Do you believe in miracles?

(UPDATE, FEBRUARY 26, 2009:oops, I guess I shouldn't have deleted those pictures from photobucket, huh? But read anyway if you hadn't, the full meaning of this blog is in the story near the end)

I know I’ve talked a lot about Hurricane Ike but could you please indulge me one more time? To set up this story, I need to show you a few more pictures of the damage from the storm. Please read to the end. Thank you. Unless specified, all pictures are of Galveston.

Here’s the hurricane as it approaches. Yes, the house burned to the ground, no way to get to it. Besides, in all likelihood this house wouldn’t have survived anyway.




Here’s a shrimp boat in Louisiana that was tossed several feet across the highway.



A truck completely turned over and submerged.



A submerged cemetery.



Here’s a neighborhood in Clear Creek Channel, on the Bolivar Peninsula on Galveston Island, overcome by the gulf.



A road in Bridge High Island, Galveston, that was completely destroyed.



So much sand brought up by the storm that it entombed cars. This is in Gilchrist, another town on the Bolivar Peninsula.




And let’s not forget Winnie, Texas.



But the most astonishing is this picture of a barge that was lifted and tossed 6 miles from its berth in Port Arthur, Texas.



I’m showing you these to give you an idea (if you didn’t already have one) of the sheer force of the winds and power of Hurricane Ike. If it could do this to a truck, shrimp boat, town and even a barge, what could it do to a houseboat moored to a pier in a marina in Galveston?

A man went back to Galveston recently during the island’s look and leave period. Residents were allowed in for a short time during the day (the island is still locked down from dusk to dawn) to check on their homes and property. The car he rode in took him down into Galveston to the marina where his houseboat had been left. He could see other boats smashed up against the walls of nearby apartment houses or in parking lots, like this one.



As they entered the marina, he could also see that other boats were sunk, the tops barely showing above the water. His heart sunk the further they went into the marina. As they rounded a bend he couldn’t believe what he saw. Utter destruction surrounded him, and yet, there tied up to the pier, was his houseboat. Yes, no other boat around it. There was a little bit of water inside and the tarp was torn, but otherwise, his boat was fine. Everything was as he had left it on that Friday when Ike approached. His was the only boat to survive. He spent that day pumping out most of the water before he had to leave. Then the phone call to his father, his father’s phone call to me. You see, that man is my nephew and when we all had thought he had lost everything; he lost nothing except for his car. But you can get another car; you can never replace the sentimental things you own. And he lost none of it.


Yes, there are miracles.

Oh, the winner of Jill Shalvis' two Blazes Flashpoint and Flashback is

roll of drum .....

Brandy!!! You go girl!!

Thank you to everyone that entered. Thank you Yan! Please come back again. And Crystal - great to hear from you again.

See everyone on Wednesday.