The preparation of Hurricane Ike and the Aftermath

Days prior to the hurricane I watched Ike continue to form tightly as it devastated Cuba. First glance I said the storm headed to Galveston. I say to myself who knows, it might turn in the upcoming days and miss altogether. That's first thought.

Monday morning I wake up and find out the storm has shifted and tracks toward Corpus Christi, Texas. I'm thinking we might be safe. Tuesday morning I wake up and find out it's headed to Matagorda Bay. I'm like crap. Wednesday morning after I find out it is headed towards Freeport (50 miles southwest of Galveston) and a few days left before getting accurate location for landfall. At this point I'm figuring if Thursday morning I wake up and find out that it has not shifted much, I've got to board up my house in Galveston. And that Thursday morning I'm up at 6 am and realize this thing is headed right for Galveston with President Bush declaring a state of emergency.

I boarded up and had a conversation with my neighbor. He tells me he's staying. He continues to tell me that the seawall will protect him and his family. I told him there might be flooding regardless. He said him and his family would ride it out.

I tell him I'll contact him later to check up with him. His sons help me board up my house and I leave back Thursday around Noon towards Houston to prepare at my place up there. It takes 2 1/2 hours to get back. It's not as bad as when Rita was around. When people left Galveston we were stuck in 6 hours of traffic just to get to Houston (normally just a one hour drive). So it was an improvement.

Thursday night I hear CNN declaring that to stay on the island is certain death. And if people plan on staying they should write social security numbers on their arms. I called up my neighbors after hearing that and advised him to get out of dodge. Glad to say he did with his family first thing Friday morning.

Friday, I'm pulling in anything that will move on my patio. that may shatter my sliding glass door. Making last shopping preparations for batteries, fuel, whatever necessary. Making sure I've got everything on hand for emergencies.

Friday evening the wind starts to pick up and Xavier (my son) Jennifer (my fiancee) and I are hunkered down for the storm. All eyeballs are on CNN, Weather Channel, Local News Stations. Dry food and canned food, plenty of water and I'm telling Ike bring the noise. And it sure did. I saw water begin to go over Galveston seawall across the island on most news stations. And told the hurricane is 700 miles wide. This thing is massive I'm thinking. I turned towards Jen and tell her we are definitely losing power. And that is what we did around the height of the storm in Houston.

The lights went out. We started hearing loud noises of transformers blowing up, lighting up the dark sky. The windows shrieking at 1:30 AM Saturday morning. I'm hearing scrapes on the roof of my two story townhouse. The outside, pitch black and furious wind bending large trees back and forth. Mother Nature furious as ever. And it goes on strong till about 4:30 AM. After that the wind dies down to tropical storm force and continues to die down.

Thank God, no damage and no flooding. Next move see the damage out there and help neighbors. Large trees blocking most streets. I'm sawing away branches and helping pull trees off the street. A lady was nice enough to give me a $50 bottle of champagne even though I continuously refused. Streetlights ripped and hanging down by a cable. signs blown away, the roof of a gas station's convenience store smashed an angle of a building next door to it and turned over on top of a van. Business windows shattered and some streets flooded by debris.

I call my friends in Sugarland, Katy and told they lost power too. Their homes with a bit of damage and lots of trees down as well. I called a friend of mine that his family lives in Seabrook right on Galveston Bay and was told that high chances their home flooded as well.

With over 3 million people without power, some areas up to this point as I write at 9:30 PM Central Standard time have been restored with power. But the majority are still without power and feeling the heat and humidity. I'm being told it may take the city to get back power 3 to 4 weeks from now. Schools are closed for days on end. Kids must be excited. Most adults have no job to go to because downtown Houston may be down for a week. This city although being cleaned up as quickly as possible may take weeks to fix.

To top that people are growing restless without power. Something needs to be done quickly as people begin to get impatient. Not many gas stations are open and there are curfews being placed to tell people to stay put. Some people can't leave at all even if they wanted to because the areas to get out are completely flooded.

This is definitely a disaster. Galveston, I'm being told may take a week to get back onto the island for residents to assess damages. I'm fortunate, I'm in a place that has power and can write this blog out in Cypress, Texas. But even in some parts of this area, power is still out.

Where is government assistance when you need it? FEMA is saying they will try to help, but so far have'nt done much. Our city mayor has given the mapping of where assistance is needed most and FEMA is balking. I saw Air Force and Coast Guard out to rescue people. So, so far not too impressed by the country's commanders. I pray for those out there to stay strong and be proactive with your community to work together if no one is available to help. For the rest of the country out there reading this blog please pray for us as we get through this difficult time.