Gig 'Em Aggies

We took the girls to their first Aggie football game this past weekend. It was very hot, but we had a great time anyway. Aggies won (whoop!) 21-17. It was veterans appreciation day and they opened up a huge flag on the field at halftime. Also had paratroopers jumping out of helicopters and landing in the middle of the field. Very cool.

Here Come the Cavalry!

This is what our neighborhood looked like on Monday and Tuesday. The streets were lined with power trucks. Most were from Conneticut. These guys worked for days getting trees trimmed and power lines restrung. If they weren't working they were crashed in their trucks (with AC on of course! Not used to this heat!) I hope they know how much they are appreciated! Especially since it has warmed up significantly in the last few days. Then yesterday, VOILA! Let there be light! The girls and I were out, but we someone we were with got a phone call that we might have power. I was reluctant to believe it so we made a few calls. And when we got home I flipped the breaker and Regan yelled, "The lights are on!!!". I have never appreciated lights and air conditioning so much! And the day before school starts! So now we're hitting the ground running, school starting, tennis lessons, choir, etc. Life is nearly back to normal! Yeah!

Jumping Ship

Not that conditions were that bad up in our area, but we decided to jump ship. There was no sign of power coming our way. (We've been staying with neighbors who have power) Gas lines and grocery stores are still horrible. We thought a change of scenery would do us some good. We packed up this afternoon and headed to San Marcos. People here keep asking us if we've seen this or heard about that (national news wise). Nope, our world has literally consisted of our neighborhood alone. I gotta admit it's really nice to be able to hit a switch and have light! We did make a trip to Sonic for lunch today. They got a huge truckload of supplies in overnight. Somehow a lime slush from sonic makes everything seem a little more normal. So, we're going to hang out here for the rest of the week, maybe do a little shopping at the outlet mall. I'll call back to Houston before we go back to get a shopping list from everyone and stock up on the way out of town. We've all made a list of things to do differently next time. We really were pretty prepared, just a few things that would have made life a little easier. Perhaps number one on the list should be to leave town!

Recovery

Looks like we made it! Unlike many in our neighborhood, we escaped the wrath of Ike unscathed. Our trees are pretty bare, many leaves stripped from the trees, but no trees through our roof. Sunday was spent cleaning up (after the additional 5 inches of rain Sunday morning moved out). With the exception of downed trees, our neighborhood is pretty much cleaned up. Yards are lined with huge piles of debris and bags. I think we have about 10 bags of nothing but leaves and pine needles, along with a few piles of branches. I thought our neighborhood was hit pretty hard until we ventured out yesterday. Older areas with more trees are a real mess. One street had 3 houses in a row with trees through the houses. The majority of our neighborhood is still without power. Talk about darkess! As you walk down the streets at night or in the morning you hear the hum of the generators about every 8th house. We hear it may be a week before the rest of us get power. We all got water back on Sunday evening. Without water the girls and I would have left real quick! Rumors were flying yesterday that a smattering of businesses were open on the main road near us. We ventured out and believe it or not, Sonic, a Chinese restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, subway, a donut shop and Quiznos were open. And they were hopping! The lines for gas are unbelievable, so we are staying put. Gas lines are getting a little heated, so several neighbors are beginning to carry their guns if they go out. We are eating better than we normally do; everyone is trying to use up the meat from their freezers! Aside from the little inconveniences, things are like they were when we grew up. Kids OUTSIDE riding bikes and playing games. Neighbors outside talking to other neighbors, sharing food, stories,etc. I've met neighbors I've never even SEEN before, and we've been here 6 1/2 years. I feel for the people closer to the coast and east of us. They got hit really hard and it is going to be a long, long time before things are back to normal. Supposedly school will start on Thursday, although I kindof doubt it. I have video to post,but right now I'm headed outside to enjoy the unseasonable cool weather!

Dawn Breaks

7am. You can hear the relief in the newscasters voices that dawn is breaking and Houston is still on the map. Not sure about Galveston, but Houston is still here. Now instead of constant weather reports the newscast is made up of people calling in their damage reports or the “what’s happeining here” reports. Ok, at 5 I thought we were nearly done with this, but I really think it’s almost worse now. The wind is really blowing. Maybe because I can actually SEE the trees bending halfway over. Still not light enough to video. The wind is really ripping through these trees. I saw a branch or something fly by one of our windows. Evidently Ike is not done with us yet. The newscasters say we could see heavy wind until late afternoon. The sound of the wind is constant now. I don’t hear the branches hitting the roof anymore, either they have broken off or we are on the other side of the eye and the wind has shifted. The girls are watching a video on the dvd player, but are getting a little stir crazy. I don’t want them walking around the hosue because of all the windows and I really think the wind is stronger and more consistent now than earlier.

8am. I just heard the storms location on the radio. I guess we were going through the eyewall at 7. A neighbor heard from someone south that another band of high wind and lots of rain headed our way in about an hour. Great. We’ve been looking out the windows and man, what a mess! Branches and leaves everywhere. Our windows are plastered with debris.

9am. Yep, here it comes again. I think we have had wind from every direction and sometimes from more than one at the same time. The girls and I were watching an evergreen bend waaaayyy over when we heard a loud pop. I thought it was another transformer blowing, but then we saw the HUGE pine tree laying across the road a few houses up. I can see a tree snapped in half across the street laying across power lines. Our next door neighbor (who is in Italy for 2 weeks) has a pine tree laying across his roof. Just heard on the walkie that a friend is going to drive the neighborhood to look at damages.
Bad news. It sounds like our neighborhood got hit really hard. Lots of trees are down, and more than a few have damaged houses and garages. We’ll have a lot of cleanup to do.
12 noon – Ok, we’ve been at this for a solid 12 hours now, and it looks to be coming around again. Winds out of the south this time. Just when I thought we were out of the woods with our pine trees. Winds from the south would blow 2 of them right onto our house. We’ve been out walking a little bit. Still lots of rain but it’s nice to get out of the house. And we needed a shower anyway, right? They say maybe by 2pm we’ll be mostly done. I don’t know. I do know the guys are chomping at the bit to play manly man and fire up the chainsaws. Overall, so far so good. I will say it was much worse than I had anticipated. I thought I would be clausterphobic staying in the closet, but last night I felt the smaller the space the better! Don’t think I will do this again. Even though they begged us not to evacuate unless we were asked, I thnk next time I’ll just wait until the last minute and then leave. I still can’t imagine those people that stayed on the Island. I think I’ll turn the radio on to see if they have any reports from down there.
12:45 Still MORE wind. Jeez Ike, get a move on already! Maybe I’ll take a nap.3:00 Finally a break in the wind and rain. As I was getting some clean clothes to put on I heard two very loud power surges. I ran to the window and smoke was pouring out of our across the street neighbors garage. People were running to her house as she was running across the street with her baby. Turns out they have power lines down in their backyard and they are laying in their pool. There apparently was electricity in the grid somewhere and it ended up in their house. Anything plugged in on that side of the street lit up! Their entire electrical panel in their garage was friend. Guess they’ll be staying somewhere else for awhile. After that excitement we drove through the neighborhood to assess damages. Wow. So much worse than I could have imagined. Trees down everywhere (80’ pine trees), through houses , smashing garages and cars. Street signs laying flat on the street. Debris everywhere. And, we are officially without water. Went to brush my teeth and nothing came out. We filled all three bathtubs for just such an event, but come on… and I’ve been hearing that it could be weeks before we get power. Supposedly 2 million people in Houston alone are without power. That was before the storm even went north to Conroe and Huntsville. I guess the next time it rains I’ll take a bar of soap out with me! J The neighborhood is a mess, but people are already beginning to clean up. It would help if the rain would stop for more than 10 minutes at a time.

HANG ON!!

2:25 am. Power flickered several times before it finally went out. It’s really, really dark, and it makes the wind sound that much louder. I moved from the couch into the closet with the girls. I can’t sleep because of the sound of the branches slapping against our roof. It sounds like somebody is running across the ceiling. Every once in awhile we get a really , really strong gust. It’s almost like you can feel Mother Nature taking a giant breath and then blowing as hard and as long as possible, then it pauses, and does it all again. I turned on the battery radio and put he earphone in just to block out the sound of the wind. Starting just before midnight I kept seeing out my window what I thought was lightning. The flashes got more frequent and brighter,but there was never any thunder. After I turned on the radio I realized that the flashes were from the transformers blowing. They flashed all night long. We are going to be without power for a long time. It’s going to be a long night.
3:30 am. I called mom and dad, mainly because I was bored and tired of listeneing to the wind. I think I said “this is ridiculous”. I was surprised I still had cell service. They were right on the money when they said it would really let loose around 3. My phone call woke Maddy up, but at least I had someone to talk to. Daisy was getting a little nervous and walked between the bathroom (where Tom had moved) and the closet. Bear was snug as a bug curled up next to the girls. Regan woke up around 4 and we just started telling stories, to block out the sound of the wind. I didn’t want them to get too scared. I thought we’d all feel better if we could just make It to 5 am, which would, in my mind anyway, kiss the night goodbye and we’d be on the downhill swing to daylight. Bear snores, and has really bad breath. 5am. The neighborhood is starting to come alive via walkie talkie. Talked to a few people I didn’t know. They all start out with, is anybody awake? Is anybody out there? One guy lost his fence, but didn’t get any water in his house. Don’t k now where he lives though. Jim and Lynn came on at 5am and we chatted awhile. It helped to realize that we weren’t the only people riding this thing out. It seemed to be settling down outside with just heavy rain and gusts here and there. I ventured out of the closet for a pantry run, we were all starving!

The Clock Strikes Midnight

As if on cue, the rain began at midnight. Winds are back and forth between calm and gusty, with the gusts getting stronger. I can watch the pine trees blow back and forth out the window. We still have power, (obviously), but I hear people on the walkie talkies talking about flickering lights. The kids are asleep under the stairs with Bear, Tom is asleep in our room, Daisy just came out to keep me company in the family room. I can see the lightning out the window, but it's still pretty far away. I think things are about to kick up a notch or two. Why don't they let these poor newscasters put on regular clothes already? They've been on air since yesterday without break and they are still in their suits.

Things that go bump in the night....

I keep hearing noises from upstairs. Branches hitting the roof maybe? Or maybe the girls rolling over and hitting the wall behind me. Things always sound worse in the dark... Gonna be a long night. The walkie talkies are quiet, so I guess everyone is trying to get a little sleep. I guess I'll sign off for the night and put the laptop out of harms way. See you on the other side of the storm...

Night Settles In

A few pictures of this evenings sunset. Even saw a rainbow. A little eerie. We actually just came back from a hurricane party. I can see why people have them. There is an awful lot of sitting around waiting going on and you just get a little stir crazy. Hanging out with neighbors makes it a little easier. It was a very pleasant evening. Breezy and much cooler. We get a few good gusts every now and then. The kids actually got out the kites and flew them for awhile. Primo conditions for that! One good gust nearly picked our neighbor Carly up by her kite! We are now in for the evening. Everything seems a little worse at night. Girls are getting a little nervous. So is mom. Tom is taking the dogs for their walk. Lots of neighbors still out milling around. We are sharing a walkie talkie channel with our neighbors so we can keep in touch through the storm and call for help if needed. (hopefully not). Doesn't look like I'll be able to get much video of the big winds since its so dark out. We are beginning to be able to hear the wind howl during the big gusts. The weather guys keep saying the sound of the big winds is something you will never forget. Still hoping they don't get that bad up here! 40% of Galveston did not evacuate. Crazy people. Probably crazy dead people by morning. The storm surge was much worse much earlier than they had anticipated. We are high here so water should not be a problem, unless it's rain coming through a hole in the roof. :) Ok, forgive the layout of the pics. I can't figure out how to fix it without starting over. Still hoping for a turn EAST!

The Waiting Game

And so we sit and wait, and wait, and wait. A little breeze now and again, but that's about it. Regan and some of her friends are modeling their Take a Hike Ike t-shirts. Just got back from the neighbors where we played a rousing game of scrabble while the guys tossed the football around. Tom just cracked open a beer. Galveston is getting hammered with the storm surge, but we're just playing the waiting game. Winds are now forcast for 80+ mph up here. These pines are looking a little more precarious... About 5-10 houses in the neighborhood are boarded up now. Some people just left, (who knows to where, but they left their dog), without putting much of anything away, so we walked the streets and put things away for them. Just may have saved some of our windows.

Prelude

It's almost noon, and the wind has begun to pick up. Just little gust here and there. The clouds are starting to build as well. So far it's a big party for the kids. They all got together and set up a lemonade stand earlier, now they are at a neighbors decorating hurricane t shirts.
Here is a picture out our back window to the south. You can see the clouds starting to build. Nothing much yet.







Tom decided to board up our bathroom window so we have a little bigger room to hide in. Several people in the neighborhood have boarded up all their windows. Too late now! If you have internet access, check out the live feed from khou.com. They are on the Galveston seawall, which is 17' high. the water is to the top of the wall and when the waves hit it they shoot up like a geyser. Very impressive. Just want to know who the idiots are that are walking their dogs out there and taking pictures in front of the waves!

Calm Before the Storm

I think we're done with our last minute preps. If it's not attached, it's in the garage. Blue skies and calm winds outside. Notice the beautiful tall pine trees. Tom is heading in to check on his patients one last time. The waves in Galveston are splashing OVER the 15-17 foot seawall. Who are the crazy people still driving along that rode? There was one town along the bay they were saying really didn't need to evacuate. At 6 this morning the newscasters were telling them to get up and get out.

This is our closet under our stairs, and I guess will be our "home" during the storm. (it was full, floor to ceiling, of christmas decorations and just random stuff) Doesn't look like a whole lot of room for 4 people and 2 dogs. Sorry Regan, we can't take the fish in there with us.

D-Day

Well, this is it. We have until maybe lunchtime before we start to see tropical storm force winds. They predict hurricane force for us around 3am. (of course, the absolute middle of the night!) Tom didn't get home until 10 last night so we still have a few heavy things to move into the garage so they don't become missiles. The waves are really kicking up on the island. As tempting as it's always been, I'm really glad I don't live on the coast right now. Woke up at 6 just to check the news. You can too, at www.khou.com. The have a live feed of their newscast. Just heard that the storm is not strengthening like they thought and that it's looking a little ragged. Good news for us! The kids are a little nervous, although so far it's been a big party. Since there's no school today Maddy spent the night with a friend and Regan had a friend stay here. The weather man just announced the eye is supposed to travel right up I45, which we are about 2 miles to the west of. Lovely! I hear Tom up, so I guess I'll go take a shower, maybe my last for a few days (better shave), and begin to get things rolling. More updates later!

Yikes! Ike!

It's looking worse for us up here. Ike continues to track WNW, with projected landfall just west of Galveston. Just got back from my tennis match (priorities, you know), and things are getting crazy! Weather started out very hot and very still. It's now clouding up and a little breezy. Lines everywhere. No gas, no water, no ice, no propane. Store shelves are picked clean. School is cancelled for tomorrow. Only one house in our neighborhood is boarded up. Tom is at work so there's not a whole lot I could do with that anyway. Awful lot of windows in this house.... Big windows... And lots of tall trees...
Scary thing is this is going to be an overnight storm. Everything seems worse at night. We are thinking of riding out the storm hunkered down with several other families. I think the kids would be more at ease that way. (me too) I'll try to take some pics of the weather, maybe some video. I think I can post them on the blog. Gotta go start moving things into the garage, projectiles you know. Check back often. Until the the power goes out this will be the easiest way to keep in touch. Phone lines are already jammed up.

Apparent New Addition to Family

Bear

Jeez, as if we didn't have enough going on.... Tom watched this little guy wander around the neighborhood for weeks. All the evening dog walkers were talking about the poor thing. Didn't seem like the typical "stray." The kids in the neighborhood finally saw him and picked him up. (came right up to the kids, wouldn't go anywhere near adults) We thought we'd be the good samaritans and locate his owners. Problem is, nobody seems to be looking for him. Thought I had a possible adopter, but they backed out. (little baby, no time). I guess the fact that we've named him should give the little guy some sense of security. Although he started out sleeping outside, since he weathered Ike with us he has made his way into the house and has even earned "couch" priviledges.

Watching Ike

Well, we didn't think Ike was going to pose much of a threat to us, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. When we woke up yesterday all of the computer models were sending the storm to the Corpus area. Mom and Dad actually loaded the truck with plywood yesterday evening and headed down to Port Aransas to board up the condo windows and move some furniture to the back bedrooms. That area of the Texas coast has not had any significant hurricane come ashore since I think Hugo in the early 80's. By the time I got home from daily mom activities this afternoon, Ike had tracked further north than anticipated and it now looks like it will hit somewhere near Matagorda Bay. Depending on how far North Ike tracks, Houston/Galveston could be on the "dirty" side of the storm which means we will get more wind and storm surge, not to mention tornadoes. Arrival time looks to be sometime Friday night Saturday morning. Lucky for me I already have a full tank of gas as I hear the lines are already forming. Parts of the coast are already under mandatory evacuations. Safe to say that we will NOT be evacuating this time. Unlike Rita, which forcasted 100+ mph winds where we are, we shouldn't get anything more than tropical storm force, and hopefully some much needed rain! I'm sure the store shelves are already cleaned out of water and canned goods. School districts south of town have already cancelled classes for the rest of the week. This is our local high school's homecoming weekend. How crummy is that? I believe they have already moved the game to Thursday night. Time to get the kids in bed. Choir practice for Maddy starts tomorrow at 7:15 a.m. Ugh!