Hurricane Ike (9-11-08 thru 9-25-08)

Prayer for Hurricane Season--
O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.

Originally dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Audrey in 1957.
- Fr. Al Volpe, Cameron Parish, LA
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It was Thursday September 11, 2008 a day to remember for the rest of the nation as well as citizens of the entire Gulf Coast Region. Voluntary Evaucation was set for Thursday and Mandatory on early Friday morning. Everything moved so quickly and with the blink of an eye the citizens of city of Port Arthur and other neighbor cities left town in fear of water surges and our town was to be under water. Everyone left to their destinations and our city was once again was a ghost town. Because exactly two weeks earlier everyone evacuated for Hurricane Gustav but with lots of praying thankfully we didn't get hit.

But as on the late evening of Friday September 12, 2008 the storm hit the Galveston-Kemah area and literally everything had disappeared within hours. The entire SouthEast Texas was hit late Friday night into early Saturday morning. Standard damages occured-- trees down, wide spread power outages, debris everywhere, and lighter object materials was in someone elses property. So much items and belongings was heavily destroyed but thank God our Savior that the staff of the Center did have a place to come home to. But unfortunately our neighbor city Bridge City, Orange, Sabine Pass along with other areas was totally devasted. Please keep those citizens in the disaster areas within your thoughts and prayers in this time of need.

These are the Counties Declared Hurricane Ike Federal Disaster Areas: Angelina, Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Cherokee, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller and Washington.

However the Port Arthur International Seamans' Center sustained minor damages with the building. Here are a few pictures of the Center...

We Thank God for his many blessings bestowed up the Port Arthur International Seafarers' Centers as well as our staff and their families. We are so Thankful that we will have a place to work and the center is still up and running despite the mold, leakage and mildew we are here and welcome donations.. May God Bless Everyone at every moment of the day.

God Bless everyone with Smooth Sailing Throughout the day...