Re: Ike

Very DELIGHTED to hear you & the babies are ok!   Very sorry about the roof
and the house.  I think Ike was as bad as Alicia, and she was terrible.  Is
there anything you need that I can send to you?   I mean it.

On 9/22/08, TeichFauna@aol.com <TeichFauna@aol.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all.....thanks for the many birthday wishes and concerns.  I  appreciate
> it very much!!! Needless to say, this was a memorable birthday, not  one
> that I
> would want to repeat though, not any time soon....if ever.
>
> Wow, how much we take the everyday things in life for granted.  Boy  does
> it
> feel good to have electricity back after 9 days!!!  We are lucky,  there
> are
> still over a million in the Houston area without it, and we were
> also  lucky to
> have a bit of a break in the heat right after the storm....having to  live
> without A/C, ice, etc.
> We were fortunate to have running water, and gas stove instead of elect. so
> we were able to light the stove with a match to cook much of the food
> before
> it  spoiled.  I sure learned a lot about what to do prior to a storm that
> nobody usually tells you about....such as empty as much of your freezer and
> refrigerator as possible the days before a storm is to hit.......even if it
> doesn't come your way, at least you have a clean frig. LOL   But we  were
> always
> told that a full freezer keeps the food longer....HA, not for
> 9  days....despite
> daily visits to the FEMA trailers almost 20 miles away for ice,  etc.....of
> course much of it was melted by the time we got home....but every
> bit  helped.
> Apparently FEMA didn't think the surrounding Counties other than  Galveston
> and Harris needed supplies....but that is another issue.  Luckily  as power
> was
> restored to many businesses closer to us, we were able to get a  little ice
> through their generosity.
>
> They said that Ike was only a Cat. 2, however the storm was as large  as
> most
> Cat 4 storms, and thus had the storm surge of a Cat 4  or 5.  This became
> apparent on Friday morning, 20 hours before  landfall, when Galveston and
> the
> coastal areas were already experiencing  significant flooding due to the
> tides
> being much higher than usual.  By  noon, 12+ hours before landfall, the
> experts
> were saying that the flooding  was worse than they had seen with Edouard,
> Rita
> or even Alicia.   The  city of Houston, although not directly on the coast,
> was bracing for the worst  by then, because all the storm drains from our
> streets (Houston and  surrounding counties) flow to the many Bayous, which
> in turn
> flow into the  Gulf.  The Bayous were already rising prior to the actual
> storm
> surge  getting there.
>
> The winds picked up friday afternoon, by friday evening we had already lost
> power.  We were right on the edge of the eye, so our winds never did let up
> at all, except changing directions.  The back half of the storm had much
> higher winds, in excess of 100 mph, which did the most damage to trees,
> houses,
> the downtown Houston area, etc.  The storm surge was much greater
> than  anyone
> could have anticipated.  All in all, many paid too much attention to  the
> "Catagory 2 rating" and didn't anticipate Cat 4 or 5 strength winds
> and  surge.
> Far too many didn't evacuate thinking that they had riden out many  Cat 3
> storms, so a Cat 2 would not be so bad.
>
> On a personal note....we did suffer a bit of damage with the storm. We
> didn't flood, although the water did come into the house a bit, but not
> bad  enough
> that we were not able to keep a handle on it.  However, our  neighbors huge
> tree just blew apart and most of it landed on our yard and  roof.  Of
> course at
> night we didn't realize much, since it was at the other  end of the house.
> There was so much noise, we didn't realize what really  was happening, and
> with
> the pouring rain and everything pitch dark, was hard to  see what was
> crashing where.  The next morning we looked out the window to  see a lot of
> debris
> all over our yard, all the fences down, and the back yard  flooded.  Did
> see a
> spot on the cieling in the living room  dripping...put a bucket under
> it.  It
> was still pouring continuously  and tropical storm force winds that
> day...but
> we went out several  times to try to locate the box turtles that we were
> unable
> to find the days  before the storm to bring in. Did locate all but two,
> unfortunately.  DH saw a huge branch on the roof, that had pulled down  the
> gutter
> to my office....through the rain and debris, and at an odd angle  it didn't
> look like too much damage to the roof other than several shingles  damaged,
> and
> some shingles gone.  Came inside to find that the cieling had  fallen in
> the
> living room, and then heard another crash, the cieling to the  office came
> down.  We then saw that the plywood sheathing had areas where  it had caved
> in
> from the large limbs hitting the roof. You could see clear  out to the sky.
>
> Anyway, needless to say, we spent the next 4 days putting up and  securing
> tarps on the roof, moving tons of wet things, a lot of books that  I didn't
> want
> to part with...so I put paper towels between each page to absorb  the
> water.
> (Had learned that from a flood we had 20 years  ago.) Unfortunately I did
> find damage to several old family  pictures.....that probably hurt the
> worst.
> DH moved furniture  and cut out the wet carpet and removed it.  Needless to
> say, our  house literally looks like Ike marched through it.  We have
> boxes,
> books, papers, etc. stacked on every chair, table, and any other
> surface  one can
> imagine.  It's like a maze getting through the house.   Definitely a good
> thing that we dont' have to "show" anything  at any plant shows for the
> next
> months, because if I thought my  plants weren't perfect before....you
> should see
> them now.   (smile)   No, it's not that bad....despite how terrible
> disastrous
> the  yard initially looked, after removing an awful lot of debris, a
> lot  more
> survived than didn't and hopefully will bounce back nicely.  The  shrubs
> and
> trees are very lopsided, and many needed serious pruning to cut  out the
> damaged limbs, but hopefully in a year or so it'll all be back
> in  shape.  However,
> despite all this, we were very fortunate......we  still have a house, we
> still have our lives, our "kids" are fine (although  shaken up)......there
> are so
> many that sustained far more damage, some not even  having a house to go
> home
> to.  And countless people still unaccounted  for.
> Like many others, I still can't sleep through the night, waking up  with
> every noise.......but that too will pass.
>
> Anyway, thanks again, and please keep the folks here that are less
> fortunate, and those in other states in your thoughts and prayers.
>
> Noreen
> zone 9
> Texas Gulf Coast
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Pam Evans
Kemp TX
zone 8A

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