Rita Pics

Click Here for a message from Will

Mom and Dad came to McKinney today (9/25) since it will be a few days until they can return to LC. They figured if they can't be at home they may as well be with their granddaughters!

Here are some pictures from Lake Charles, taken by Will.

Convoy of rescuers pulling boats (9/24):

Will's back yard:

Near Will's House:

No one has electricity, but Will is running his party lights on a generator. Goofball.

The church (Trinity Baptist LC):

Mom and Dad's street (Their house is the red brick one in the back right):

Their house:

Neighbor's tree down:

Backyard looks good:

Across the street (Pretty good except for fence):

Across the alley:

Not sure where this is:

Will's place of employment. There are supposed to be large garage doors to the left.

Check this out. Note in the "After" photo the stop sign appears bent and the trees are significantly thinned out. Also, I believe Will covered two of the windows back up.

Before:

After:

Click here for pictures of other homes in Lake Charles

Here is an e-mail from my parents that was sent Saturday night.

Hi Everyone,

It is now 7:15 p.m. and we just heard from Kenton who just heard from Will. Kenton is an hour outside Houston still on his way home and has begun to encounter traffic, but hopes to be home by 10:30 p.m. Gas has not been a problem and they are doing well.

Will gave us some great news that God was very good to us and spared our house from any apparent damage. There were no trees down and no flooding. Praise the Lord!!! Thank you so much for your prayers. I don't know if you have seen some Lake
Charles pictures on the TV, but they did show that there were many trees and power lines down in the area and also some flooding closer to the lake. You can go to www.kplctv.com to see the pictures.

Even though we do not have power and are not certain when we will be getting it, we plan on heading home tomorrow morning (probably with thousands of others with the same idea). There are still some gusts of wind and rain here in Shreveport, but it basically has moved up to Arkansas and is on the way north to visit y'all.

We don't know when we will have email access again, but we will keep Schuyler informed by cell phone of our status and he can pass it on to you. So long for now. God bless.

Bill and Helen

Click on the maps to get your bearings in LC...

In an earlier news report on ABC I saw an area of Lake Charles that we visited at Christmas two years ago. I'm in the picture below with my buddy Adam, but the picture I saw today showed the water level nearing the roof of the shelter in the background. Everything in the second picture is under water right now.

Earlier today on TV I saw a FOX reporter that spent the night on the parking garage at L'Auberge du Lac Casino. It is about 2.5 miles from my parents' home. I've heard that the roof blew off the terminal at the LC Regional airport and several (if not all) private hangars were destroyed. The airport is approximately 3 miles south-south-east of my parents' home. I recently heard that the south end of town is flooded and the water is higher than anyone can remember. This isn't good because I can remember getting water in the garage during a smaller storm several years ago.

Here are some pictures taken on 23 September before the storm blew in

	From the second floor of Will's house looking south as Rita approaches. Notice the tan store is all boarded up and there are no cars on the street.
	The house behind Will's, all boarded up.
	The store next door to Will's house.
	Deserted Ryan Street. One of Lake Charles's main streets.
	Will's neighbor again. This picture was taken around 4:00 pm on 23 Sep, long before Rita arrives.
	Another view.

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