Quote:
Originally Posted by Buttonz
There is an SDT sister who posts on here from time to time (I can't think of her user name, sorry!) who e-mailed me when she got power back. She said her street has a bunch of downed branches but that's about it. She was able to get some more water and a frozen meals today, but her and her sons are doing well, and they lost power for about 36 hours but have power again.
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I am said sister and I would like to provide you with an update on the results of Hurrican Ike. We were very fortunate that our house sustained no damage...just about 20 branches fell from the trees in our front yard and part of our back fence fell over. A tree fell on my neighbor's garage but there was no damage to their cars. So far, there are no reports of death or injury, thank goodness.
Our power went out at 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning and it came back on at 2:00 Sunday afternoon, about 36 hours later. I am so happy to have lights and air conditioning and TV and most of all, the Internet! We don't realize how much we take these things for granted until we lose them. There is nothing like the sound of the refrigerator happily humming and the air conditioning whirring outside!
Reliant Energy has said that it may be two to four weeks before power is restored to the rest of the city. I guess many people will have to leave town because the summer heat in Houston can be unbearable. I am so sad for them. The power is out at my son's office so he cannot access his files or use the phones. We have no idea how long this condition will exist. Half his building sustained damage when the roof collapsed, but his office is on the other side of the building so it sustained no damage. He said everything is backed up at the regional office. Guess where that is located? Galveston, TX!
We took a drive around the area Saturday after the storm had passed, looking for a grocery store or even a fast food place that was open but no such luck. What we saw was incredible. While most homes on our street lost only branches, many homes in adjoining areas lost huge, old trees that were torn from their roots by the wind.
I heard downtown Houston is a mess with broken glass everywhere so the police have cordoned it off. No one will be able to get to work today.
I went out Sunday afternoon to see if any stores were opened. HEB had opened, but they were letting in only 6 people at a time and the line was very long, wound around twice. I waited and when I finally got in, it looked like World War 3 had hit. There was no produce, no baked goods, no meats, no seafood, no gallons of bottled water so I ended up buying a 24 pack of Dasani water, no paper goods, no juice, but surprisingly, they had full freezer cases so I loaded up on frozen meals (Smart Ones are good) and frozen fruit. It was so odd. No restaurants were open except an Indian one and I am no fan of Indian food (too hot for me), so I came home and fixed myself a bagel and coffee, which I had not had for 4 days and it was so good.
Galveston is virtually gone. All the great restaurants like Gaido's (my parents used to take me there as a child) and shops along the seawall are gone. There is a search and rescue operation going on now for those 7,000 people who ignored the mandatory evacuation order. No one knows how many of them survived, if any. On the other side of the island, The Strand, an old fashioned boardwalk type area was severely damaged. A cruise ship which sails from Galveston was tossed on the ground out of the water; that's how severe the storm was.
My brother-in-law owns a beach house far out on the island but no one has ventured that far as yet, so we don't know if it survived. But the main conern is for human life. Property can be repaired or rebuilt.
I had just returned home Friday afternoon from a week's stay in the hospital where I learned the cancer had returned in the form of a tumor. I was supposed to begin radiation therapy last Thursday and Friday, but the storm took care of that. I hope the cancer center will be open today so I can get in and start treatments. So far, the phone goes unanswered and even the answering serivce is not available. I get a busy signal when I try to call my gyn oncologists office but I'll keep trying.
I hope we never have to face a storm like this again but if we do, I know we can survive. Please join me in saying a prayer that everyone is safe.
Paula M.
Sigma Delta Tau
ΣΔT
Patriae Multi Spes Una O