September 26

We continue to move back towards a normal life. The new kitchen floor has been laid. All of the appliances have been moved back to their normal locations. The side fence has been replaced. The tree has been trimmed to remove all the broken branches. The yard has been cleared of all the debris. Well, actually it is all piled in front yard at the curb. The city has not yet come by to remove it. We did see a truck working to do just that yesterday in the other side of our subdivision. The grocery stores are pretty much back to full operation. They are still missing a few frozen foods we normally eat. Elizabeth is back to preparing her normal delicious and nourishing meals. This morning I plan to get back on the bike. I have not ridden since September 7. I must admit, I am quite stiff this morning.

However we are not quite all the way back. I still have some work to do in the house. I have to install some baseboards and then paint. Yesterday I got a very badly needed hair cut. I had to go to a new barber shop as the one I normally use is still not back in business. Driving is still a challenge with many traffic lights not working. I heard of one location where they are worse than not working, they are working in one direction. In this case two cars approach at right angles. One driver see the traffic lights working as normal. The other sees the lights flashing red. As you can guess, this resulted in an accident. Now who is at fault? Both drivers were doing the right thing.

We really were very blessed. There are still over half a million people without power. There are still unknown numbers of people with no homes left at all. I try real hard to remember this when I feel like complaining.

More pictures from Ike

Elizabeth and Candi in the hotel room. we were s blessed to have found this place even if we did loose power and water.
Candi wanting someone to scratch her belly.

This is the section of fence that had our gate. This is what I am working to replace.

Typical challenge you face driving down a street. Most of this has been cleaned up by now. I was also concerned the street were covered with debris that could flat a tire. Things like roofing nails.

Pictures of damage from Ike

The two pictures below were taken from basically the same spot in our back yard. The first was before the hurricane and the second after. As you can see we have some fence damage and also lost most of our banana trees and clothes line.

This is how the Post Office kept water out of the mail boxes. Elizabeth hates wet mail.

I thought this was interesting. This limb fell from a tree right onto this sign and then stayed there. I did not look to see if the sign was actually embedded into the limb.

This is just one random house showing typical damage. This scene was repeated dozens of times.

This is a typical intersection. What is missing is the street light. You should be able to see a light hanging over the vehicles in the intersection. Actually it has been twisted completely around and is visible to the right of the One Way sign.

Sunday Sept 20 update

We continue to move towards a normal life. I am not sure our new normal will be the same as the old normal. I am certain we will not be so blasé about hurricanes. We will also have a greater appreciation for things we use to take for granted. Yesterday we were at a local grocery store when all the lights flashed. Everyone in the store froze to see if they would come back on.

Elizabeth has the house pretty much back to normal. The pantry and refrigerator are pretty much stocked. The only thing we really lack are frozen foods. They have not yet been available at the grocery stores but should be in the next few days. All the laundry is done and the house is clean. Our kitchen floor is still a mess but the flooring people will be here Monday to put down the new floor. I was suppose to return to work that day but will have to stay home so I can move the appliances out of the way.

The yard is pretty much cleaned up. There are huge piles of debris everywhere. I will be glad when the city gets those removed. I think everyone will feel better once that is done.

I have the supplies I need to replace the section of fence between the house and the garage. I set the post yesterday afternoon. The cement should be set today so I can finish that job. I also will replace the sheet rock today. We need to have that done before the floor is put down. We will not have it finished and painted. That will be done after the floor is down.

Driving around is still a challenge and requires more patience. In our area less than half of the street lights works. Even in areas that have power the lights only flash red. At major intersections lines always develop as people wait to stop and go. That is most people. There are still a few jerks that seem to think they are more important than anyone else and that rules do not apply to them. Actually I prefer major intersections. Since there is almost always a line of cars so people know they are suppose to stop At some of the minor intersections, people will just blow through. It may be that the arms for the lights have been blow away so they do not realize they are suppose to stop. I dread Monday when a lot of people will be on the road trying to get back to work or school.

But all in all we were very blessed that our damage was a light as it was and that life has gotten back to normal as soon as it has. There are some places like Galveston that are still abandoned. We watch little television. That is for two reasons. First the cable connection is still not very good. But second there is too much very negative news. They keep going over the same depressing stuff again and again. After a while it starts to wear you down.

I am not sure what challenges today will bring but I know we will get through them.

We have power

Centerpoint Energy came through even if they did take until nearly the last minute. On Tuesday we saw a Centerpoint line man and asked when we would have power. He said they were working on it and we should have it within two days. Last night, Thursday, power was restored at 11 PM. We had an unusual "alarm" when it came back. Elizabeth had put some papers in the shredder the other day. Of course with no power nothing happen. Last night we were laying in bed when suddenly we heard a strange noise. Elizabeth said, "What was that?" Then we realized it was shredder suddenly coming to life. Then we realized lights were on. We were so excited. We got up and could not get back to sleep until about 12:30.

There was one down side to having power back. For the past several days we have been keeping our bags of ice in a small well insulated chest freezer. At one time we had 10 bags in it. While it was well insulated, some ice did melt and a pool of water formed in the freezer. When we got up today we discovered the remaining 4 bags of ice were now frozen in a big block of ice. We have had the freezer unplugged and open all day but the bags are still frozen in place. Oh well. Another step on the road back to normalcy.

Hurricane Ike update

It is Wednesday Sept 17 4:20 PM. Elizabeth and Candi are sleeping. They need the rest as it has been a roller coaster ride for the past 5 days. As I sit here typing this I can hear our new generator running. It is the only reason I am able to post this blog. We still do not have power. Here is a brief review of our encounter with Hurricane Ike. As the storm approached we check monitoring it closely. It was a category 2 storm with winds in the 105 miles per hour range. We were prepared to ride out the storm at home. This house has been through several major storms so we felt comfortable it would protect us. When we got up Friday morning it still looked like we would stay here. But as we listened to the forecasts we got more and more concerned. The issue was not the wind as it was still only 105 miles per hour but rather the water. Hurricanes blow so hard they actually push water in front of them. Since this storm was so big, the same size as the state of Texas, the storm surge was going to be huge. About 9:30 AM we decided to head inland and find higher ground. So we drove to west Houston and found a hotel room. Around 9 PM the full fury of the storm started to hit. The thing pictures do not convey it what a hurricane sounds like. The wind howls. While it did not sound like a freight train as reported during tornados, it certainly sounded like a big truck driving by. And it lasted for about 14 hours. Somewhere around 11 PM the power went out in the hotel. It got hot and muggy in the room as water was pouring in around the window. Of course neither of us slept. Around 4 AM I looked out the window and I could see the wind was blowing from the opposite direction it had been the night before. This meant we must be past the eye of the storm. I also notice we no longer had running water in the bathroom. By 11 AM on Saturday we had enough. We could go home and suffer with no power or water. So off we went. We got home with relatively no problems. We did see a lot of damage. Mostly fences and roofs. Some more serious. Our house was about the same. We had fence damage and some slight damage to the house. We also has gotten water inside the house and it ruin the floor in our breakfast area. Of course there were lots of tree limbs down and of course no power. We spent the day cleaning up the house. That night we both took cold showers but with no AC it did little to help. It was a pretty miserable night sleeping as it was so hot and humid.

On Sunday I had to find some ice. I got on the road early and started driving west away from the worst of the damage. I stopped and every little store that was open. The story was always the same, no ice. Finally I got to the town of Columbus, which is about 100 miles from home and found a store where I got 5 bags of ice. On the way out of town I passed a gas station that was open so I filled my car. It was raining and while I was searching for ice, Elizabeth was cleaning branches and debris from the storm drain in front of our house so the water could drain. By afternoon the rain stopped and I fixed the fence enough that Candi could not get out when she went out to pottie. The local grocery store opened and we got some supplies. They did not have any perishable stuff like meat, dairy or produce. With all this Elizabeth was able to make a nice supper. We went to bed early since there is little to do when the sun sets and you have no power. We did have a cold front move through so the weather was much improved. It was cooler and much less humidity. It actually was a very pleasant night.

The next morning I again had to find ice. I had heard there was some at a Target store nearby. As I drove to it I passed a grocery store, HEB. They had a tractor trailer full of ice in the parking lot. The line was fairly short so I got in line. I was able to get 10 bags of ice. At home I started to remove the old floor from the breakfast area. When I installed the floor the directions said to put I sheet of plastic under the floor as a vapor barrier. This plastic also traps water that will cause mold to grow. So I wanted to get rid of the old floor before that happen. Again Elizabeth made a great supper and it was an early night.

Tuesday was just another work day. We finished removing the floor and worked in the yard. As I write just a couple of days later it is difficult to remember exactly on what day we did what. Each day we get up not knowing what new challenges we will have. The days also run together and you are not really sure what day it is. Elizabeth continues to do a great job on meals. We do have gas so our stove works. It has to be lit manually with some sort of lighter but at least it works. Some people have an all electric house. That means electric stove and electric water heater. At least we can cook and have hot water. On Tuesday night we noticed some street lights on down the street. While we still do not have power, it looks like it is getting closer. Tuesday was also a good day as we got mail. This is the first mail we have gotten since last Wednesday. We also had the floor guy stop by to measure for our new floor. We are going to put down tile instead. While we have called our insurance company, we have not heard a ting from them. We are taking lots of pictures to document our damage and will square things with them later.

On Wednesday we had another blessing, a generator. My company is providing aid and I told them I did not have power so they provided a generator and 10 gallons of gas. I already had 10 gallons at home so we should be in good shape. I drove to the distribution center in my little Toyota Corolla. As other trucks drove away it was obvious I was not going to get that generator in my car. I asked people behind we in line if they lived in my area. The guy in the second truck behind we said he would drive past mu house on his way home and he would be glad to drop off my generator. It is amazing how a crisis can bring out the best in some people. So I got the generator home and fired it up. It will not provide all the power we need but it will run our refrigerator, this computer and several other things. We tried to turn on the television but cable is out and we do not have any kind of rabbit ears for even local reception. AT least we will be able to stay up tonight. Today we did not do as much. I think both Elizabeth and I needed a rest day.

In general things are look good for us. We are safe. We have food and our house is undamaged. Now we have power at least enough for the refrigerator. Even the weather has been good. That is going to change soon and we will be back to hot and humid.
We took a bunch of pictures and I will post some of them later. Below is a picture that I think pretty much tells the story. It is a before and after picture. If you look closely you will notice the houses the survived and are not beach front were actually three rows back in the before picture. The first couple of rows of houses are just gone.

Hurricane preparations

While we are still not certain exactly when and where hurricane Ike will make land fall we are busy with our preparations. Right now it appears the storm will make land fall to the west of here. However since it is such a huge storm, hurricane force winds range almost 200 miles, we will still take a heavy hit. Here some of the things we have gotten together. One of the most important things is water. We could be without water for a period of time so we got 5 cases of drinking water. In addition we have several large buckets of water for flushing the toilet. With a bayou just across the street, we can easily refill these. We also have 10 gallons of gasoline. This is in addition to both cars having full tanks.

Next we have lights, a radios and batteries to run them.

We have several large trash bags we can use to cover stuff.

Lastly we have food. This is just an example of the staples you need to get together.

The outside of the house is also being prepared. Tomorrow we will get all of the stuff from the yard into the garage. Any looses objects can become deadly missiles in a 100 mile per hour wind. Some people in our neighborhood have already left. We have decided to stay here. We tried to evacuate for hurricane Rita and it was a disaster. We know of several people who were actually trapped in their cars when the sotrm hit due to the massive traffic jam. We would rather be home. When the storm hits if it looks like a problem we will move a mattress into the upstairs hall and camp under it. This will get us up and away from any water and also protect us from any debris. I do not expect that will be needed. If I really thought it was going to be that bad, we would already be gone.

I’ll try to post again before the storm hits.

Ike update

On Monday as I was typing my blog I thought, “I hope I do not jinks this by saying we dodged a bullet.” Apparently I did. It now appears we are going to take a direct hit from the storm. Below are the models and 5 day forecast. The biggest thing about the models is there is not good agreement. I think the models work well for storms on a straight path but when they start to curve as this one is expected to do, the accuracy breaks down. This is also a huge storm. Hurricane strength winds, that is winds in excess of 73 miles per hour, reach out 115 miles. Tropical storm strength winds, greater than 37 miles per hour, reach out 225 miles. With the expected landfall just down the coast, we are going to take a hit. I am off today. In fact I will not go back to work until Monday at the earliest. We still plan to stay at home. We have most of the supplies we will need. We have batteries, water, M&Ms (for Dave), Scoops (for Elizabeth) and marshmallows (for Candi). We have a few things to do today. My biggest concerns is we will loose power. Will keep you up to date.

Hurricane Ike

I know it has been a while since I last updated this blog. Among the things I have been doing is watching Hurricanes. This has been a very busy season for us. We are currently watching Hurricane Ike. This is the third named storm in the Gulf we have had to watch. It now appears it will make landfall far to the south of us. Hopefully we will get some rain from it as we are way behind average on rain fall so far this year. Below are a couple of screen shots from things we watch. The first shows current model results for Ike. Each model uses a different set of calculations to try to predict where the storm will go. As you can see, the farther out the prediction, the less agreement there is between models. Rather than pick one, we watch general trends. The second is the 5 day forecast from the national Hurricane Center. The line in the center is the current projected path. The shaded area is the uncertainty in the forecast. While the main path is to our south, we are still in the potential area of landfall. We will continue to monitor Ike’s path. However, right now I feel we dodged another bullet.