, but certainly not usable again. In my opinon, these fires were much more destructive than an F5 tornado. At least in a tornado..there is a chance, albiet small, you may be able to find something that was special, something that was yours prior..or someone will call and say they found something of yours in their yard 200 miles away...not so with a fire..it is all gone. And just like tornado's..and who knew?...there would be acres and lots of houses completely gone, then in the middle of destruction would sit a home completely untouched. And nothing to indicate it should be. trees, grass, cars with gas tanks, shingle roofs, but for whatever reason, the fire went around, there really is not explanation. God Bless the fireman and forest service folks who continue to fight these massive events daily, especially when it was 105+ outside. The weather has cooled, but the winds are up, so they are concerned that more fires will ensue, as there still has been no rain. The fires are starting earlier in the day and for whatever reason that has them very concerned. Texas is not out of the woods yet (no pun intended, as they may be out OF woods..), we can only hope rain and/or snow comes quickly.

Today I am not doing anything but laundry, as I did fall yesterday and twisted my leg..just a muscle pull, no bones involved :) But staying off of it so it can heal and I don't have to hobble into the office tomorrow as they will freak out. FEMA take the health and safety of their employee's VERY seriously. No doubt I would be in trouble. They do have a clinic on site as well as a counselor for those who need mental health assistance.

That said, I do have to do laundry today..if for no other reason than to get the ash colored clothes I was wearing yesterday out of the laundry basket. the ash went all the way through two layers of clothes and a shower was in order immediately upon arriving back at my room. Respirators were required or you could not work. Anyway, back to laundry, I found the laundry sheets that have both the soap and the softner in them and it is great for travelers.

Ok..now I can post I think...internet went down for about an hour. One more reason to figure out how to pay for an air card....trying to get one of the android guys here this weekend to give me one, but so far no luck...