Hurricane Ike - Aftermath

[4greatboys]

More:

There is a small airport close to my house. This is part of the siding where they keep the airplanes:

A restaurant not far from my house:

One of my neighbors--It says "You loot we shoot"

 

[gm]

Hi all,

I just got my light back on this morning. We did not have it since late Friday night when it struck.

I live in Spring a suburb in Houston and most of whole of Houston lost power. The woodlands another suburb close to us still do not have electricty yet. Several neighborhoods around me still do not have electricty and one beautiful older subdivision with trees looks like a tornado went thru even though it didnt but was extreme high winds. Mostly all roofs have trees thru them or collapsed and we all live about 120 miles from Galveston pass downtown going towards Conroe. Downtown Houston has so many glasses off windows and is still not open.

We had lots of shingles fly away and our satellite dish flew away, we had a backyard fence bent and thrown in our neigbhoors yard. We also have several leaks in our house due to the roof having open spaces because of the shingles flying and vents too but it was not as bad as others.

They had told Houston not to evacuate because of what happened during Rita so only certain zip codes could leave.

On all local channels they have been showing news 24hours live, no programs have resumed yet.

The Gas stations that have gas are filled 2 miles out with lines because alot of gas stations do not have power so they cannot be refueled so people are going wherever they can to find gas and wait in lines.

All schools in the Houston area are closed for the whole week. Airports opened on Monday with limited service. Majority of the malls are closed expect for 2 because electricity is not on.

They have told people who do receive water to boil it until tested by Houston water municipality.

Lots of people still do not have electricity and water so cannot use restrooms.

Fema has 50 pod locations thruout that they just set up yesterday distributing ice and water since it is in very short supplies due to no electricty. and the lines are like 5 miles long for it and people wait 2 hours or more before they even show up with the supplies.

Many grocery store do not have electricty neither.

The hurricane came late Friday night and today is Tuesday and that is the condition here in Houston a major Metropolis city with 4 million people.


The kroger store across us has homeland security trucks directing lines to go inside Kroger because they only let a few people in a time including Super Walmart close to us. They have very limited supplies no bread, dairy, mostly canned food. They give you a ticket to purchase 1 ice bag if they have any.

Ice is the most wanted thing in Houston right now because electricity is still not on and people need to put it on perishibles like medicine and milk and such.

Neighbors are helping neighbors removing debris, sharing extra water, etc

We all prepared well for this storm and stocked up but the perishibles were starting to diminish and was getting hard when you cannot find ice.

It was the winds that caused most of the damage. I have never experienced such high winds and it was so so scary. We all slept on the first floor but none of us could sleep because the wind noise was so scary.

No work, no school and businesses that have electricity restored are just starting to open. The mcdonalds in our area opened yesterday and we felt like disneyworld opened in our area lol. The line was over 1 1/2 long for the drive thru.

 

[kbkids]

The mcdonalds in our area opened yesterday and we felt like disneyworld opened in our area lol. The line was over 1 1/2 long for the drive thru.

I remember this when Hurricane Erin hit the Pensacola area years ago. You should have seen the line at Whataburger when it opened!!

 

[nataliela]

I thought I would share these pictures here too
http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs...997&Ref=PH&show=galleries&template=multimedia

This is from Terrebonne Parish, LA - 250 miles to the east of Houston

We got the eye of Gustav on the 1st- people still do not have power down here

There are many other parishes in lower LA who got flooding also

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

I said before I didn't realize it was that bad, I do remember though that Allentown PA suffered a tornado from Ike passing through. I just don't watch much TV, so I don't get distant news.

 

[C.Ann]

It's going to take forever and a day to get all these places back to normal again..

 

[kbkids]

I thought I would share these pictures here too
http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs...997&Ref=PH&show=galleries&template=multimedia

This is from Terrebonne Parish, LA - 250 miles to the east of Houston

We got the eye of Gustav on the 1st- people still do not have power down here

There are many other parishes in lower LA who got flooding also

This storm was huge. We're in Pensacola, and we even had flooding here. Amazing!! Nothing catastrophic by no means - I'm not meaning to try to compare to the devastation in other places. The beach area that we take the kids to - completely covered in water. The pier they normally jump off of - which is typically about 6-7 feet above the water line was about six inches from being covered with water. Many houses on the water were dangerously close to having water inside. This storm was a massive size!! And amazingly enough, we got zero rain here!!

 

[TXTink]

I'm in a suburb of Houston and was luckier than most. I had only minor damage other than being without power from Friday till today. The company I work for, a local trucking company, was devastated however. The owner is trying to run the business from his home and I have all the computers at my place trying to repair them. The whole area is in trouble despite heeding (for the most part) the directives of the state and local officials (who, by the way have done an extraordianry job so far).

Despite all the problems here I've just seen the damage caused by Ike in other areas of the country from Arkansas to New York, and my heart goes out to all folks affected by this storm. Most places not on the Gulf or Atlantic coasts are unprepared for the effects of a hurricane and were blindsided.

Sometimes all the preparations don't make a whole lot of difference when confronted with the power of nature. All the folks who suffered from this storm have my thoughts and prayers.

Hi neighbor!

Glad to hear your area was ok too. We got our power back on Sunday night. There is so much suffering all around. I pray for everyone affected. It is going to take a long time for things to return to any sort of normalcy.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Cameron Parish in Louisiana was also hit very hard. This is an area that was largely destroyed by Hurricane Rita. Many people had spent the last three years re-building their homes and lives and now it is all gone again.

Penny

 

[Planogirl]

I've been monitoring a forum where Galveston residents post. It's starting to appear that the area behind the seawall actually held up fairly well. Lots of flooding and no power but most of the structures appear solid. Also many of the towns around the bay such as Texas City where lots of oil plants and the like are didn't do all that badly. I can't get any information about some of the little towns though. The news is coming in very slowly.

The other areas such as the island's west end, Crystal Beach, Bolivar and so on didn't fare so well. The lack of power and supplies seems to be the worst problem for Houston.

 

[Planogirl]

Cameron Parish in Louisiana was also hit very hard. This is an area that was largely destroyed by Hurricane Rita. Many people had spent the last three years re-building their homes and lives and now it is all gone again.

Penny

That is so sad and unfair.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Just bumpin' this thread with info from Reuters:

GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - The death toll in the wake of Hurricane Ike rose to 30 in Texas on Tuesday as officials in Galveston warned of a growing health threat on the island city that took a direct hit from the huge storm.
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Houston was slowly getting back on its feet though it remained a long way from "business as usual" with many gas stations still shut because of a lack of power or fuel. Mayor Bill White asked residents not to "hoard" supplies.
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Across from Galveston, officials said some 250 to 300 people were stranded on the Bolivar Peninsula, a spit of land where Ike wiped out rows of beach homes.

There were no confirmed fatalities there, though in an odd twist officials reported a pet tiger was roaming its beaches
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Although federal aid was rolling in, Houston's mayor remained frustrated with delays. "There are great people working at FEMA ... Let's just say some people may not be appropriate for their responsibilities," White said.

'HEALTH CRISIS'

In Galveston, officials warned of a health hazard due to a lack of clean water and sanitation, urging the estimated 15,000 remaining to leave.

 

[M&C'sMom]

and our area was hit HARD! I live very close to the Kemah Boardwalk bridge. That whole area is devastated. We have houses here that had 2-5 feet of water in them and then, of course, there are those who lived on the water here and have no home to return to. My side of Hwy 146 fared very well. We have power but there's a problem with our sewage system. The schools around here had water in them, too. I just checked our district's website- I teach in the district- and almost 1/3 of our schools need major renovations. The school where I work had water and roof damage and we're considered to be in "good" condition. I feel so very blessed that we left when we did. I live in a mandatory evacuation zone and heard enough wind and rain 50 miles from here that I can't imagine what it was like at my house. There were those who stayed who have now said they won't EVER do it again. I am so grateful to have power and food. The stories all around us are so sad. We have good friends who lost their homes. I have many needy students whose families live in the hardest hit areas, too. One woman in Kemah, who lived on the water, said she knew it was bad when she saw her couch on the road, 6 blocks from her house. I agree that our local official have done a great job-I love Mayor White! Today we came home. Seeing the news and even though much clean up has already taken place here, still didn't prepare me for what I saw and how I felt. I stopped in Katy for food for my family and found NONE, only long lines with not much food available. Thankfully our pantry is full and we can get by on that for quite awhile.

It's going to be awhile before we get back to some semblance of normality. I'm not sure our community will ever be the same though

 

[Planogirl]

M&C'sMom, I remember when Alicia hit and all of the restaurants on the water were wiped out. How did that area do this time? I preferred the old places but I'd hate to see all of that wiped out again.

I feel so sad for Kemah. I suppose that Seabrook was hit just as hard and I've heard bad things about La Porte too.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I remember this when Hurricane Erin hit the Pensacola area years ago. You should have seen the line at Whataburger when it opened!!

Are you kidding me?? You should have seen the line at Taco Bell on Eglin Blvd in Fort Walton Beach when they opened after Erin...luckily, husband and I beat that traffic! A manager was out re-routing drive thru customers out of traffic!

To those of you who made it through....bless you. I just cannot believe the damage Ike did as a Cat 2...Ivan didn't do NEAR the damage here in the panhandle and he was a Cat 3. Wow.

 

[M&C'sMom]

At the Kemah Boardwalk, Landry's is destroyed. Flying Dutchman and Chart House also sustained damage, I believe. The actual dock/boardwalk that you use to walk the perimeter is gone. The ferris wheel is crooked and the carousel is basically gone. There was one lone horse left. There's a great place on the Kemah side for down home cooking and music (T-Bones) and it had 5 feet of water and is ruined, too. Pappadeaux on the Seabrook side is torn up as well as the seafood shops there. If you know Tookies, I heard they had water, too. We even had a restaurant that has "relocated" to the other side of the street ,courtesy of Ike.

Lots of places on Clear Lake have damage, as well.

 

[Linzybrooke]

My best friend lives in Friendswood and has been keeping me updated. Her parents house survived the storm well, minimal damage and no flooding. Her fiances was not as lucky, but didn't flood or have any major structural issues. They have had spurts of power over the last few days, it will be on for a few hours and then go back out again.

Lubbock (west Texas) got hit with a bunch of rain from the storm and it actually flooded Jones Stadium at Texas Tech, it never rains in Lubbock, not like that at least...so that was crazy for all my friends up there.

Dallas was very lucky, we only got about an hour and half of hard rain on Saturday, and just steady drizzle on either side of it.

 

[Planogirl]

At the Kemah Boardwalk, Landry's is destroyed. Flying Dutchman and Chart House also sustained damage, I believe. The actual dock/boardwalk that you use to walk the perimeter is gone. The ferris wheel is crooked and the carousel is basically gone. There was one lone horse left. There's a great place on the Kemah side for down home cooking and music (T-Bones) and it had 5 feet of water and is ruined, too. Pappadeaux on the Seabrook side is torn up as well as the seafood shops there. If you know Tookies, I heard they had water, too. We even had a restaurant that has "relocated" to the other side of the street ,courtesy of Ike.

Lots of places on Clear Lake have damage, as well.

Wow, it sounds just as bad as the last time! Tookies took water? I know it and it's not by the water so that tells me a lot. Ouch.

 

[M&C'sMom]

Ike was a Cat 2 with 110 mph wind. When you get to 111 mph winds, they become Cat 3, I believe. But Ike was huge! Over 200 miles. Due to its size, the winds and storm surge were more consistent with a Cat 4, they're saying. I've lived here all my life, in Houston I mean, only in Seabrook for the last 15 years. I've NEVER seen anything like this, even with Alicia!

 

[Planogirl]

I'm hearing that Galveston had a 'look and leave' today and the traffic jam was so bad that most people never got on the island. There are some very angry people out there right now because of this. There's also talk of the governor (Governor 'Toll' Perry) instituting some kind of media black out? What the heck is up with that?

I don't understand why they can't secure parts of the island and let more people come in. People just want to check on their homes and businesses and maybe get some personal items and clothing.