Ike

just saw the news! boy, TxDoc i'm glad you got out of there, it does NOT sound pretty.

I am in the Montrose area of Houston, just west of downtown (for those of you who know the area). My friend Amie and I didn't evacuate as the officials here told us to shelter in place. We are out of flood zones, and have lots of water and food....though it is looking like we will be only about 13 miles from the eye when it goes over Houston, though we will be on the good side of the storm, and are 60 miles inland, so will not get the brunt of what Galveson is seeing.

winds are picking up and rain should be starting soon....we are hoping to have power through most of the night, but are expecting to lose power at some point. I will check in as soon as I have power and internet again... here's to hoping it is quickly!

Ellen (aka DrBadger)

Oh, thank you for the update, Dr.B. We too have relatives in Houston, and I'm also glad to know you're relatively safe.

Ellen- I always forget you are down there! Stay safe, imagine moving from the threat of earthquakes to riding out a big ol' hurricane. :p

My husband did talk to his old roommate, he has evacuated to Fort Worth but his dad only went 30 miles out of Port Neches (Beaumont area). His dad is one of the local funeral directors and was quite necessary after Rita to help with the aftermath and even Katrina victims. :( His friend said they were just finally finishing up restoring the flood damage from Rita.

He doesn't know about his friends in Palacios but they are probably not going to get the bad stuff being South. I haven't checked on my college roommate and husband's family (Katy and Cleveland) because it was too late to call when they have an infant at home. Katy should be fine but Cleveland might get the nasty.

It is hitting such a populated area, I don't know how it won't be big on damage but hopefully not lives. If I separate myself from the damage and any loss of lives, I am quite fascinated by hurricane season. I thought about being a meteorologist for a while, until I took the class at A&M and found out how much Physics is involved. I hate Physics!

We were spared here in San Antonio, worst was some wind on commute ride home yesterday. But Galveston was hit hard as everyone knows. So, I am spending my day prepping my house to host a family from Galveston. They hunkered down in Sugarland for the storm (~60 miles inland), as they wanted to be close enough to assess damage, but then said they would probably come here if they were going to be without power, etc. for an extended period. That seems to be the best case scenario at this point. I am also waiting to hear from a friend in Houston. I imagine he is without power and phone, as no word yet.

Houston/Galveston/Beumont area TE sisters, how are you??

Yeah, Ike was a total non-event here in S.A. I can't stand weathercasters -- you wouldn't believe how they hyped this storm here. A friend who works at Home Depot said people were panic-buying plywood, etc., so they could board up their homes. After all that, we didn't get a drop of rain, and only the merest puff of a breeze. Weathercasters don't know any more about the weather than you or I would know by sticking our head out the window and having a look around. :rolleyes:

My friend in Houston said they had heavy wind and rain, but the power stayed on, and everybody is just fine. Whew.

I visited with my college roommate and her husband today. Her family in Katy (most western part of Houston) was fine, intermitent power issues but otherwise just like a big old thunderstorm. She said her friend is getting married in two weeks and now doesn't know what will happen. The restuarant they were having the bridal luncheon at burnt down, the same place was supposed to make the wedding favors. Her reception venue and church may be flooded due to the location but her family is okay.

My friend's husband said his parents were on a scheduled trip to Kansas. His brother and sister were home in Cleveland (NE Houston) and were without power and lost many trees. They wished after that they had left. They do have generators but expect to be without power for 2 weeks. But they are okay and so are his nieces and nephews. :)

Unfortunately it looks like there will be a high death toll but I am hoping I am VERY wrong about that. Just a lot people stayed and the flooding. Keep praying for all who did not evacuate and those who will head back to clean up.

Ike came to pay Arkansas a visit early this morning. The winds were scary--55-60 mph! The windows and the roof creaked and I was so afraid we'd lose something in the storm. A tornado touched down briefly in central Arkansas and there was 1 fatality. But overall, we are very fortunate and I only hope there are not many fatalities in Galveston.

I have family in the Beaumont area, Houston, and in Lake Charles, Louisiana. We're concerned about the Beaumont folks. We haven't heard from them, but the power is still out. Thinking of them all.

Checking in from the Cypress area (Northwest part of Houston) - power was just restored to our area of town this afternoon, but most of the area around us is still without it.

Friday night/Saturday morning was scary - the winds were blowing really hard and we heard a few loud "bumps" in the night when a couple of trees snapped (thankfully, they missed the house!) and part of the fence fell, but fortunately did not receive any major damage. Some of my neighbors were not so lucky and there is definitely a lot of cleanup to be done even in our yard.

To add insult to injury, we had some pretty heavy thunderstorms today which is adding to the flooding and making the cleanup and restoration of services in the area take even longer.

Something to keep in mind for those waiting to hear from family - amazingly, while in my part of town, we have power, our landline still does not work and cell service is completely unaccessible. I have to drive about 5 miles away to get any cell service which isn't the smartest thing to do with all of the debris on the road. Funny thing is, where I am able to get cell service, there is still no power - it's really very sporadic.

My parents are in the Katy area & they've had power back on since yesterday afternoon - the area was also not as heavily hit. I can only imagine what the areas to the south and east of me might look like.

TxRider, thanks for the update. Are you going to get around on that bike should traffic become snarled? ;) I'm glad you are ok and I hope other families faired well in this storm.

Ike hit the Ohio Valley hard today. It was an amazing display of power. Louisville was hit hard - lots of schools are closed tomorrow because of downed power lines and trees. I only ventured outside today to check the damage - lots of tree limbs are scattered about. It was a good day to sit on the couch and watch the action outside.

Yep, roof damage and several large branches down.

1,000 miles inland and we still has 50 mph winds, 65mph gusts...and not one drop of much needed rain!

The remnants of Ike missed us thanks to a big storm system that moved across our part of the country from west to east - it got here before Ike and sent Ike away from us to the northeast.

HOWEVER - the big storm system that did get us dumped a little over 10 inches of rain on us in Wichita in less than 24 hours - a new record. They were saying nearly 1/4 of Wichita was underwater at one point. We're high and dry, but 2 blocks away they'd barricaded some roads due to high water.

Crazy!

Deb

We caught the edge. Lots of wind, a little rain. 2 guys were killed when a tree fell on their golf cart.

I spent a lot of time picking up wind-blown walnuts.