Hurricane Ike - Free Trees

Hey Hurricane Ike... Take a Hike~!

I came back from San Antonio (see above post) 12 hours early on Thursday to prepare for Ike. I got back into Houston at 630am, filled up Baby Truck, and headed to the grocery store. I spend $120 on every kind of canned food I could find, 3-24 packs of water, and kitty supplies. It was a lot of food.

I loaded up BT and headed to Lance's. He was getting prepared too. Yes - that's blue painters tape. You'll see this in a few pics - the purpose was that if the glass broke, at least it wouldn't shatter.

The hurricane hit at about 12am Friday night (the eye hit about 2am) and it was the WORST weather I have ever been in. I ended up sleeping in the hallway on the couch cushions because I felt safer.

Below is Saturday evening.. it was this crazy hue of yellow and orange all thru the sky and air.
Everyone got out the day after (Saturday) and started picking up the large branches that had falled. In Texas (and I'm sure other states that have hurricanes) you put all of your trash, debris, and misc. stuff you don't want on the curb. My understanding is that they will come by with a large 18-wheeler and pick everything up - for free.

(Side note - it's 8 days later now and the crap is still sitting on the side of the road everywhere).

Lance's house - BT on the right.

Later Saturday evening, with no electricity, we were house camping in 100 degree HUMID heat. Lance... or Chef Maddox as he prefers to be called when cooking (ha) forgot that when you leave the PROPANE leaking for a few minutes that it would be smart to STEP AWAY when lighting.

Or else you singe all of the hair off of your arm. (he was fine)

I made a trek out to my apartment to check on things the following day - this was the damage I found. Thankfully nothing was hurt at my place.

The below pic is a 3rd floor balcony.

Trees were down, but other than the balcony above - I didn't see any major damage. I did see workers out a few days ago fixing roof tiles though.

All were pretty little trees - nothing serious.

This is a picture of the White Oak Bayou that runs behind Lance's house. There was a large storm the night after the hurricane which lead to a huge amount of flooding Sunday morning.

If you look closely, you can see the water line on the left side (you can see the grass flattened and some debris) - it was about 3-4 feet from going over into the neighborhood. Normally, the water is about 20 feet below the bridge and it's a tiny little creek (if there's any water in it).

On my drive back to Lance's on Monday night I found the following:

The street lights everywhere were out and most looked like this (and still do):

Turning onto Lance's street - the wind blew this sign 90 degrees around.

This is a large tree who's roots lifted up the concrete

BBQ for the 4th night...

On the 5th day... God gave us a generator. Well, Lance's friend Steve did. I went with Steve and his GF Karen on a drive about 40 miles outside of Houston to find gas and gas cans. Having a generator is great... but only when you put gas and oil into it. There are 17-5 gallon tanks full of gas... and at $3.79 it sure wasn't cheap.

We took the gas cans down to south Houston (about 15 miles from Galveston) where Steve had some friends that needed gas for their generators, but there wasn't any gas down there. There were lines for gas stations that were up to one mile long (in each direction). Police and National Guard/Army manned most of the stations until yesterday.

Lookin good after 4 days... oh yeahh....

This one is for Marissa... he wasn't guarding anything, but he was in uniform.

While waiting to pass gas (ha!) out to Steve's friends, I needed to go to the grocery store for some bread. Just one loaf of bread. Didn't really care what kind.

30 minutes later...

This was the Randalls in Friendswood...

On my way out to the freeway Wednesday (still no electricity) I found a FEMA POD (point of distribution)... it was CRAZY. People walking with packages of water, ice, and MREs (meals ready to eat). Folks were getting HEATED (angry) because other folks would cut in line.

Just tryin to survive... 6 DAYS after the hurricane. Please note that at this intersection and in this area, there is still no electricity and no water.

Today on my way out (Friday 9/19) I drove by the POD again... the men were taking a break. And good for them - I can't imagine having their job.

I got to my apartment to check on everything... and....

I GOT POWER!!

WOOO HOOO!!

I am happy and healthy - looking forward to a trip to Atlanta on Tuesday.