Hurricane Ike Update!
Hello, mah peeps! Thanks for all of the concern, comments, and emails. We are safe, happy, and healthy.

Well, we survived Ike! The storm rolled in late Friday night. Husband dear had Thursday afternoon and Friday off, which was great because we only have one car. I was able to get to the store and lay in some extra supplies (we had our 3 days' worth, but I'm a worry wart). We also cleaned out the garage so we could park our van inside, and cleaned out the van in case we needed to leave.

I couldn't find any duct tape for the windows, so I went to Dollar Tree and picked up several clear plastic dropcloths. I saw some battery powered fans, and bought several.

The power went out about 3 am Saturday morning. The rain stopped around 2 pm Saturday afternoon. We checked in with the neighbors, and I gave a couple of the fans away to one who is 7 months pregnant.

Fortunately, we didn't lose water pressure at all; our water was safe. I had hot coffee on Saturday morning (boiled in a saucepan, but hey, it was still good! We have a gas stove, so we were able to cook if we used a match to light the burner.)

We decided to leave Saturday evening, and stay with some friends who live north of Waco. The grand plan was to go visit my parents in Denver for the week. 95 degrees in Houston + 99% humidity + no A/C = get out of town if you can.

Sunday morning, I called my neighbor and our neighborhood has power! Our development is very new, and our power lines are buried. We have internets, people! Thus, this post.

My sister and her family are staying with us. They're neighborhood is older, and full of huge trees. She might not have power for a couple of weeks.

We lost some fence in the backyard. Mr P is prepared to use his Jedi skills to defend the homestead from looters.



Our Japanese Maple is leaning a bit.


There's a dent in the roof, but no shingles missing. That's all the damage!

A miracle in my backyard - I can't believe this survived the storm.


Lost some trees in the neighborhood. Lisa A., your house is PERFECT! No damage at all. The neighbors grabbed your patio furniture and basketball hoop.

Since we decided to leave, we drove over to my sister's to check on them and give them some of our bottled water.

As we drove north, we saw some downed trees.



A row of houses lost their fences.



Lots of stoplights were dangling. None were working. Most people remembered how to drive and remembered their manners - we made better time to than usual!


Some businesses lost facades and a couple of roofs caved in.



Utility poles were down at the mall.


My sister's house.



As we left town, there were two blocks near Cypress that had power, including two gas stations. Let's just say it was insane!

Driving north, whole towns were without power as far as 100 miles outside of Houston. I later found out a major transmission line from New Mexico was down.

I was glad I went to bank on Friday and got cash - and made the teller give me small bills! We thank the Lord that this month, we had breathing room (we tend to be a paycheck to paycheck family.) I had money available so I could get plenty of cold hard cash.


Safe and sound.

We passed several FEMA trucks loaded with supplies, and a few backhoes making their way into town last night as we returned. What an amazing country we live in! Sunday morning, I was at my friend's house and went for donuts and a gallon of milk. We decided to leave, got in our car, and went. We didn't ask anybody. We didn't pay $10 a gallon for gas, thanks to price gouging legislation and enforcement. We didn't have to bribe any officials to get through checkpoints. America is a wonderful place!

We lost all of the food in our freezer and fridge. I only had a little drink sized cooler, but we stopped at a grocery store in College Station and I bought a ham and a block of cheese. I also laid in a supply of fresh fruit and 7 loaves of bread, so I'd have some to pass out to the neighbors if they need it.

Husband dear ran to Kroger this morning and they have milk! No poultry or eggs, though, and they have guards standing at the doors letting only a certain amount of people in at a time.

Labels: Family Life, Ike, Natural Disasters