Survived Hurricane Ike

[lisaland15]

We have a pretty lively Roll Call for our December Conquest cruise, and this is what I just posted:

 

Greetings everyone!

 

Well, we survived Hurricane Ike.

 

We left League City (about 25 miles from Galveston) Friday morning for a hotel on the NW side of Houston (about 70 miles from Galveston).

 

We lost power at the hotel around 2:00 am. After the storm (around 4:00pm), they evacuated us from the hotel to a different hotel in downtown Houston that had power. It took about 2 hours to get 20 miles due to high water/debris blocking our way. We were going down the street where our new hotel was in downtown Houston, and there was shattered glass from one side of the street to the other. I thought all my tires were going to blow right there.

 

We spoke to some friends while waiting to check into the hotel (car line to get to the front of the hotel was about 15 deep) and they had power. So, we camped out at their house instead.

 

I kept calling my house to see if the answering machine picked up and it did Sunday morning. Neighbors just 3 houses south of us still didn't have power as of last night.

 

We lost our built-in basketball hoop, but that's about it besides tons and tons of debris and brush. Our neighbor diagonally, their trampoline blew into the neighbors behind us, taking the fence out with it. Other neighbor was cleaning out a broken window, cut herself, denied entry into the ER, and a doctor friend stitched her up on the kitchen table. Several shingles lost and water leaking into homes.

 

We have a dusk until dawn curfew. We're supposed to boil water. No water, ice, milk, bread, etc. available at the grocery stores (lines half way down through the parking lot). Some people are waiting a few hours in line to get gas, if the station has some.

 

We were lucky. Others have it much, much worse.

 

The news is saying it might be a month until they allow Galvestonians back on the island. I don't know the condition of Carnival's dock/pier, but Galveston has a very long recovery period.

[floridacruiser63]

Lisa,

 

We are very glad you are ok.

 

As a survivor of Hurricane Andrew, I can tell you that things will get a lot better with each new day. FEMA, as well as the Red Cross will be there soon (or maybe they have already arrived) with truckloads of ice, bottled water and ready prepared meals for whoever needs them. It does take them between 48 and 72 hours to get set up. Your local supermarkets will most likely also be receiving truckloads of ice and all the necessary things in the next couple of days, or as soon as their trucks are allowed in the area. They will also hopefully get large generators so they may open their stores to the public. Publix and Winn Dixie both did it down here.

Be careful with "price gauging", unfortunately, as we experienced down in Miami, there is always people who want to make a quick buck and do not care about human suffering. Down here, the day after the hurricane, there were several people, in unmarked trucks selling bags of ice for $10.00 a bag. (Back in 1992), I will never forget that. We had a two year old at the time, temperatures were in the 90's, so we had to buy some of that ice, however the very next day Publix (our local supermarket) started giving ice away right from their own trucks which arrived in Miami earlier that day, the next day they opened several of their stores (the ones not damaged), working with generators until their power was restored.

From what I have seen in our local news, several groups from Miami, including a search and rescue team as well as FPL (Florida Power and Light contractors) are on the way or have already arrived in Texas to help with the efforts.

Our prayers continue to be with all of you in Texas and Louisiana. Be safe.

[jaybird from SC]

We have a pretty lively Roll Call for our December Conquest cruise, and this is what I just posted:

 

Greetings everyone!

 

Well, we survived Hurricane Ike.

 

We left League City (about 25 miles from Galveston) Friday morning for a hotel on the NW side of Houston (about 70 miles from Galveston).

 

We lost power at the hotel around 2:00 am. After the storm (around 4:00pm), they evacuated us from the hotel to a different hotel in downtown Houston that had power. It took about 2 hours to get 20 miles due to high water/debris blocking our way. We were going down the street where our new hotel was in downtown Houston, and there was shattered glass from one side of the street to the other. I thought all my tires were going to blow right there.

 

We spoke to some friends while waiting to check into the hotel (car line to get to the front of the hotel was about 15 deep) and they had power. So, we camped out at their house instead.

 

I kept calling my house to see if the answering machine picked up and it did Sunday morning. Neighbors just 3 houses south of us still didn't have power as of last night.

 

We lost our built-in basketball hoop, but that's about it besides tons and tons of debris and brush. Our neighbor diagonally, their trampoline blew into the neighbors behind us, taking the fence out with it. Other neighbor was cleaning out a broken window, cut herself, denied entry into the ER, and a doctor friend stitched her up on the kitchen table. Several shingles lost and water leaking into homes.

 

We have a dusk until dawn curfew. We're supposed to boil water. No water, ice, milk, bread, etc. available at the grocery stores (lines half way down through the parking lot). Some people are waiting a few hours in line to get gas, if the station has some.

 

We were lucky. Others have it much, much worse.

 

The news is saying it might be a month until they allow Galvestonians back on the island. I don't know the condition of Carnival's dock/pier, but Galveston has a very long recovery period.

Glad to hear that you are safe and your damage is minimal. Do you know anything about the Kemah area? We have friends there and haven't heard from them.

[lisaland15]

Glad to hear that you are safe and your damage is minimal. Do you know anything about the Kemah area? We have friends there and haven't heard from them.

 

I'm not sure about all of Kemah, but if they lived near the Boardwalk, that was still underwater or at least lots of it. The main road there, Hwy. 146, is barely passable. There are boats on the road!

 

I'm not sure if they are even allowing residents back in there yet.

[aggieastrosfan]

That was a wild ride! I'm in the Cypress area, we were only without power from 5 am Saturday until about 1 pm. Still no cable, so no internet, but McDonald's is open with wifi! :D

[bonniemari]

Glad to hear you and your family is safe and sound.

 

Stuff can always be replaced or repaired. That you and your family are well is the most important thing.

[CGBCruiser]

We live in the Lake Jackson/Freeport area. We are still without power. Only 25% of LJ has power restored. We are still staying in the San Antonio area with my daughter and SIL. I'm getting very tired and am really ready to go home. We're very thankful that we have a place to stay and don't have to stay in a hotel. I feel very sorry for those people displaced that have to stay in shelters. :(

[karenh1127]

I live in Deer Park right on chemical row and just minutes from the Hartman Bridge, Our power went out about 2am but came back about 9pm that night because we live by the new fire station and they had to get emergency services back up. We also got back cable, phone, and internet at the same time. I felt bad that we were literally only a few houses that had power so I called up family and said come to our house. Our neighborhood became real popular! You could tell everyone's family came to stay with them. As of today grocers were open with plenty of food, not much lines for gas, and most fast food places open. I would say Deer Park is almost back to normal. We only sustained roof damage which leaked in several places inside and we lost most of the fence but house is still standing so thankful for that. I am sorry for all who really lost alot. My sisters house in Baytown fell in and is unlivable. Oh and HEB wanted over $5 for a gallon of milk!!

[CGBCruiser]

We have much to be thankful for...our house is in tact. My SIL went back home on Monday and he and a friend cleaned up our yard and hauled off all the debris. He also cleaned out my refrigerator which is a big mess when the power has been off. My husband left today to go back...he works for Dow Chemical in Freeport and they were supposed to report back to work yesterday. So, now we're just waiting on power to be restored. We haven't been hit by a hurricane like this since Alicia in 1983 so we are very lucky. Of course, ALicia didn't bring the storm surge to Galveston like Ike and we all only suffered damage from the wind.

 

You can report price gouging to the State of Texas. That is so wrong to take advantage of people that are already suffering.