Hurricane Ike- a thread to post status on recovery

[EE-BO]

Good evening all,

I have spent most of the afternoon and evening on the phone with countless friends and family in the Houston area.

The city is still in total lockdown and even most of the hospitals are still running on generator power. Rain does not appear to have been as strong as Alicia or Allison, but the storm surge and the long duration of hurricane winds have created some problems more severe than with those storms.

If you have friends and family down there who have no power and cannot get the latest news- have them tune to FM 104.1 where musical programming has been suspended to run the latest news non-stop. And if they do not have radios- you can convey the following updates I have heard plus any news others may post about Houston or other areas,

Mayor White advised citizens to boil any tap water before use- and many Houston residents may find water pressure to be very low (not applicable in Memorial villages which have their own water system which is working fine.) What happened is that when the power went out, water pressure went down at all the water stations and this allowed seepage of potentially contaminated water.

Just a while ago, the pump stations were back online and the water pressure is rising. Now the water must be tested in the next few hours, and it will take about 30 hours to get results. So, plan for water to not be consumable from the tap for at least 48 hours.

There was significant damage to power grids in the entire area, and the coastal and outlying areas might not have power for 2-4+ weeks. In the Houston area it should be back sooner, but noone is making committments.

The Galleria and Katy Mills malls have announced they will be open for business tomorrow. And HISD has only cancelled classed for Monday so far. These developments seem to indicate the City is being very conservative about the power coming back on and hopefully that things will be coming back online pretty quick.

Anyone planning to come down here to help family right away- think twice. By all accounts the number of trees and traffic lights that have fallen is in excess of what happened in Alicia. Getting to the city might not be all that bad, but for the next 48 hours many streets will be difficult to navigate.

If anyone else has news to post that could be passed on to local residents who do not have working radios- please post it here. Based on the calls I made today, there are a lot of people who are relying on news from out of town via phone or cel phone to know what is going on.

My prayers and thoughts tonight are with everyone down there and all who have someone to care about down there. I hope and pray the best for everyone who weathered the storm.

[catiebug]

Those of you who know me know that I work with Amateur Radio (ham radio). If your loved ones in the affected areas know a ham, that person can transmit what we call "health and welfare" traffic and have it relayed to people outside the area; during Katrina, this was the only method available to get traffic in and out of the area after all the cell phone sites died.

Also, you can register with the Red Cross and their "safe and well" site at https://disastersafe.redcross.org/default.aspx. If you have been affected by a disaster, this Web site provides a way for you to register yourself as "safe and well." From a list of standard messages, you can select those that you want to communicate to your family members, letting them know of your well-being.

If anyone has any questions on using Amateur Radio to contact friends and family, just pm me.

[JennRN]

Got a text this morning from a friend who lives in the Rice Military area of Houston. She said they are still without power (they have a generator), and water pressure is getting low. Still getting some bad wind and rain, although she did say a couple of grocery store were going to try and open up today-not sure if she is going to get out to try and get there. She said because of the continued wind and rain, they can't open their windows for any kind of ventilation. Cell phones are working sporadically.

Another friend who lives in the Clear Lake-ish area said they have power at their house, which was relatively undamaged.

[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.

[paulam]

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.

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

[em_adpi]

Originally Posted by paulam

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.

Thanks for keeping us updated. I can't help but be sad about Galveston; this is one of my favorite places to vacation and I have lots of great family camping memories there.

Ironically, I have been evacuated from Galveston myself... but that was for Hurricane Brett(?) about 9-10 years ago.

[SWTXBelle]

I really hate that we didn't make the annual family trip to Galveston. Stewart Beach, the Balinese (Z Z Top,anyone?) , the Strand, the Elissa, Gaido's . . . who knows when we will be able to go again.
There is a big problem with the continued failure to allow media to cover the West End. What ARE they afraid of us finding out? They are reporting 35 dead so far - but I fear it will be much, much worse. The man I called "Dad" because of our working relationship at the TX Renfair had a beach house at Crystal Beach - you could see the beach from his window. He died last year, and I'm afraid his house - which he so loved - is gone. Another friend who was proably too stubborn to leave - I fear HE is going to end up being a casualty.
My heart just aches. I love Galveston - its funky Victorian charm, its citizens who are proud to be BOI, the fact that after the 1900 Storm they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, built the seawall, raised the whole city and went forward.

[AGDee]

I saw the Balinese on TV, and Gaido's too.. I think they are both a pile of rubble. Was the Strand a strip mall? They showed a strip mall that looked like a very sad game of pickup sticks.

When the media was covering Katrina, I remember seeing bodies.. and thinking "they shouldn't be showing this on TV". They were saying that they couldn't access the West End at all, but they were going other places in boats, rescuing people. I too fear the casualty count will be high. I did hear one reporter say that much of the West End consists of vacation homes and rentals and the hope was that not too many people were actually there at the time. I hope that was the case.

It's truly heartbreaking. I was going to Obama's website today to make a donation and the first page it took me to this morning was a "Donate to the Red Cross or Save the Children" page for victims of Ike. I realized then that, oddly, after other extreme events, there were big pushes to donate and I haven't heard any this time. I went right to the Red Cross page and made a donation. I decided that donating to Obama and the Red Cross was more important than paying off the credit card.. it can wait til next month.

[SWTXBelle]

The Strand is near the wharf district. It was the orignal business district back before 1900 - when Galveston was "the Wall Street of the South". It was (is?) Dickens on the Strand is held - beautiful brick Victorian-era buildings. It has been beautifully restored . . .

[em_adpi]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

The Strand is near the wharf district. It was the orignal business district back before 1900 - when Galveston was "the Wall Street of the South". It was (is?) Dickens on the Strand is held - beautiful brick Victorian-era buildings. It has been beautifully restored . . .

Aww, Dickens on the Strand... I remember visiting Galveston back when the old Sea-A-Rama building stood in ruins. I loved camping at the state park with the beach on one side and the oil lights from Houston shining in the distance. Oh, and all the big, beautiful houses on the beach...

Just curious... anyone know about Snoopy's in Corpus Christi? I just wondered how that area fared as well.

[AlphaSigOU]

Heading down to West Houston this weekend. As some of you may know, I am a volunteer member of Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. We've been called up to fly disaster relief and damage assessment missions in the wake of Ike.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by AlphaSigOU

Heading down to West Houston this weekend. As some of you may know, I am a volunteer member of Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. We've been called up to fly disaster relief and damage assessment missions in the wake of Ike.

Good for you. I'm glad people are going in to help.

SWTXBelle needs ice badly.. just sayin'

[IlovemyAKA]

I left town for the storm. My power has been out since at least Sunday. I looked on Centerpoint's site, & my zip code isn't expected to have power until some time after Monday.

[srmom]

Me too lovemyAKA - we're quickly burning through fuel using a generator - so while my elctricity bill should be low, my gas cc bill is going to be through the roof!!!

Centerpoint's map shows that my area should get electricity by Monday, but I'm sure not seeing any trucks nearby!

At least it's cool outside!

EEBO - we're heading to Austin for the Texas-Rice game this weekend! It will be a nice respite from our daily life amid the debris!! I can't wait! You'll be able to recognize me by my burnt orange outfit - haha!!!

[srmom]

Hey, BTW, Gaido's is fine!!! They are serving free meals to workers along the seawall on tables outside, complete with white tableclothes, linen, and fresh flowers.

Most of the places on The Strand (not a strip mall, it is a part of historic down town Galveston that has alot of restaurants, bars, and shops) and in other parts of historic Galveston only have had a few feet of water damage and are salvageable (they've been there, done that over the years). The Galvez Hotel is saying that the only damage they have is to their lower level, including the brand new spa that was opened in March. The Tremont is reporting limited damage, and all of the museums, inlcuding the Elissa Tall Ship are reporting minimal damage.

As for homes (mostly vacation) on West Beach, some are fine, some are not, the biggest problem for first row people may be beach erosion (even if a house is fine, it could be condemned). My neighbors across the street have a house on Pirate's Beach and they said the only "damage" was that their patio furniture was in a tangle.

I think the hit or miss vagaries of the storm (especially in Houston) are because there was much tornadic activity and strong wind gusts, the storm surge was not as bad as they had anticipated in Galveston Island or in upper Galveston Bay, they were saying 16 feet, but it was more like 6 to 10 (my dad only had a couple of feet in his downstairs). The storm surge was at its worst on Boliver Peninsula, Crystal Beach and High Island, but even there it is still pretty hit or miss as to who got wiped out and who didn't. It's really strange how 2 houses can be totalled, but one between them is fine...

After the clean up and recovery, Houston and Galveston will be back and better than before!!!