Live coverage from a TV station in Houston

http://www.click2houston.com/video/10903347/index.html

I'm in North Texas but I have sisters whose families are down south (my own is in San Antonio) and they're doing okay from what I know of.

We're expecting quite a bit of rain and wind here, but we'll see what happens. My roommate and I bought a few precautionary items just in case we lose power.

The bar in Galveston?? It's called the Poop Deck and it's a shady biker bar...but good times for us nursing/medical students who lived in Gtown back in the day...they always ride out the storm, but I fear that this time we may not catch them on the flip side.....
Meabwhile preperations in Htown are going strong..these are some pics from friends who chose to stay in Houston...before the storm...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...5033397&page=2

This picture is both scary & cool at the same time.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/2...O0WaWm2QgZ_Q--


why people stand at the beach while Ike starts to come on shore is beyond me....

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/2...TJRjGMNKoEaQ--

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids...S4mZdrtUSFRw--

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/2...zhFZnKCa1PQg--

Yes! That is the one that was shown on TV. Everyone they showed looked pretty tipsy/drunk at 3pm yesterday and I have been haunted by those images since. I didn't see any "biker" types... just a bunch of people in their early 20s in bikins.

It just didn't look like there would be anywhere for those people to go in that building once the water starts/started rising.

My friend in Houston texted me at about 6 a.m this morning and said it was really bad there and she hoped the night passed quickly. Then she told me that Brennans, a Houston landmark restaurant, burned down. :(

What a long, strange trip it's been
 

I'm back - power was just restored. We here in the west of Houston missed the worst of it. Power went out at 3, the back fence blew out at 5:20. Phone service has been hit or miss. We have lots of downed trees in the neighborhood, but other than that - no worries.

It is MUCH worse for those on the dirty side of the storm. Those low-lying areas who were hit by the storm surge are under water - and there are various reports going around about fatalities.

Hope everyone else here in southeast Texas is doing well. James Coney Island opened this afternoon, so we actually even got warm food before the power came back!

Southwest Louisiana didn't take it nearly as bad as Texas but we did have some major flooding in the Lake Charles and surrounding areas, many of my friends houses are flooded.

Glad things were relatively ok for both of you. Galveston certainly looks like a mess. Downtown Houston isn't looking so great from TV shots either. Let's hope the death toll doesn't go past where it is now (2 in Texas).

It did- and the owner, an employee and his young child suffered very serious burns over half of their bodies. I am still waiting for news on their condition- but last I heard they were all critical. Of all the bad news I have heard today- this was the worst.

There is a real problem with fires that occur during hurricanes - many times the fire department cannot get out, and while you would think the rain would help fight it, it doesn't always. They are reporting four buildings on the Strand in Galveston caught fire.

On the good news front in Galveston - they were able to save some stained glass windows from the Reedy Chapel, A.M.E. (1848) . Also, the 22 trapped on the freighter were all rescued.

It is bad. The 5 year old kiddo has about 50% burns. My friend who works at Hermann-well, and is sort of living there now-texted me about this yesterday morning.

The Atlanta paper ran a photo with a house with a fire in the next lot yesterday with its Ike story. It's the 5th photo here:http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view...cane-ike-0912/

It's just kind of an amazing contrast with the waves in the front yard and the fire in the back.

If you hear any more you can share, please let me know in PM. I have not told my parents yet- they have enough to worry about.

My grandmother called earlier and she is okay, but the heat is very bad for her and many of her elderly neighbors in her assisted living community. She reports 6 ambulances so far today- but unsure if people are being moved to prevent complications from delicate conditions (it is pretty hot down there right now) or if something specific happened. The good news is they are trucking in bottled water and other stuff so noone goes without basic needs.

The latest I have from this AM is that Centerpoint has restored power for about 115,000 homes- and they continue to prioritize hospitals and water stations. Those who live on the same local grid infrastructure as a hospital or water station will get their power back first. 1-2 weeks estimated for everyone in Houston to be back online. Several thousand workers from other TDSPs have come in to help- but many have also been diverted to Louisiana where some areas had flooding worse that Katrina.

As someone else noted- either here or in another thread- grocery stores have been trying to open, and so most people can access basic needs.

This quote has been weighing on my mind since Friday given the level of destruction from this Category 2 hurricane. Please don't think I'm picking on you, BabyPink, but I fear it's this kind of nonchalance that led people to stay on Galveston Island and parts of Houston even though they were warned that they could face death by staying. I've only heard them warn people to this extent twice.. Katrina and Ike.. and both hurricanes had massive levels of destruction in highly populated areas. I do hope that if you're ever faced with this (and I surely hope you aren't) that you don't try to ride it out. It's just not worth it.