Hurricane Ike targets Subsim (Texas)

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

...not only did it wash on shore, it also has plants/trees neatly growing around it. Who knew?

hahha! That made me laugh!

Thanks for the notes of concern, guys, I made out fine.I didn't post this to make people worry but I thought it would be
interesting to report on the martime aspects of this event.

Well, Ike was no powderpuff but for anyone other than folks living within 5 miles of the Gulf or Galveston bay, it wasn't
terribly bad. Strong Cat 2 hurricane, first to land on Galveston Island in 25 years (since Alica, a strong Cat 3, in 1983). It's a
hurricane, we know how to handle them. If you live along the coast, within the surge tide zone, you pack up and get out. If
you live more inland (Pearland is 17 miles from Galveston Bay), you stock up on supplies, board the right windows, and
ride it out. Sure, something extraordinary and bad can possibly happen, but that's life. More people die from stupid during
a hurricane than the hurricane itself.

Of course, for houses along the shoreline, the damage was much worse, much more extensive. But, that's a given..... I'm only reporting on areas inland.

As I last reported, the power was going off and on frequently. My last few posts were done in a hurry, and I was watching
the clock, hoping to win the blackout pool. The power has to go off and stay off for at least 1 minute, to qualify as a
blackout. Brenda has chosen 2am, Richard 2:30am and me, 2:45am. We wrote the times down on slips of paper with our
names at 5PM the previous evening (so no one would select some time such as 1:30 and the other person 1:31... playing the
odds. No one knew the other persons time until we all wrote them down and turned the slips over). Ok, so naturally, when
the first 20 second power blips occured at 10pm, Richard and I were sweating, thinking Brenda was going to coast to an
easy victory. But the powe came back each time and Richard and I traded high fives Man, it was hours before 2:00 am
came and went.

But first, before the clock hit 2:16 and put Brenda out of the race, we heard a horrendous RIPPPPP like a string of
cannons--one of my back yard trees came up by the roots (the one with the treehouse ). If you've ever heard a large tree
being ripped out of the ground by 110+ mph winds, you know how that can get your attention. And remember, it's pitch
black outside, we cannot see much by the flashlights through the windows. It's also raining like hell.

Back to the blackout pool: the clock ticked to 2:28. I only need the power to last until 2:38 and then I win, because it is
closer to 2:45 and even if the power lasts until 4am or longer, I win.

The power goes off, but comes on several more times....

Then, at 2:30 on the dot, the power goes off. I hear Richard counting in the dark, VERY confident: "1, 2, 3, 4..... with nothing
but the howling wind and tree branches banging against the boarded windows as accompaniment ....

Richard gets to 45,46,47,48,49... then begins a countdown from 10, 9, 8.... Damn! Is this it?? 4,3,2,1.... OMG, he called it to
the minute


Well, after congratulating him, we resumed the grim business of staying alive (phrasing hyped up CNN style ). The wind
had knocked out the power and my satellite dish. No Internet. We tuned in the battery operated radio and tracked the
storm. The eye passed within 10 miles but did not cross us.


After 3 more hours, the wind had dropped to ~40 mph and there was some light, so I geared up and did a quick check of
the house. My neighbor's tree cracked open and was laying on Richard's car (ha!... but, there was no damage. Whew!). The
street was flooded with ~ 3 feet of water. My dish was hanging by the wire. There were 3 million three branches
everywhere and a few shingles (Not mine, thank god). I went to the back yard and got a shock--not one but two of my beloved trees were down

I waded into the flooded street and felt around for the storm drain, and began pulling the tree branches free. Richard and a neighbor helped and we cleared the drains and the water began dropping in the street.

The rain slowed down a couple hours later and soon you could hear chainsaws all over, as people began clearing their streets (government, we don't need no stinkin' government!) By afternoon Sat, most of the streets were clear and we surveyed the city. There were a lot of signs, utility poles, and fences down, and quite a few houses missing patches of shingles, but no catastrophic damage. If Ike has been a Cat 4 or 5, it would have been a much different scene.



Today with Hanne's help I cleaned my house and yard, except for my two mortally wounded trees, they will need professional removal. (Hmmm... can trees be winched back into place, doped up with tree grow fertilizer, and saved??:hmm: ) My power came back on Sun evening, I was very fortunate. With so many lines down, even working like heroes non-stop around the clock, the power company will need days, maybe weeks to get everyone's power on.

And I got a pleasant surprise today. Kpt. Lehmann is an EMT, he saves peoples lives. His company sent him and his crew to Houston Friday to help out. After two long and exhaustive days helping people in dire need, they said he could go home. He called me and took time to come by and say "howdy" before heading back to Dallas. Man, those Texans are really great....

So, that's my hurricane report. I will be going to Galveston to check on Cavalla. Hopefully no one left any hatches unsecured... Here are some pics. I'm not Horsa so pardon the sloppy photog work

The height of the storm



The morning after, trees down across the road



Common sight, minor shingle damage



Derelict house #1, still standing


as well as derelict #2 (Richard says they don't build pieces of crap shack like they used to) lol


These people have problems