PING: Houston Wreckers

[FrozenNorth]

Anybody got any power to give us a real situation report?

[dpb]

Just did look at strip charts of various locations -- Galveston airport not reporting, Houston pressure bottomed at 4AM, wind of 49mph, gust

95mph at roughly 6:50AM CDT, windspeed ceased reporting at that time.

Heavy rain, obviously...

[NuWave Dave]

"FrozenNorth" wrote in message news: [e-mail]... : Anybody got any power to give us a real situation report?

I fled to our house in Floresville, Texas about 30 miles SE of San Antonio and 190 +/- west of our primary domicile in NW Houston. Not even a drop of rain here in Fville and not much more of a breeze. We have spoken to our neighbors and, of course, power is off. They had not ventured outside a/c the wind was still kicking pretty good. Just got off the phone with my sister who spent the night at my mother's (Mom is with me) in SW Houston. No power there either. Limbs and debris pretty much everywhere one looks. But Mom's house is intact. My dilemma now is to figure out how soon to head back to NW Houston. Have generator at the ready to preserve my deep freeze and the house 'fridge. The news outlets are reporting we may be w/o power as long as three weeks. That's gonna suck.

Dave [not] in Houston

[nailshooter41]

I have been trying to get some updated information, but I can't get any really current stuff. My sister lives there with her family, and they decided to tough it out. I don't know if they are OK or not as we can't get in touch.

The sad thing about this is with no electricity, no emails. With no electricity, even if their phone connections work, their portable phones will die soon. So we may not know for a while. Those without electricity in the Houston/Galveston area range in the 3 million mark.

They haven't updated in a while, but here's what I am watching:

are others, but apparently their facilities are out as they haven't updated since early morning, a couple of hours after Ike hit.

Robert

[NuWave Dave]

KHOU has several radio stations over which they are broadcasting their feed live. I'm getting it on my XM Roadie/Boombox here in Floresville (XM 247).

Tracking Hurricane Ike from Channel 11, KHOU TV/DT

XM Radio's Emergency Alert Channel 247

Channel 11, KHOU TV/DT is broadcasting on XM Radio's Emergency Alert Channel 247 (nationally). You do not need to be a subscriber. The Emergency Alert channel is on all XM Radio-equipped cars.

Continuous Coverage on Houston Radio

Beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday, September 12, the following radio stations will be providing LIVE continuous Hurricane Ike coverage from Channel 11, KHOU TV/DT:

.104.1 FM KRBE

Tracking Hurricane Ike on DirecTV

Channel 11, KHOU TV/DT is now being carried LIVE on DirecTV Channel 361 (nationally).

Tacking Hurricane Ike on Cable

Look for Channel 11, KHOU coverage on CNN.com.

Dave [not] in Houston

[Lee Michaels]

Not hearing anything is the toughest part of being an outsider to a major event like this. If electricity is off for awhile, it may be some time before we hear anything.

Hang in there Texas folks. You are in out thoughts and prayers.

[Swingman]

On temporary power momentarily (fired up the u-verse wireless RG and the laptop with the generator)

I keep hearing that it was a Cat 1 storm from folks calling from around the country. Don't know where they got that ... it certainly wasn't from around here. Try 111 mph just 1 mph short of a Cat 3, 1 mile North of me, at 4:15 AM this morning, if they were gusts, they were the most unrelenting gusts around.

I think the gusts were actually higher and perceive it to be the strongest Cat 2 storm I've been in ... much higher winds than I recollect in Alicia. We were just far enough to the West of the storm center to miss the lull, but close enough to pick those really high winds close to the center that just keep on keeping on and give you no respite, the worst possible place for peace of mind.

The high winds started about 11 last night and around 4:30 this morning were pretty damn awesome, even for someone who has spent 65+ years on the Gulf Coast, and they really didn't die down to around 10 this morning.

A headcount shows everyone, including Leon who I finally talked to about an hour ago, is safe and sound ... we all need a bath, but once this is posted, the generator will go back to pulling the fridge and the margarita machine!

Thanks for asking.

[Robatoy]

Best news all day.

In Dutch we have a saying that says: "onkruid vergaat niet."

roughly translated it means that it is hard to kill weeds... g. d & r...

Now.. will that be salted rims?

[Lee Michaels]

"Swingman" wrote

Good to hear. Can't you rig up a camping shower in the backyard. Or just shower in the torrential downpours? :)

[Nova]

Great to hear you and Leon are all okay. Enjoy you margaritas. You deserve them.

[nailshooter41]

First, good news to hear you and yours are all OK. I finally got a message from my sister telling me that they were OK as well (they live about a mile from Reliant Stadium) but that some of their neighbors were not.

My sister's experience was like yours. In her area, there are downed trees everywhere, including many that have taken out electrical lines. Even if they had power, there is no way to get it to the houses.

Apparently for several hours it was like being at Hobby when they were remodeling and you had to cross to different areas of the airport in plywood tunnels. She said the noise was unnerving, and with the loud pops and cracks (transformers exploding, 30" trees blowing over), they were wondering if the made a mistake.

All their fences are down. No big deal. But they have their neighbor's monster pecan tree on their house. No way to get out of their driveway, and the tree is large enough they cannot tell how much damage was done to the roof or its structure.

Electricity is out there too, and their radio is telling them that no one knows how long power will be out. Local authorities are telling them 3 - 4 weeks. That of course could mean three days in one area, and 6 weeks in others. The water is the biggest issue for them now, although my 6 year old nephew is liking the fact he doesn't doesn't have to take a bath for a while. They don't have gas now, so they dont' have any way to boil water. It was noted that they will not be filling their toilets with their bottled water.

They are shaken, but OK, and for that I am thankful.

Looking at the devastation, once again, glad everyone is OK.

Robert

[FrozenNorth]

Take care, be good, and enjoy the margaritas. Hope your power comes back soon and the cast iron is safe.

[Han]

"Swingman" wrote in news:ftCdnXatWoD8slHVnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Great news, and I second Robatoy, "onkruid vergaat niet", it is indeed impossible to kill hardy weeds like you guys!

[Puckdropper]

"Lee Michaels" wrote in news:k9udnYuGg_cyr1HVnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

If they had any sanding to be done, maybe they could try water sanding! No need to open up the pores with a spray bottle, the rain does it all for you!

Puckdropper

[Charlie Self]

Good to know that you're OK and reasonably comfortable. The TV guys were calling those 110MPH winds here.

[Swingman]

wrote

Fueled by generator, at 3.69/gal, the evening of 9-13-08:

Reinforced during times like these is the undeniable fact that technology has its downside, and electricity to the home is no exception.

After the winds died this morning, and fallen trees covered houses, roads and driveways in this upscale area (chockfull of doctors, lawyers, and captains of industry, where any type of manual labor is generally "hired out", and comfort reigns) folks poured out of their homes, young and old alike, with "hand" saws in hand ("yuppies", as a rule, don't own chainsaws) to check on neighbors. When it was apparent that everyone was safe, many immediately started the tough job of clearing blocked streets and driveways to make them passable for emergency vehicles and those in need. There was no wait for "official government action", or "emergency management officials" to come to the rescue ... just folks collectively helping themselves and doing what obviously needed doing.

Throughout the day entire families were seen cleaning windblown debris from yards and adjacent streets. It quickly became apparent, but unstated, that you cleared the streets, sidewalks and gutters adjacent to your property, and helped those who couldn't do the same. As Saturday evening approached, families of walkers abounded on the mostly debris cleared streets and sidewalks, driven from their homes by heat and availing themselves of the cooling breezes leftover from Ike. Many families, eating the evening meal outside at table and chairs hastily assembled on porches and patios, were visiting with the walkers in the interim, while the smell of outdoor cooking trumped the usual humid smells of a hurricane's aftermath.

At some point today, tomorrow, the next day, or next week, the electricity will come back on and all these folks will disappear, back into their modern, air conditioned and TV equipped cocoons, not to be seen again ... until the next time.

It's a shame ...

[FrozenNorth]

It really is, we had a similar thing here with the great power outage in the northeast US, southern Ontario area, (August 2003? I think), no actual damage, but everyone was on their front steps/porch, or walking up and down the street. I met and talked to people that night that are only four or five doors down the street, never chatted since. Some of them became friends, and we get together regularly, but a small percentage.

Despite the uncertainty of the situation, it was a good night. Truly a shame...

[Frank Boettcher]

Sure is. I remember with great fondness, those post hurricane feasts as folks realized they were not going to get power in time to save their freezer contents. Shrimp boils,fish fries, barbeque and those veggies that were just "put up" a few weeks before. Any and all welcome, bring something to eat if you have it but, if not, bring a sense of humor and come anyway.

Frank

[Lew Hodgett]

Think block party, they work.

Lived on a short dead end street and other than the next door neighbors, didn't know anybody else.

Next door neighbor got the idea to have a block party and organized it.

Got a permit from the city to block the street, set up tables and grills in the street and had at it.

Everybody had a good time.

Lew

[FrozenNorth]

I wish, I live on a street that leads to the public pool, tennis club (both public and private courts) and a community hockey rink (both summer and winter hockey).

It was tried a few years ago, no freaking way was it even considered on our street, some others in the area have done it though.