The bricks of his house had blown away because of the storm surge. The house did not contain any books and pictures that were collections and memories - evidence of the 12 years his family had spent in Galveston.
As Noel Vargas sat outside the West Oaks Baptist Church in Bryan, he described the scene with a distant look in his eyes, as if he was revisiting it.
"To see the house from one end to the other and see all our belongings around the yard," Vargas, a pastor at West Oaks Baptist Church, said. "The front window had been pressed out and I could not go through the front door. I went in through the window and saw no pictures of us and none of our things. That was the hardest time and I stayed there a while."
Vargas and his wife Francesca, an employee of Texas A&M-Galveston, evacuated to College Station with their children, Alexis and Josue, before Hurricane Ike hit Sept. 13.
Caught by surprise
Francesca said it was a shock because they did not know Ike was going to make a direct hit on Galveston. They had not been prepared.
"It was us not knowing that the hurricane was coming for us. They told us to evacuate, but we only left with the thought that we'll be back. We thought that we were only going for the weekend, so we left our valuables at home."
She said she came into College Station Sept. 16 carrying equipment to arrange A&M-Galveston's communication servers.
"[To set up] the web server and e-mail server - that was our priority. We could in this way communicate with the staff and students. Wherever they were, we could get in touch with them."
She said her daughter came with her. After watching the newscast and looking at the scope of the storm, her husband and son joined them Sept.18.
The night Ike hit
Vargas and his family were spending the night before the hurricane hit at Motel 6. Ike made landfall in Galveston at 2:10 a.m.
"I could not sleep that night and was watching the newscast," Francesca said. "It was eerie to see the water up the sea wall. There was this nervousness in my stomach, you know, if the house would survive. There was nothing about our neighborhood in the news or on the Internet."
The day after
On Sept. 14, Vargas and his family looked up churches in the church directory in the newspaper and found Wellborn Baptist Church.
"We went to the service and soon after there was a couple, Paul and Alice Saunders, and they asked us if we didn't have any plans for lunch, they would like to take us," Francesca said. "Told our family, anything they wanted on the menu. At that instant, we felt like we knew these people. They didn't even know us, but they gave us a treat after what we had gone through."
Alice Saunders said she thought they were a sweet family who had decided to come to their church and that before lunch was over, they felt like family.
"Their biggest concern was whether or not they would have a home," she said. "Yet there was no real fear and they were very calm about the situation. The children were upbeat. I do not like the circumstances under which I met them, but I am glad to have met them. My husband feels the same way."
Vargas said seeing his house in Galveston was like watching flames burn his house, bit by bit.
Francesca described her experience of returning to Galveston as it was draining.
"Driving up to our home, tears were all that would come, both she [Alexis] and I," she said. "You are tired, there are so many things going through your mind and you are crying. You are coming around the turn, you see houses [in the neighborhood] with nothing there but shells."
A new life
Vargas said it is geting easier every day to adjust to College Station. He preaches at West Oaks Baptist Church on Sundays and attends church service at Wellborn Church on Sundays and Wednesdays. During the week, he goes back to Galveston to take care of his house and church.
"The decisions we have to make are hard, but we have to make them," Vargas said. "The stress levels are higher because I have to make decisions not only for our house, but on behalf of the church [in Galveston.] I can't talk to the key leaders of the church and I hope they are OK with what I am doing."
He said he was offered the part-time pastor position at West Oaks Baptist Church.
"West Oaks Baptist Church needed a pastor and asked for anybody who had been displaced from Hurricane Ike. The director told me and I got really excited. It could be a coincidence, but I believe it was God working for us."
Earl Dillard, one of the deacons of West Oak Baptist Church, said he has enjoyed Vargas' church services.
"He gives us a different perspective on our Christian faith. Somebody who has come from something like that, but still has a great attitude. It shows that they are not bitter about it. They are not happy about it, but they are accepting it," he said.
Francesca said the people in College Station were very helpful and all she had to do was ask.
"They were there just meeting our needs. If we needed furniture, anyone in our congregation helps us. We've gotten beds from them and linens. With someone making a trip and delivering it to our home, where we are right now, they have been a blessing," she said.
She said A&M gave her stability because she had a job and financial security.
"My boss said to not worry about [the hurricane]. He said that you can have your job and outlined what was going to happen. My husband's congregation has been displaced, so he is no longer preaching. Right now, my sole income is what is keeping us going."
Coming to grips
Francesca said her family is at different stages of handling the adjustment.
"Just coming to grips, each in our own time, being there for each other is what is important. It is hard - we are there for each other, but we are at different points of dealing with it."
Francesca said Alexis grew up in Galveston and it was hardest for her to cope because that was all she had known.
"Her room is the worst hit and the debris is like three feet high," Vargas said. "It seems like that when you have a run-down house and no one can take care of it. Seeing it in person changed her."
Josue is adjusting at a different pace.
"My son said the other day, he said we are happy over here, let's stay. I wish it was that quick of a decision," Vargas said.
Texas A&M system offered a house to the Vargas family in College Station and they were excited about it.
"We went inside and realized that we had no beds to sleep in," he said. "It is an empty house. My son goes, 'There is no TV in here.' They were OK once we got the TV, so it is different. We were used to having TVs in nearly every room and now we have one. We appreciate it more now."
Without direction
Vargas said they haven't decided about the future. He did not know if they were going back or taking another way. The house in Galveston will take a while to repair, if it can be repaired at all.
Vargas said the city of Galveston was going around to houses and seeing if they could be constructed upon, depending on the state they were in. He did not know when his house's number would come.
"We are still in the shock of the whole thing. It is coming around 30 days but yet, you know the parting from stuff, the feeling of not knowing what to do. We are at a loss, which direction we should go. Right now, he and I have been praying that the Lord will lead us in what we need to do," Francesca said.
Vargas said the choice to go back or not will remain with them the rest of their lives.
"We are going to have to share with our grandkids what we did then. Twenty years from now, all we are going to have is memories, which we are going to share with them," he said.
Blessing in disguise
Vargas remembered how his neighbors Lee and Alicia King stayed back in Galveston with their three children. They used to live in front of their house, toward the left. He said one question was plaguing him when he went back - did they make it?
"They made it. They were in their attic, which was filled with water, and they were there with the kids. He came and was talking to me the last time I was there.
"When the back of Ike came, he said that is when all the destruction started coming in. He saw all these huge waves coming. On the other part of the street, there is a house maybe 20 feet high. Lee said he could see some of the waves hit the top of that house. He told his wife and kids that this was it. They were going to die."
Vargas said the Kings thought there was no way they could survive because the water level was too high.
"As the wave came over, he said all the water came gushing in through the big open area in our backyard. It [the wave] just hit our garage ... but when the garage hit down, the wave stopped."
"'Your house saved our life,' he said to me. From that point on, we had lost everything, but praise the Lord, those people were safe. With all our losses that we had, we were grateful that those five lives were safe."
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