Weathering the storm

Well, 12 days after Hurricane Ike hit Houston we got our power back on this evening ironically as Jeff and his boss Geoff were unloading a generator. I was standing in the foyer talking to Geoff's wife Tracy when the house alarm went off. She said, if your alarm is going off you must have electricity. I flipped the switch to the light in the dining room and there it was! It's late tonight, but I almost don't want to turn off the light for fear it might not come back on.

Back to the beginning - Jeff's work shut down early Thursday and he knew he wouldn't go in Friday because the mayor requested that all non-emergency companies close. The kids were also off from school. Friday I ventured to the grocery store - I think I blogged about that just before the storm. The store was a zoo! People in line over 10 deep, buying everything that wasn't perishable they could get their hands on. They couldn't keep the bottled water stocked and they were completely out of paper plates! I went back the next day because I realized while I had bought things "in case" I didn't get anything to feed the family while we did have power. The store was a little less hectic - not to mention I left Eli at home!

By Saturday afternoon the wind was picking up and by nighttime it had begun to howl. I remember the last time I looked at the clock when there was power, 3:37 a.m. and then there was complete darkness and the wind howled furiously outside blowing the trees just beyond the fence, opening and shutting the damper on the chimney with a loud boom. I was sure in the wee hours of the morning that the wind was going to come right through with the window. At some point I drifted off into a restless sleep and we woke up the next morning to more rain. Eventually the rains let up and we decided to venture out for a while.

Trees, branches, debris, and power lines were strewn everywhere. Water flooded roads creeping up onto lawns and in some cases completely covering roads. We drove by metal buildings that collapsed to nothing and trees uprooted roots and all. Some just lying helplessly where they fell, others on homes cutting holes into roofs and breaking off gutters and fences like they were built from sticks.

Evan has some pretty cool footage of the mess that Ike left in our neck of the woods. Of course it's nothing compared to the total devastation that Galveston, Galveston Island, the peninsulas and beaches dotting the coast have endured leaving homes leveled to nothing but foundations.

The kids start school tomorrow. Hasta manana!