Hurricane Ike (calling FL/hurricane peeps)

[bebe]

Hi fellow Houstonians,

We are "stuck" in NYC. I don''t want to go through the storm, but still worried sick about our house.
We live very close, (few blocks) from Lake Houston. It has flooded in the past and we were ok, but you
never know. Also worried about trees on our house, the pool, etc... I''ve been through Carla as a child
and Alicia. Don''t remember Carla, but Alicia was just awful. We had damage, no electricity for days on end...

Stay safe all.

 

[Courtneylub]

Lucky...I live in Meyerland...east of Sugarland like you.

Lori, I think you will be fine in Katy. I heard the wind there will be in the 70''s actually. Don''t fret!

The places to worry about are the ones that had mandatory evacuations. I JUST got my cousin to agree to leave Clear Lake this morning. Thank God there''s no traffic and the gas stations have received deliveries overnight. I have old family in Galveston who won''t even leave. It''s insane.

I know that our place will be fine, but it''s still scary only being 40 minutes or so away from the coast.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

I work in a restaurant, and last night I was doing to go orders. There were at least 3 people who came in that were in town because of the hurricane. They all looked so worried, and my heart really went out to them.

Stay safe, PScopers! My thoughts and prayers are with you all!

 

[meresal]

Now in Austin. We arrived at midnight last night after leaving at 630.

Can I just say thank you to everyone that stayed that was not under mandatory evacuation. A normal 2.5 hr drive to Austin was only 5, which I was very thankful of, honestly. People were calling radio stations to complain about the traffic, but I assume they were not in "mandatory" areas, becuase the rest of us had a lot more on our minds than getting irritated with people that are fleeing their homes for survival.

I wasn't in Houston for Rita, but I am extremely pleased with the way the they have handled this evacuation. A job well done indeed.

The storm has shifted, yet again, and is set to go directly over our 1st floor apartment, that is just across the street from NASA on the bay side. They are predicting a 20 ft storm surge, that would put our area under water (not sure how high the "under" means), but I actually heard that anything over 16ft would reach our front door. A thought that recently crossed my mind and nearly brought me to tears was the idea that even if it doesn't reach our door, you also have to add 3 days of rains that will more than likely push it higher.

I am now second guessing the things that I just put to higher ground and why in the world I would have thought it was ok to just leave all my pictures and picture albums in the apartment at all, eventhough they are 6 ft off the ground and very well protected. This is looking like it could be very bad for us, and many of our friends. FI has many friends that just live at home, and they evactuated to Austin as well, however they are talking about heading to the lake to drink all day. This bothers us, becasue FI and I cannot pull ourselves away from the tv, due to the fact that we could loose our home. I guess it;s different when you don't actually "own" anything that could possibly be lost. I just don't really understand it sometimes.

Lucky, we don't work at NASA, but that is where FI grew up. We have many friends that work there, it does seem to be a job that "runs in the family". Guess that happens when you love your job.

A great company indeed. FI actually plays softball with a bunch of buddies there each week.

I hope that everyone back in Houston is doing fine. My prayers are with each and every one of you and your families. Thank you for all of your well wishes, we did make it here safely and in good spirits none the less... now is when our strength is tested. We will stay in touch and please stay safe.

ETA: Courtneylub, FI has a friend and his mom that were going to ride it out in CL, but when they redirected the storm and the surges again this morning they left, and are now headed to Austin as well. There are lots of people in FI's parent's neighborhood that were staying, and I'm guessing they were packing up and boarding up this morning to leave.

 

[appletini]

meresal,

Go out to the lake and enjoy yourselves b/c if you do lose everything back home its going to be a long time before things get back to normal. And watching the TV isn''t going to help anything.

 

[Courtneylub]

Oh appletini...thanks for the heads up on Beau''s place. Looks like we may be heading to Austin if the storm gets stronger. DH doesn''t want to take the chance on the power being out for a long time...I''m pregnant and he doesn''t want me to be uncomfortable at all. I don''t want to make the drive though.

 

[Cleopatra]

Baton Rouge is already getting pounded with wind and rain from Ike! Which isn''t good - now that we have branches hanging on by threads thanks to Gustav!

My parents in Southern LA are already seeing flood waters from Ike''s storm surge!

Good luck my Texas Neighbors! I''ll be praying for your safety and that Ike loses strength soon!

Check in after the storm!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 9/12/2008 12:01:01 AM
Author: bebe
Stay safe all.

I was talking briefly to luckystar in a political thread, but I haven't said anything here. I have a friend in the Houston area who has nowhere to take shelter on her land and has a lot of animals, all kept as pets. She is most fearful of a tornado. Where she is, there is water if one digs, so it is impossible to make cellars or other shelters from cyclones. I have been worried about luckystar, who seemed very cool and collected...and now am again, because this storm seems worse than anyone expected. I hope that all of you who are in Texas and all of you who have property in Texas will fare well. My thoughts and prayers will be with you. Please keep us posted here as much as you can throughout the storm!


Best of luck to everyone,
Deb

 

[luckystar112]

AGBF, is your friend located in south Houston?
I hope she and her animals are okay.

I think that if I lived where Courtney, LuckyTexan or others lived I would be more scared, but since I pretty much live on the opposite side of Houston (close to Tomball) I''m not as worried about torrential rains and winds. I know we will feel some of the effects, but we won''t be directly in the action.

I posted this link in the other thread, but here it is again in case any Houstonians haven''t seen it.

http://www.houstonhidefromthewind.org/

If anyone is getting really scared and is thinking about coming further up north to where I am, perhaps we can get Ali to pass on my phone number. Our house is a little messy and we don''t have a ton of supplies...but just a thought. I''d hate for someone to stay down there just because they have no place to go.

 

[appletini]

Courtney, Congratulations! The baby is wonderful news! Well if you plan to go to Austin definitely go ahead and leave now, by the way if y''all are hungry Annie''s is open for lunch.

 

[Courtneylub]

Yummmm, Annie''s is my place!!! I love it.

I don''t think we are heading to Austin now, which I''m glad.

 

[oobiecoo]

Hey everyone... I was wondering if you guys could send positive thoughts towards the Port Arthur/Beaumont area. I don''t live there anymore but I have lots of friends there and my parents own a house there (the one my mom grew up in). The storm surge looks like its going to be about 20 ft!

Good luck to all of you Houstonians!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 9/12/2008 12:54:40 PM
Author: luckystar112
AGBF, is your friend located in south Houston?

I believe that she, like you, is north of Houston, luckystar. I am just not sure of how far north or how safe she is. I know she cannot bring all her dogs inside and that she is letting her horses loose. Apparently confining them in the barn is more dangerous for them. I know next to nothing about caring for horses, so I do not understand this. She says that they get agitated if confined in a storm and are more likely to harm themselves and other animals. It sounds terribly brutal to let them go, but the reason she remained at home and didn't evacuate was to care for her animals as best she could!


Deborah

 

[HollyS]

Date: 9/12/2008 10:18:59 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 9/12/2008 12:54:40 PM
Author: luckystar112
AGBF, is your friend located in south Houston?

I believe that she, like you, is north of Houston, luckystar. I am just not sure of how far north or how safe she is. I know she cannot bring all her dogs inside and that she is letting her horses loose. Apparently confining them in the barn is more dangerous for them. I know next to nothing about caring for horses, so I do not understand this. She says that they get agitated if confined in a storm and are more likely to harm themselves and other animals. It sounds terribly brutal to let them go, but the reason she remained at home and didn''t evacuate was to care for her animals as best she could!


Deborah

You must be terribly worried about your friend; I hope she weathers this storm well. They are predicting 40-70 winds and 3-8 inches of rain here, 300 miles away. We''ve had storms come into TX from the Gulf before, Rita for instance, but I''m feeling a bit antsy about this one. We''ve laid in supplies of food, water, batteries, etc.; never done that before. Here''s hoping everyone from PS and their families and friends will be okay, and experience very little major damage.

 

[Skippy123]

Prayers outgoing for all in Ike''s path, I hope everyone is safe!!

 

[scarleta]

I pray that everyone will be safe and not much damage happens.Everyone stay safe.

 

[pocahontas]

Stay safe friends! My thoughts and prayers are with you all!

 

[Maisie]

Date: 9/12/2008 12:54:40 PM
Author: luckystar112
AGBF, is your friend located in south Houston?
I hope she and her animals are okay.

I think that if I lived where Courtney, LuckyTexan or others lived I would be more scared, but since I pretty much live on the opposite side of Houston (close to Tomball) I''m not as worried about torrential rains and winds. I know we will feel some of the effects, but we won''t be directly in the action.

I posted this link in the other thread, but here it is again in case any Houstonians haven''t seen it.

http://www.houstonhidefromthewind.org/

If anyone is getting really scared and is thinking about coming further up north to where I am, perhaps we can get Ali to pass on my phone number. Our house is a little messy and we don''t have a ton of supplies...but just a thought. I''d hate for someone to stay down there just because they have no place to go.

What a kind person you are Lucky. Bless you for making that offer to help people.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 9/13/2008 12:42:23 AM
Author: HollyS

You must be terribly worried about your friend; I hope she weathers this storm well.
...
Here''s hoping everyone from PS and their families and friends will be okay, and experience very little major damage.

Thank you for the good wishes, Holly. My friend, her husband, and their animals all made it through the storm. I hope that all the other Pricescopers did as well. I will be looking to this thread for reports from the front lines. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you who have been on the front lines. And I concur with Maisie that luckystar is is a very special person; but that comes as absolutely no surprise to me after knowing her from these boards.


Deb

 

[HollyS]

Deb: glad to hear your friend and her family/animals are okay.

Courtneylub, anyone from that area: can you tell us how you''re doing, or are you without power?

 

[sumbride]

Hope everyone is ok! My brother''s in-laws live in Willis, near Conroe, and lost their roof and had their house flood. They are safe, but it was quite a bit of damage and they are pretty far inland. My heart goes out to my fellow Texans, even if I live far away now.

 

[meresal]

The Hilton that they are showing on national broadcasts, in Clear Lake, is across the street from our home. They aren't letting people drive into our area, there's a good chance it's under water. That's all I know.

We are still in Austin, and we are praying...

 

[Maisie]

I''m so sorry to hear about the damage to your brother-in-laws place Sumbride.

Meresal it must be so difficult that you don''t know exactly what is happening with your home. I will pray that it won''t be as bad as you are thinking it is.

 

[bebe]

And now I see on the news it is raining heavily in HOuston again due to a front coming through.

We are in NYC and cannot get a flight back to Houston. Our home in Kingwood didn''t have much damage
according to our neighbors. There are a few trees down, our pool is trashed with limbs and stuff, just as the
whole area is. No power of course.

We heard that the radar is out at Intercontinental Airport, adding to the thousands of people wanting back in Houston.
What a mess.

Sumbride, how awful for your bil, the eye must have passed right over him or very close.
Meresal, I hope you get word soon on your home. My neice lives in Kemah and she has no
word yet on her house.

 

[Courtneylub]

We finally drove to Austin last night after being without power for 2 days. We had a tree fall, our ceiling cracked and water came pouring down, our doors are bent. It could be a lot a worse and thank goodness we were there or else our whole front room would be flooded. The power won''t be fixed for 2 days to 2 weeks. I was miserable without power as well as with my dad being there. Long story. I walked around the neighborhood yesterday after the storm passed and it was a very sad sight. Please keep my family in your prayers. My dad and other family members are very worried about their homes in Galveston and Clear Lake.

 

[bebe]

http://media.myfoxhouston.com/news/ikezipcodereports/index.html

this is a link to Fox News in HOuston that shows storm info, like power and water by zip codes.

 

[Courtneylub]

Bebe, that link isn''t working unfortunately. The header comes up, but nothing on the page. I thought it would be a good way of checking if we got water or power back in our zip.

 

[bebe]

Try going directly to Centerpoint Energy. My neighbor who is in The Netherlands (!) forwarded that to me.

 

[bebe]

Hope all Houstonians are ok. I''m sure few can even read PS, without having power.

After I return home, I''ll try to take pics and post when we get power.

 

[meresal]

We returned last night to FI''s parents house which had no electricity, but running water. Their neighborhood has extensive tree damage but minimal flooding. The picture below is of the community pool that is down the street from their house. These are huge trees that have been completely uprooted. There are at least 3 of this size, on every street, plus probably a dozen of every other planted tree and numerous palm trees. They have yet to get electricity as of 4:00 pm our time.