Hurricane Ike

[BillyVance 34]

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I've talked to Twardo-they're ok but Kingston looks like a warzone and his house took some trees. It's gonna be some hot, grungy days ahead for he and his son.

That sucks.

What about Bacliff, Texas? My deaf skydiver friend Fred Goebel lives there. I think he has a house by the lake or something. I haven't tried contacting him because the power is probably out.

Damn... I didn't realize how close Bacliff was to Ike's path. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26679658 Was Bacliff in one of the mandatory evacuation areas? I hate the fact that Fred may not have much to go back home to... Use the zoom feature on that webpage and you'll see all the little towns show up.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[SarahC07 0]

Heh, the storm was like 500 miles wide... everything was in it's path.

[cocheese 0]

It coming to drench Michigan soon.

[iluvtofly 0]

As of right now it's gonna miss me.

[cocheese 0]

Well everyone probably misses you.

[wmw999 2,121]

I'm assuming Bacliff was under mandatory evacuation. If it wasn't, anyone who stayed was not smart. It's right where the winds would be the strongest, and really seriously subject to storm surge. We went out yesterday for a little, and were not able to drive down that far. Police had the road blocked.

The camping fan was really nice last night
Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[pwln 0]

Now Ohio is getting winds from Ike. We have 40mph winds with 70mph gusts. A Lot of trees down. (on cars)

I live in Columbus, the area I am in has no power and I've talked to my uncle in Lebanon (about 80 miles south) and they also have no power.

Good thing I have a laptop and Verizon Broadband card.

[NWernig 0]

Over in Katy, I would say that about 1/3 of people did NOT lose their power during the storm. We were some of the lucky ones- so my house is an AC refuge.

At the risk of sounding cheesy.... Times like this really make me look forward to jumping with all you other clowns this coming weekend.

Blue Skies to comes!!!

Nathan

[mpohl 1]

Gotta love it how nature strikes back in a "surgical way" at the most wasteful country and society on earth, right in the heart of "refinery alley".

Welcome back $4/ gal gas. Let's hope for $5 and $6...air quality in Atlanta has certainly improved this summer.

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I know it's a few days early, but this may be even scarier than Gustav. Check out the track and strength forecasted. If it goes as predicted, Key West is completely fucked.

http://www.stormpulse.com/hurricane-ike-2008

[moonglo 0]

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Over in Katy, I would say that about 1/3 of people did NOT lose their power during the storm...

I live just north of 290 near Holister and we're still without power and currently enjoying the generator at my husband's office. We had some large branches down, one punched a hole in our gutter, but no major house damage. Our neighborhood lost a lot of big tree branches and fences, and a house one road over had a tree fall on it an bust the natural gas line! Traffic lights and power lines all over the main roads, as well as the tree debris and a construction trailer on it's side!

Everyone I've talked to that stayed is fine, but one lost a house and fence to a big tree and most are still without power. We are in need of ice for our warm drinks!

[futuredivot 0]

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Let's hope for $5 and $6

Those of us who must travel for a living don't feel that way.

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

[moonglo 0]

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I've talked to Twardo-they're ok but Kingston looks like a warzone and his house took some trees. It's gonna be some hot, grungy days ahead for he and his son.

Did he say who won "dead tree bingo?"

[BillyVance 34]

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Gotta love it how nature strikes back in a "surgical way" at the most wasteful country and society on earth, right in the heart of "refinery alley".

Welcome back $4/ gal gas. Let's hope for $5 and $6...air quality in Atlanta has certainly improved this summer.

Wow. Sounds like a true-to-heart German. Might I suggest a move back to Europe?

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[pwln 0]

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Did he say who won "dead tree bingo?"

I almost won. I moved my work van and car into the back yard then 2 BIG tree branches fell in the road where my cars were just minutes before.

Still no power. I have the fridge,TV and fan plugged into a 1500watt inverter that is in my work van. I'm getting ready to unplug it for the night.

[futuredivot 0]

were you able, or did you try to find some ice today?

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

[pwln 0]

I was able to find and get ice today, only problem was I had power when I was at the store.

So no, I don't have any ice.

[efs4ever 3]

I live inside the loop near Wescott and Memorial. Still have power.

After waiting for the tree by the pool to go down I finally went to sleep. Apparently I slept through it all!

I live in an older complex whose ac is a centrally controlled chilled water system. No AC. .

Cold front is making it bearable, though.

Harleygirl is still barred from returning to LaMarque. "Authorities" need to let the masses in. They will hasten the cleanup. The ones who stayed behind will be doing the looting and burglarizing. Just my .02.

Here are some photos from nearby hood.

Russell M. Webb D 7014
Attorney at Law
713 385 5676
https://www.tdcparole.com

[efs4ever 3]

At least Kroger was open. The only chilled item available was

Russell M. Webb D 7014
Attorney at Law
713 385 5676
https://www.tdcparole.com

[gemini 0]

Finally checking back in. No power as of Sunday night and no cell. I'm using a dialup connection from a friend in Kerrville north of San Antonio while in Houston, Whats a little long distance?

Our area lost a lot of trees, fences, with minor home damage, It was touch and go with the flooding. I think we got about 10 inches between 2AM and noon, That sucker may have been weaker than Alicia, but it was really howling. We did not see the eye, but stayed in the western eyewall the entire time. That really sucked, I tried to put the cat out tonight, but she is still freaked out.

We have a power pole that broke when a tree fell on the guy wire. No telling when we will get power back. Gas and ice is really hard to find. Thanks to the neighbors who found some this morning.

Got to meet all the neighbors as everyone cooked their thawed meats on grills. Was actually kind of nice since we never seem to all be home at the same time.

I heard tonight that Crystal Beach is gone. Anyone confirm this?

Ok that's it. Need to save a little laptop power.

Trent, Akie, Jed and Stevie are ok too. Akie has a small hole above her washer and dryer, but doesn't know what caused it.

Blue skies,

Jim

[efs4ever 3]

This view is from my apartment balcony.

Managment always tosses the poolside furniture in the water before a storm.

Just some debris, but not much else.

It's already been fished out, and folks are swimming in the chit. (literally)

Russell M. Webb D 7014
Attorney at Law
713 385 5676
https://www.tdcparole.com

[PhreeZone 15]

We've got power here in south Columbus, if you need ice let me know. We emptied the ice maker into a cooler and had it making more ice all day once the power started to flicker around town.

Winds at Port Columbus were 67 mph, the airport shut down for a while. That is only a few mph short of being a Cat 1 storm. We lost 3 big trees on my street and numerous little ones. I lost about 1/8 of the shingles on my roof and other minor damage.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[pwln 0]

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if you need ice let me know.

Thanks, I'll let the wife know. I should be leaving for Chicago this morning. I'm still not sure if I will be yet. I showed her how to hook up the inverter to the car battery (and make sure the car is running part of the time) so we can keep the fridge cool.

[Trent 0]

We're all good. My neighborhood, Westbury, lost a ton of trees and fences... and power.... and water.... but all the neighbors got together and cleaned up. Water pressure came back yesterday so we can clean our swampy butts. No power though and it's looking like that may last a while. Might be time to lock up the house and head out while we still have gas.

Spaceland (where I am now) is fine. Power's on, internet's on, planes are back and ready to fly. Good thing we don't have to fill up the planes at the local station, everyone's OUT!!

Oh, hello again!

[JohnRich 4]

Friday report, before the hurricane:

It looks like Houston will be taking a direct hit from hurricane Ike, which makes landfall in Galveston tonight. Winds are about 115 mph, but by the time it gets inland to me they'll be down to about 75 mph.

Gas shortages are everywhere. I drove a neighborhood circuit this morning, and of about 10 gas stations, only two had gas. One had long lines snaking out into the road, and the other had regular only at a price-gouging number.

Roads were jammed with evacuation traffic yesterday. It took me 45 minutes to go 10 miles. I'm not even going to venture out on the evac routes today.

Store shelves have been cleared of canned goods and water. Why don't people stay stocked up on this stuff all the time? I do. I have two 5-gallon jugs of water always full for emergencies.

My preparations are simple, because I'm already prepared all the time. I filled the bathtubs with water for flushing commodes and bathing. And took the patio furniture and trash can into the garage. And I've been stocking up on ice in the freezer. That's it!
I'm ready.

I wish I had plywood covers for my windows, but that's a future project.

Bring it on, Ike!

Sunday report, after the hurricane:

Friday night was a wild ride. It was hard to sleep, because I kept getting up to watch the high wind, and inspect things when I heard loud noises.

I'm okay. Trees didn't blow over. Windows intact. No roof leaks. No flooding. Just a lot of yard debris from broken limbs and twigs. My chimney cap blew off. Power went out Friday night, and they're saying it might be out for weeks. Ack!

Water and phone work. Can't take phone messages. Cell phone service is spotty.

I helped out around the neighborhood Saturday, cleared a tree from the road, and cleaned up my own yard.

I filled up the gas tanks on Thursday, so I can still get around a bit even though there's no gas available.

There are trees blown over, electric poles snapped, power lines down, and since no electricity, all stores and gas stations are closed. Street lights are out, making traffic chaos. Lots of fences blown over - probably 25% of them in my neighborhood. But few streets in my area are closed from downed trees, down power poles or flooding.

Considering what the low-lying areas are going through with flooding, I'm one of the lucky ones.

Saturday afternoon I packed up the perishables from the fridge and headed for my girlfriend's house about an hour away, as she still has electricity. I'm spending Saturday night and Sunday there. Monday morning she'll go to work, and I'll head back home. I hope to find some ice to fill my cooler along the way.

At home I've got my camp stove for cooking, and plenty of good water in my storage jugs and bathtubs. A cold front is here which is keeping temperatures down making it fairly comfortable without air conditioning. I pulled my window screens out of the garage and
installed them, so that I can have the windows open and keep bugs out.

The next week will be interesting at home with no power. For entertainment, I'll be reading by lantern light like Abe Lincoln. I can't send e-mails from home until the power comes back. I hope they're wrong about how long that will be. But there are 2 million
people without power, and my area may be low priority for restoration.

That's all for now. Don't worry about me. I'm okay. The house is okay. And I'll just be living like I'm camping out, and I do that all the time anyway, so it's no big deal.

I just need to check up on a whole bunch of friends and see how they made out.

Monday report:

I'm back home. Looked for ice all along the way, and could find none. Ice is sold out for at least 50-miles northwest of Houston. FEMA is handing it out from trucks, mostly south of here where things are worse, per the TV. But that's a two-hour line. Nyet! I don't do long lines.

Much to my surprise, I arrived home and found that power had been restored! Yeehaw! The cold front is so nice though, that I don't need the air-conditioning. I just need the power for the fridge.

Gas is available in only a few stations, and there are long lines. In some cases, only premium grade gas is available, and in some stations police are present to maintain order.

For the most part, people are being patient and civil. But I've witnessed a couple incidents of people snapping and being assholes. It's amazing how little stress it takes to make some people revert back to animals.

Street lights are still out in many places, so traffic is moving slowly.

The banks are finally open again, so I can now deposit my paycheck from Friday, and pay my mortgage. It's going to be late now, but the mortgage company says they're waiving late fees and negative credit entries for Houston folks for this month.

My biggest loss: a half-gallon of Blue Bell cherry chocolate chip ice cream. Maybe it'll be okay when it re-freezes?

The only thing I would do different in my hurricane preparations is to buy some 5-gallon gas cans and fill them up beforehand, in addition to topping off my tanks. And I would also stock up on ice more than I already did, filling a big cooler with as many bags as I can stuff in there.

I wish the best for the folks further south in low-lying areas who are suffering much worse.

- John Rich

[BillyVance 34]

Can't hurt to have a generator on hand when you really need it. Just a thought...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban