Hurricane Ike had my attention this weekend. I went to high school in the Houston area, in a small suburb right off I-45, between Houston and Galveston. My parents still live there and I also have friends who still live in the area. This was one of the areas that was hardest hit by Hurricane Ike. Thankfully, my parents and friends were able to evacuate further inland and avoid most of the destructive winds.
My parents are fine. I talked with my parents a few times since Saturday, and other than being without electricity (still), they are fine. They called me while they were attempting to get home Sunday and asked me about the road closures in the area. I got online and looked at the traffic reports and road closures and told them to turn around and go back to their friend’s house, where they were staying. Just about every major road that traverses Houston was shut down or had major delays due to flooding or debris in the roads.
They haven’t yet been able to make it back to their home to assess any damage, which if there is any, will hopefully be minor. Their house is on an incline several feet above the street level, and there is a giant drainage culvert several blocks away, so I don’t think they will have any flood damage. All in all, it looks like they will make it through without too much trouble – though I am sure they will come home to a nasty mess in the fridge and freezer.
My friend probably lost everything. My best friend from high school lives about a mile inland from Galveston Bay. He lives in a prefab house that is on a four foot lift and is situated on land that is 8 feet above sea level. When he called his neighbor after the eye of the hurricane passed, his neighbor informed him there was standing water at least a foot deep, maybe more, in the house. (that means flooding at least 13 feet above sea level, one mile inland). I’m not sure how much, if anything, will be salvageable.
When I talked with my friend about it, he was handling it very well. He had enough time to get his important and valuable belongings together and evacuate before the storm hit. Of course, he couldn’t take everything, and left behind a lot of belongings that were probably destroyed or otherwise ruined. He has hurricane and flood insurance which should cover most of the damage and losses. The important thing is that he and his family are safe.
The Houston and Galveston area cleanup could takes weeks. The early estimates state it could be up to two to three weeks before power is restored in the Houston and Galveston areas, and possibly longer in some of the hardest hit areas. Some people’s houses are completely gone, and they lost everything. My prayers are with them.
The effects of the storm were felt as far north as Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. Yesterday (Sunday), parts of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio received sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and higher for over 4 hours (gusts of up to 74 mph were reported at the Cincinnati airport). Indiana and Illinois received torrential rains and some flooding.
We are without power. I live in southwest Ohio, and the winds were strong enough to take down large trees and telephone poles. A large oak tree was knocked down in our yard, but thankfully it missed the house. Several other trees were knocked down in our neighborhood, but luckily the damage was all superficial and none of our neighbors were injured. We are, however, without power… along with about 1.3 million other people in our region. There are some businesses with power right now, which is why I am able to post this blog – many thanks to Panera and free wi-fi service. 
There are estimates that it could take up to 3 days or longer to get power back to everyone in our area. Hopefully, it will be back up more quickly than that.
I drove around for about an hour this morning looking for ice and a few other items. I couldn’t find ice, but I was able to buy some more candles and plenty of bottled water. I was also able to fill my car’s gas tank, but it took me quite some time to find a gas station with power. Luckily, I am able to work because our company has generators large enough to support full operations, so I won’t be stuck at home without anything to do for the next few days.
Thankfully, the weather in our area is expected to remain cool this week, so we won’t be too uncomfortable in our house. For us, this is just a minor inconvenience, and one I am not too bothered by. Some people lost everything; those are the people we should pray for.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Emily,
I hope their homecoming isn’t too nasty as well!
I’m glad to hear you got your power back! Hopefully ours will be on again soon as well.
Hard to believe after watching Ike head towards Texas that it would even remotely cause damage in our neck of the woods! I’m on the Ohio/Michigan border and while we didn’t experience much but high winds and rain, Plymouth MI got hit with a tornado.
I do feel for all of those in Texas suffering.
We’re just north of Dayton Ohio, and we lost power for almost a full day (they got it back on a few hours ago). As devastating as that was for us, we can only think about the people in Texas right now. We send many prayers their way.
Hope your parents don’t get too much of a nasty homecoming.
Ryan, I’m glad your parents, friend, you and your family are okay. Hopefully, you’re parents will be able to get back to their house and find it okay. Likewise, I hope you’ll get your power back soon.
Hope things get better for you guys soon, but as long as friends/family are OK, that is really all that counts. Good luck Ryan!
I’m glad to hear of your parents’ safety and sorry about your friends loss – my extended family (in laws) is in Kema/Deer Park area and are without power, but no other hurricane damage than debris… For Hurricane Rita, my husband’s family drove 22+ hours to our home in Austin (normally a 3 hour (max) drive) – and most of them thought: well, we evacuated for Rita and it was an awful experience getting out of Houston and the storm was nothing, so we’ll stay put for Ike. Now, SIL has been living off a generator for which she can’t buy gasoline. It’ll be 2 to 3 weeks before power is restored, so she’s hitting the road today to come here anyway. And she’s lucky she has the means to do so – lots of folks are not so fortunate to have the option of getting away…
Ahh, but the futures market may have nothing to do with immediate availability. I know in our area, there are still quite a few gas stations without power. A lot of people are also stocking up on gas for generators, chain saws, lawn mowers, and other powered tools for cleanup efforts. So supply and demand places fuel at a premium in our location.
MM,
The evacuation for Rita was a bad experience for just about everyone involved. The situation for Ike was much better. My parents were able to return home yesterday, and though they are without power, and probably will be for the next 2 or 3 weeks, they have a roof over their head and the means to get around. So hopefully things won’t be too bad for them. I wish your family the best as well. Thanks for sharing.
I am also glad your family and friends are ok.
As for the ike, the midwest got a lot of rain this weekend. It’s pretty weird imho..
And the gas stations are still charging what I think to be higher than should be gas prices given the fact that oil and gasoline futures are trading significanlty below their pre-ike levels..
Glad to hear that everyone is OK. I was unable to keep track of what was going on and what not because work had me out in the field. I am still in the field but now have cell coverage and was able to call my fam down there. they lost their fence aannd some shingles and had some water damage inside but nothing major and everyone is OK.
I’m glad all of your friends and loved one are okay. We had quite a wind storm in western Pa. Sunday night. I still don’t have power at my house today. I’m thankful we haven’t had the destruction of the actual hurricane, but being without electricity sure isn’t convenient!
We are going to have to throw away everything in our refridgerator and a lot of our freezer contents. We did take some stuff over to a family member who had room in her freezer. We’ve been given a time estimate of Friday to get our power back. I hope your power comes back soon!
I live in northern Cincinnati, i was really fortunate to have my power during the wind storm on Sunday. But there was not a grocery store open for about 20-30 miles from me. I have never seen a situation like this in my lifetime.
Today is the first day my day seems normal. but there are still hundreds of thousands of homes without power. These situations really make you think how well you have it during a normal week.
I can not think of bad it is in Houston where they had over 100mph sustained winds where we only had 60ish.
They all are in my prayers
Thank you so very much for all your prayers and thoughts. I live very close to downtown, and the winds the night of IKE scared me so much. I have a new found respect for hurricanes! My parents live in Webster (Zone B for evacuations) and they lost part of their roof. We finally got power, but no cable or internet. Luckly I have internet at work. Thanks again for everyone’s prayers and thoughts. We SO need them. Many people are still without power, and many people lost everything. The season is not even over. UGH!