7.8 Earthquake hits Nepal; many dead

Reba said:
Jamie and the kids can't sleep. The kids especially keep waking up screaming and shaking in fear. I'm afraid they have PTSD from the quake. :(
Click to expand...

It sound like they do , I am sorry to hear that . I hope the kids will feel safer when they move to Florida . :(
 
whatdidyousay! said:
It sound like they do , I am sorry to hear that . I hope the kids will feel safer when they move to Florida . :(
Click to expand...

I hope so. I hope they will be ready to go back to Nepal after their 30 days in Florida.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
Will the kids be going school in Florida , that might help keep their minds off the earthquake.
Click to expand...
The kids are 4, 6, and 8 years old, and the baby is 3 months. They'll be in Florida only 30 days, and right now is the last few weeks of school, so I doubt it. They'll be staying with family, so they'll probably be kept busy with visiting friends and relatives.
 
Reba said:
The kids are 4, 6, and 8 years old, and the baby is 3 months. They'll be in Florida only 30 days, and right now is the last few weeks of school, so I doubt it. They'll be staying with family, so they'll probably be kept busy with visiting friends and relatives.
Click to expand...

They're very young this had to been very frighten to them. I hope things will work out for your friends.
 
Reba said:
The kids are 4, 6, and 8 years old, and the baby is 3 months. They'll be in Florida only 30 days, and right now is the last few weeks of school, so I doubt it. They'll be staying with family, so they'll probably be kept busy with visiting friends and relatives.
Click to expand...

The kids might not ant to go back after jut 30 days........
 
Earthquake update 2
For Luke things started around 9am. I was sick so I stayed home with Emily. Luke took the kids and headed down for our church service at 10am.

Can I stop right here?

I have to say one of the biggest blessings was that all this happened on a Saturday during our normal meeting time. When the quake hit we didn't have to wonder where everyone was. It is very difficult finding people. No one is in there homes and everyone is sleeping outside or where ever they can find some sort of shelter that won't fall on them if it hits again.

They had just started the Bible Study and Luke was speaking. The quake hit and they all dove for the ground. They pushed the kids under the bench. Luke started praying, everyone was praying out loud, scared the building would fall on them. Wikipedia says the quake lasted only 20 seconds, but definitely the longest 20 seconds we have ever experienced.

The second it was over they ran outside to an open field nearby.

Luke left the kids with our church people and ran to see if I was okay. That is when he took me to the field near our house. I'm on the blanket right in the middle.

This wasn't even 1/4 of the people that were around us.

It was hard being away and apart from one another during all the aftershocks, but I knew we were in God's hands. I still cannot begin to describe how God answered my simple plea for help, "God give me peace". The amount he gave wasn't "just enough" but an overflow.

After 4 hours the tremors seemed to be somewhat spread out so they felt it was safe enough to bring the kids to my field so we could all be together. It was such a relief seeing my kids.

During some of this time Luke and one man from our church went out to help in some of the nearby areas. They found some men who were on motorcycles as the quake hit and a wall had fallen on them. They didn't make it.

They were able to buy some water and cups and pass it out to those around us.

Soon we decided it wasn't safe to go back to the house for a while and that we were definitely sleeping outside. Luke went to our house and grabbed our earthquake survival kit (which I am so thankful I made), some more blankets and a handful of things.

After some walking we found a place close to our house that we could stay at.

These 2 spots were ours. We had 13 people with us 9 adults and our 4 kids.

It had bamboo poles and a tin roof. Bamboo is actually very strong in an earthquake because it already has a lot of natural give to it. We were so thankful for the roof as it rained quite a bit while we were outside.

This is how we slept for 3 nights. I am further back in the picture with the pink top. We had 9 adults and 4 kids sleeping on a queen size blanket and a twin size blanket turned sideways. I'm so glad we could all be together. It was a big comfort being surrounded by people that we loved and with people that loved us.

We had about a 4 hour break from tremors. We settled down to sleep and a big tremor came. Before people were in shock now people just had fear, every time one would come everyone would scream and yell "aiyo, aiyo" "it's coming, it's coming". That first night we had tremors every hour. The kids were terrified. One time one came Abby, she was sleeping next to me--but I couldn't grab her in time, she lunged into a stranger's arms next to us and wouldn't let go. He just held her and rocked her. Everyone was so jumpy. Luke stayed up all night with one of the other men from our church so he could grab us if needed. It was hard.
Click to expand...

Pictures:
http://knicks2nepal.blogspot.in
 
The next morning--earthquake post 3
The next morning we all woke up early. I think we all felt the same way--we survived the night and are so glad to be alive.

My stomach bug that was put on hold because of the earthquake came back strong that morning. I've experienced some firsts through all of this. I not only had to use a squatty potty for the first time, but also had to have a stomach bug and frequent trips--I have to say you get good at it quick. Again, I just want to say how thankful I am that I had an earthquake kit and that I stocked it well with toilet paper!

(Image result for squatty potty kathmandu)

This is not the exact one we used, but was just like this except really dark and the room was tiny--no room for error. If only you could have smelled it! blah!

The guys found some eggs and cooked us a good breakfast over a fire they made.

The tremors started to die down a little during the day time. That was nice. The kids started to play a little.

Luke went out to check on things around, some of our people's houses and to look for some of our friends to see how everyone was. Everyone made it back to our "camp" about 12:30pm and we sat down for lunch. Just a few minutes later the second earthquake hit. It was a 6.5 I think on the Richter scale. We ran out into the open. It was then that we noticed the covered soccer field next to us swaying drastically. We knew then we needed to use extreme caution even during the tremors and move out from under our bamboo shelter every time something came.

It was after this second earthquake that Jason started to be overwhelmed with fear. It is so hard seeing your kids scared. I just held him and let him cry.
Click to expand...
 
Kathmandu Earthquake Update 4

The Day After

All of us ladies and the kids stayed at "base camp shelter". The men went out in search of friends nearby and to check on people around.

We made a cooking place so we wouldn't have to cook over the fire any more. We brought over a gas tank and our friend brought his stove top.

(Two people died when this wall fell. There were 2 men on motorcycles driving past when the quake hit. Luke tried to help but it was too late.)

(This is in a part of town that was hit really hard. That is a taxi under a building. The men were here to try to help.)

(This is the same building from another angle.)

In this area there was a lady that was just rescued from her house. She was the only survivor. Luke and the others were able to pray with her.

(This lady is the owner of the place we stayed at for 3 days. She is really sweet. Her name is Nabina. Pray for her and her family to be saved and we can share with them the "good news.")
Click to expand...
 
I bit surprised Napal customs are holding up equipment sent to rescue lives I know the british will only be there short time so it now or never..Seems even Napal got stupidity of red tape
 
Kathmandu Earthquake update 6
After 3 days of sleeping on the ground I was plum wore out, but going on. The tremors died down some. We decided to take our "base camp" and move it to my house. We were still nervous about the house itself, more earthquakes and tremors, but really tired of where we were living.

The night before 2 doctors came to our tent and told us to be super careful going out and that the risk for catching Swine flu was up to 80% in the area. We knew that our place with the bamboo was only getting worse and worse as far as cleanliness goes.

We moved all of our stuff to our house and began to look at our house again. I don't have pictures of the cracks in the wall but they were very unnerving to everyone and we decided we couldn't stay there. We considered a new place but it had just as many cracks. I mentioned going back to the bamboo place and found out that something else "shady" happened. Some of those same men from before were trying to get one of our girls (about 20 years old) to come over to them and talk to them--calling to her just like our kids were doing when they were playing together.

We didn't know what to do. One of the men found a place nearby that looked great but we only had two small tarps in my earthquake kit and it was going to rain. I looked all over the yard and tried to remember everything I could for making a water proof shelter but it just wasn't going to work with what we had.

I went upstairs and packed our suitcase for America and knew I needed to restock and reorganize our things for wherever we decided to go next. I was very nervous being in our house and was working feverishly cleaning out the fridge so it wouldn't be horrible for Luke and also cleaning up the flour and sugar that was all over the ground from when the containers fell to the ground during the quake. I did a little cleaning and then saw two of our girls washing their hair outside and I realized how I longed for a shower, to be clean, and most of all to have clean hair.

So another first for me was washing my hair outside. You need to people so you don't get soak and wet. I bent over forwards and the other girls washed it for me. It was great and felt so good.

About that time Luke showed up with another family from our area. They came in and the husband looked at our walls and told us the house looked sound, but the walls downstairs and maybe upstairs would have to be replaced, but that it looked safe to him to be in there. Praise the Lord!! They then told us their house was great and invited us to stay with them. They had running water, electric, and internet! I was so glad!

We headed out and I have to say I have never been so happy to have a hot shower and sleep in a bed in all my life!

Our church people stayed at our house. It has now become a "new base camp". There are several others staying there as well including the house owners that live upstairs. They asked if it would be okay. They really wanted to leave their outside shelter but were to scared to sleep on the top floor. I don't blame them at all. We are praying for their family that they will be saved. They are Hyolmo Tibetan people. They are super sweet and love us to death.
Click to expand...
 
A 101 old man was found alive in the rubble ! This is on CNN if anyone want to see the story .
 
Earthquake news update 5

While Luke was out and about helping people, surveying the land, looking for friends and making sure they were alive we were back at "base camp."
The kids were playing and having a good time. If you know Paul, you know he is great at making friends, but doesn't quite know how to use discretion. He just wants everyone to like him.

There were a group of young men there early 20's maybe and he made friends with them. At first it was no big deal, they weren't far from me so I didn't mind them talking until Paul came up and said,
"Hey mom, my friend asked me to take him to our house. Can I go with him and show him?"

Instantly, red flags went up with me and the others with me.

Why would a grown man want to go to my house in the middle of an earthquake? I can only think of one reason.

I told Paul he must never tell anyone where we live and tried to explain to him the dangers without necessarily scaring him, but I had to scare him so that he would understand that not all people are good and people do have bad intentions. And that we need to be super careful.

That night a few minutes after we laid down to sleep a fight broke out between some of the men. They were both drunk. We have no idea what the reason was, but it was only a few feet away from us.

That night it rained something awful. Thankfully our blankets and things did not get all wet. The next morning my body was super tired. We were once again jolted awake by a tremor. It was about 4:30am. Emily woke up and wanted to stay awake for a while so I grabbed a chair and sat near the fire. There were a few men sitting there but I figured it was no big deal since Luke was only feet away.

After a few minutes they asked me a handful of normal questions and could tell I didn't know a ton of Nepali. So they started talking more freely.

Although I can't speak a lot I do understand quite a bit. They started talking about "her husband" and "his money" and "their house". It made me very nervous, especially after what happened the day before with Paul.

We also started thinking of what would happen when people started running out of water and food. Our new house does not have dogs for protection and the gate is always unlocked, plus our house isn't quite ready for occupants--especially kids.

We prayed and it was then we decided the best thing for us to do was for me and the kids to go back to the States so that Luke wouldn't have to worry about us. How easy it would be for someone to take one of the kids for ransom, rob us, or many other things.

I am super excited about seeing my family, my 2 new nieces, and eating a Publix Roast Beef sub sandwich with all the toppings and a blizzard from Dairy Queen, but know I will be thinking of my friends back home who can't just "up and leave", but are everyday living this disaster. This will forever change their lives, way of thinking, and everything they know.
Click to expand...
 
A red flag went up for me too when I read about men wanting to hang out with Paul. That is scary and any parent worst nightmare. I am glad nothing happen to the boy .
 
the gurkhas have walked down mountain refused air evacuation and gone straight to helping they great men
 
Back
Top