A Houston/Ike post. "News of my demise

[man4allcats]

has been greatly exaggerated." Well, I'm back. I did survive it though I must say it was scary as hell. No real damage. A pine tree snapped off about midway on its height. The larger part of it is wedged up against the side of my house. A branch from that tree is resting on my roof. No leaks so it looks okay. The insurance company says to leave it alone until an adjuster looks at it. Their concern is that someone might get hurt trying to move it thereby increasing their liability. I'd like to post more including a picture or two, but it will have to wait. Right now I'm just exhausted. I am still without power from the utility company, but I couldn't take it any longer. The local Costco reopened yesterday, and I bought a generator. Now my refrigerator is cooling again so I can go to the store tomorrow and get some fresh food to put in it, I have some lights, a fan is blowing on me (if you've ever experienced Houston's humidity, you know how much that means!) and I can again get online to post on DU and thank everyone who encouraged me during my frantic posts last Friday night and early Saturday morning around 3:40am just before I lost power when Ike was reminding all of Houston that nature is a force to be reckoned with and that global warming and the devastating storms it spawns are nothing less than poor stewardship of our planet.

[Regret My New Name]

1. Glad you're ok...

Which part of Houston are you from?

[man4allcats]

8. I'm in the west by Memorial City Mall

on Westview Dr near I-10 and Gessner. :hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Good to see you back

[annabanana]

3. Glad to see you

Any idea when your "real" electric will be back?

[man4allcats]

9. CenterPoint Energy is predicting that

my zipcode will be back online Monday. I hope so. Still, at this writing, they have only restored power to less than 50% of their customers. It's a real mess.

[Sweet Freedom]

17. Well I hope your power comes on earlier.

(Sugar Land here).

My mom also lives in Houston and she has a business near the Med Center. Centerpoint said no power until after Monday, but it was restored today.

My neighborhood is almost cleaned up, so things are getting back to normal in this part of town. The one thing I won't miss is the quiet at night. Last weekend was so stressful, and now with curfew, etc. the nights are so peaceful, I just collapse in bed each night and sleep harder than ever.

Stay cool. Glad you're okay. :)

[grannie4peace]

4. welcome back!!!

:toast: :bounce: :pals: :applause: :woohoo: :woohoo: :patriot:

[malaise]

5. Welcome back

:grouphug:

[Maat]

6. Glad to see that you are o.k.!

You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

[man4allcats]

10. Many thanks! I must admit

I was very scared in the wee hours of last Saturday morning.

[malaise]

14. Night hurricanes are the absolute worst

Let's hope this is it for 2008.

[NOLALady]

7. Thank Heavens

you're OK.

Hopefully, the worst is over for this season. The mornings have been slightly cooler, perhaps the gulf has cooled a few degrees.

We only experienced a bit of a surge from Ike. Some streets were flooded and a levee was topped.

[man4allcats]

12. As bad as it was here, I'm very grateful NOLA didn't

get hit again. Thanks for your good thoughts! :hi:

[RoyGBiv]

11. Glad you're okay ...

If you need any specific help, please PM me. I know we don't know each other, but I'm in Houston, have power and even a full tank of gas.

[man4allcats]

18. Thank you.

I really appreciate it. As it happens, I'm okay. I'm good on supplies, and my Honda Fit still has more than enough gas before my next trip to the pumps at Costco. I appreciate the kind offer though.

:hi:

[ColbertWatcher]

13. Welcome back. Good to see you made it through! n/t

[cobalt1999]

15. Don't think you are completely over it.

Believe it or not, there is a bit of PTSD after spending hours in a threatening hurricane.

You have a lot to do right now, but take some time out for yourself. Been there, done that, it stays with you for a while.

[RoyGBiv]

19. I can verify this ...

Not being able to go back to work has made it worse. Oh, I thought I was going to enjoy not going to work. Silly me.

[tpsbmam]

16. Very, very happy you're okay. Hot, frustrated, exhausted but okay. n/t

[readmoreoften]

20. Great to have you back!!!

:bounce:

[intheflow]

21. Nice to have you back with us.

I'm sure the storm was no picnic in Houston. I agree with who ever said upthread to take time for yourself, 'cause I'm still stressed just from being a recover worker after Katrina. I'll be interested in seeing your photos some time.

[countryjake]

22. It's good to hear that you're safe and sound!

I remember your posts last week and I'm glad to see you posting again!

Hang in there and stay safe!

[man4allcats]

24. Re: "I remember your posts last week"

Yeah, I was pretty nuts at that point. Houston is a good 50 miles inland from the coast. I guess I convinced myself that was enough to protect me. What I've now learned is don't underestimate these storms. If you're in a half way decent structure, with a little luck you may get by that first 10 or 12 terrifying hours, but even if you do the aftermath is a bitch. There won't be any power for weeks. There may not be any water pressure. Getting out of town will be difficult because one tank of gas won't take you far when the average speed on the Interstate is between 5 and 10 mph if you move at all, and refills are hard to come by.

:hi:

[countryjake]

31. People learned that Mother Nature just doesn't care...

if a city is the fourth largest in a nation, with an awesome population. Knocking the crap out of trusted infrastructure is her sport and I'm sure with climate change rearing it's ugly head, we'll be seeing many more instances of Ike-like carnage in the future.

Did you know that places in Ohio are just now getting their power back, too, after the storm-cell that was Ike tore that state up with winds up to 80/85 mph? A tiny little burg in west Ohio has been without water all week, cause the winds took out their watertower. Many other areas in the path the storm took up the country were totally taken by surprise by such a sustained weather pattern.


Nearly 250,000 Ohio customers remain without power
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gKYpTVJkMh32PKmnSyBTSzHAyfYwD93AKSI80


I don't think we should ever begrudge someone for having a healthy fear and respect for the forces that swirl about our planet. I'm just really glad you made it thru okay!

[uppityperson]

23. Glad you are back, hope things go better for you.

[EFerrari]

25. Did you already know how to work the generator or did you have to read the manual?

That's damn impressive, either way.

:applause:

[man4allcats]

26. The generator is a story in itself.

Actually, I didn't know the first thing about it. Mostly I'm a "read the directions" kind of guy though I will admit I'll drive around for hours before I'll ask someone for directions. That said, I was setting this thing up in my front yard. Of course the neighbor guys are home too because, you know, a lot of people aren't at work right now. So they have nothing to do - UNTIL - they go "Oh look, Ed's got a generator. Well, let's go check it out." And of course, each one wants to offer his own particular brand of "expertise," and none of these guys are direction readers!. Well in spite of their assuredly well meant "help," I finally got the damn thing together and ready to run, but it was definitely a Keystone Cops scenario. Ah well, all's well that ends well. B-)

[EFerrari]

27. Those guys used to be MY neighbors!

lol

("Here, little lady, lemme show you how to pull that radiator!" :rofl: )

I've been thinking about generators lately like some people think about cruises. When you are rested up, I'm gonna need some advice. :)

[Catherine Vincent]

28. Welcome back my fellow Houstonian!

I must have been one of the lucky ones in the Houston area. We got our power back the next evening. That was good and not so good because everyone came to our house to cool off. :)

My insurance adjuster will visit Sunday and assess the damages. I'm sure I'll need a new roof and definitely a new fence.

[man4allcats]

30. A friend of mine

lives in an apartment complex on Buffalo Speedway near the med center. She never lost power at all. I guess some people just live right. :D I'm glad you're okay!

[flstci]

29. Glad you are safe! N/T

.