News from our Nuns in Lufkin, Texas

Sister Mary Margaret of Lufkin managed to rewire a telephone so they can call out; works sometimes and other times no dial tone. Batteries are about finished and they have no electricity yet. They thought the power would be on today as the hospital came back online but for them no luck and it’s back to the waiting list.

Two poles on their street are down. They have water and gas to cook. The main building is black dark because of few windows, so vigil lights line all along the hallways.

Today Sr. Regina took a fall in the dark and has a huge egg on her forehead but says she is ok. Refrigerators were stocked with ice beforehand so that has helped keep food chilled, but it is in the 90's and humid, of course no air conditioning and the building is stale smelling. Today WalMart opened in Lufkin but there was a stabbing because people are so desperate for items. Gas stations are still without fuel and the area of Beaumont took a heavy toll. People east of Houston had little time to prepare and the damage is extensive. Roads remain closed except for emergency personnel and hospital workers. She said they strung rope between the dorm and main building so they could walk back and forth.

The storm hit about 3:00 a.m. and began with a light rain and then the heavy winds and terrible noise took over. They had hurricane force winds, very unusual for being so far inland. She said this was a frightening experience. Thankfully the storm did not stall over Lufkin - as expected and the rains were less than anticipated. They really prayed hard and the new storm drains really worked and the new roof over the infirmary held back the waters. They have trees broken everywhere, but all can eventually be cleaned up. They brought everything inside that could move, tied the carports down to the fence (it flew off in a previous storm) but this time the fence fell over and carport survived. Their cell phones are now dead so this one lone line is their emergency lifeline.

They pray when the sun is out and get to bed early after the sun goes down. They took in about 15 strangers for shelter during the storm but most have moved on - many have no where to go - Lufkin had already taken in 10,000 from New Orleans and when Houston evacuated it really was difficult for all the people.

No place to go, no gas, and they had to take shelter somewhere.

We can't give you a link to their website because it is not only down, it's gone because they were on the Southern Province Friars' server which is probably under water somewhere in New Orleans.