Ike found us

[Tom]

Yep, Ike got us too. The edge - call it the southwest edge - of the eye of the storm just caught our house and neighborhood in SW Houston. My wife who is an RN was 'called up' and stationed at the hospital where she works - and I am a missionary pilot student on site here in Springdale, AR...so neither of us were in the house during the worst of the hurricane.... but my son and daughter and son-in-law and two grandkids and dog and cats all live there and they rode out the storm in my house. They all huddled downstairs in the room with the least windows because the wind was too loud to feel safe upstairs. They broke out the candles when they lost power about 1AM but got it back around 10AM. Neighbors most all had roof damage, trees down, fences totally gone and other problems. God kept His promise to me and protected us - no damage, no tree issues, no flooding issues and no fence issues - while all around us had damage. And our good fortune allowed the kids to make and take warm food over to the church on Sunday where people had gathered who had had nothing to eat for two days. Praise the Lord for He is good.

 

I am headed home on the bike this coming Friday - usually an 11-12 hour straight ride.

 

Anyone aware of the travel conditions north/south from Houston? I am headed south on 71 to Texarkana and picking up 59 south into and thru Houston --- which usually runs me past the areas of the city that I hear were hit the hardest. I hear power is still spotty which affects gas station pumps.

 

Comments are welcome!

 

All I can say is have plenty of Gas and FOOD as everything basically in the Houston area is without electricity and no gas...Ive been running water around here and Port Arthur all day,finally back in New Braunfels ready for bed! traffic is really picking up coming into Houston. Tom

[WilsonTAMU83]

Wish I could say Ike was a distant memory but not yet. I was spared major damage, lost some fence and about 10 hrs without electric. Looks like about 50% of the area has been restored electric, food and supplies are rolling in on I 10 from the west like a steady stream. But 3 million refridgerators is a lot of gallons of milk, cheese and Miller Lite.

 

The Lord spared my family but showed his mighty hand all the way to Canada.

 

I was working a Coast Guard Command Center today and drove the bike. On the way home it was PERFECT.... clear, full moon and cold (well cold for Houston 60F) perfect for a ride.

 

Amazing the difference a day makes.... blessed beyond my wildest dreams, and inmeasurable beyond my deserving.

 

There is much yet to be done. From a recovering Houston.

 

Kelly

[Freebird]

Well, I finally broke down and called the power company this morning. They told me that my power should be back on by Friday at the earliest and Sunday at the latest. Then about 1- minutes later, the power came back on. We ended up being without power for right at 36 hours. I really feel for those down south who are going to be two to three weeks with none.

 

They say that the winds here were sustained at around 40-50 MPH with guests close to 70.

[rhncue]

Here in Cincinnati there was very little rain but plenty of wind. They say that almost 700,000 are without electric and it could be a week before all is restored. There were 5 people killed from falling trees. A man and his wife were killed when a tree fell on their motorcycle while riding in a benefit for the Fairfield fire dept. Bikes are supposed to be a dangerous mode of transportation but who would have thought.

 

Dick

[Crash]

We lost power here during the Browns Steeler game. No lost there! Went back on last night. About 185,000 homes lost power in the area. We sure were lucky and really feel for those down south.

[Cinderella]

my oldest daughter who was just here visiting flew home yesterday ( she lives in the cleveland, north olmsted area in ohio) got home to find no electricity...everything in her freezer had thawed...she emailed me from work this afternoon and is still without power.

They say it could be several days til they get everyone back up. So be gald you got yours back Don.

Im just glad when ike swept up to the north it went east of us because we had been thru 5 straight days of heavy rain before that. I thought we were gonna have to build an ark!