Wednesday -- We got an early start to our day...we woke in the night to the sound of a siren going off...tornado warning! That certainly got our attention! After an hour or so in the Fellowship Hall of First Union Presbyterian Church, listening to a weather radio, we got to go back to our pods around 4:30 am. Sleep was hard to find. The rain was a deluge pounding on the polypro roofs. Squalls kept moving through all morning, along with a continuing tornado watch, so our real work day didn't start until around 10.

This is our first "first entry" house. Miss Alice, the owner, had been in her house once before, many months ago, but nothing had been touched. Everything in the house was just as the flood left it. Furniture was tumbled about, precious glassware broken, clothes everywhere. Miss Alice is 87 and she met us at the house today & stayed with us all day, looking through her belongings and deciding what she needed to keep from her old life and what had to be thrown out into the street. That would be a difficult job for anyone. We had to keep in mind that what we saw was ruined junk, and what she saw was her life. Miss Alice was born right around the corner and has lived in this neighborhood all her life. Because her house was on "high ground", she had no flood insurance. She never expected 10' of water from a broken levee. We told her about our prayer wheel, and we ask all of you to include Miss Alice in your prayers.

Clothes all over the place. Here they cover her bed and bedroom firiniture.

The kitchen. Policy is to duct tape it shut before moving any refrigerator...a good policy. Water and food sitting around for 14 months can be incredibly foul. It's enough to make you go outside for a breath of fresh air.

Yuck!