Ike Check-In

[Ed Mahmoud]

Power and interweb came back on at the house just after 11 pm.

The dreaded second weekend without football has been avoided.

[JenBayles]

Borrowing internet service quickly. We're battered in west Houston - Bear Creek. Ike nailed us pretty good, but it was the next morning's storms that killed us. A little water in our house but nothing to cry about with other homes having over 12". We have no PODs in this unincorporated area of Houston. No representatives speaking for us. No FEMA support. No county support. No official support at all. I am so proud of all our neighbors. We are all watching out for one another and using a bartering system to keep ice and food going. I got power last night but it's only a tiny part of our subdivision. I see NO major network coverage of what has happened here and I am appalled.

Forgot to add that a sewer main at the corner broke during the storm and we still have raw sewage flowing down the street and into the storm drains. Rotten food in bags in the street adds to the stench. Allied Waste came by today but only picked up the one "official" container. Not even bags labeled and separated from the debris bags as they asked. The crew picked up a trash bag that was apparently full of beer bottles and impatiently flung it down on the pavement. Guess it was too heavy? The bag exploded and glass flew all over the middle of the street. They just drove on to the next house and left it there. We cleaned it up.
I understand everyone is stressed out, but purposely adding flat-tire material to everything else just sent me into orbit.

[greels]

To everyone .......
Thank you so very much for your thoughts and well wishes for our safety.......you have truly touched my heart.

One thing I failed to mention in my earlier post was that in preparing for Ike's arrival and the thought that we would lose not only the house, but the contents within it and at a storage unit located on Provo. We were lent a sea container to store all our "stuff" in during the storm.

When we returned to not only our villa, but to the sea container which was in the lot beside us, we found that some sort of "object" which we never did find, managed to hit the container and went right through the container wall!

We were not aware of Ike"s wrath in Texas until we arrived here in Miami on Sunday night.......as I mentioned in my earlier post, we have been without internet or cable since IKE hit, which as many of you know, is our lifeline to the world.

Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with all of you who have suffered through Ike.......

Gretchen

[Cape Verde]

Ike was no fun at all, and I'm far luckier than most in that I had power back within two days.

I'm still looking for my fences and satellite dish. I'm guessing they're somewhere near Texarkana.

If any of you see them, let me know.

[Melly]

I live in the Port Author area, and I'm safe, I'm in Denton Texas right now.

[Ptarmigan]

I am safe and well. There is still no power, but we still have water and phone back.

[O Town]

Borrowing internet service quickly. We're battered in west Houston - Bear Creek. Ike nailed us pretty good, but it was the next morning's storms that killed us. A little water in our house but nothing to cry about with other homes having over 12". We have no PODs in this unincorporated area of Houston. No representatives speaking for us. No FEMA support. No county support. No official support at all. I am so proud of all our neighbors. We are all watching out for one another and using a bartering system to keep ice and food going. I got power last night but it's only a tiny part of our subdivision. I see NO major network coverage of what has happened here and I am appalled.

Forgot to add that a sewer main at the corner broke during the storm and we still have raw sewage flowing down the street and into the storm drains. Rotten food in bags in the street adds to the stench. Allied Waste came by today but only picked up the one "official" container. Not even bags labeled and separated from the debris bags as they asked. The crew picked up a trash bag that was apparently full of beer bottles and impatiently flung it down on the pavement. Guess it was too heavy? The bag exploded and glass flew all over the middle of the street. They just drove on to the next house and left it there. We cleaned it up.
I understand everyone is stressed out, but purposely adding flat-tire material to everything else just sent me into orbit.

Oh Jen Im sorry it sounds like your neighborhood did get it pretty good. Its such a great thing to see neighbors come together when it matters most. Too bad the garbage men don't feel the same way. Seems like they are going to have to ease up on the garbage rules for a few months and just take whatever is at the curb, from sheet metal, fencing, to trees and everything in between. Sure hope it gets better soon. (((((hugs)))))

[Ptarmigan]

To everyone .......
Thank you so very much for your thoughts and well wishes for our safety.......you have truly touched my heart.

One thing I failed to mention in my earlier post was that in preparing for Ike's arrival and the thought that we would lose not only the house, but the contents within it and at a storage unit located on Provo. We were lent a sea container to store all our "stuff" in during the storm.

When we returned to not only our villa, but to the sea container which was in the lot beside us, we found that some sort of "object" which we never did find, managed to hit the container and went right through the container wall!

We were not aware of Ike"s wrath in Texas until we arrived here in Miami on Sunday night.......as I mentioned in my earlier post, we have been without internet or cable since IKE hit, which as many of you know, is our lifeline to the world.

Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with all of you who have suffered through Ike.......

Gretchen

Sorry to hear that Ike ravaged your nation. My condolences to your nation. We also felt Ike's wrath and it was horrible. I was out of power for five days. Just got power a few hours ago.

[welcome2florida]

In Miami, after Katrina/Wilma, there were long piles of garbage up to 15 ft. high lining the streets that sat for MONTHS.(Ikes surge produced even more for Texas!) There were special "hurricane debris" trucks, probably supplied by FEMA(??? definitely not the regular garbage guys) that came to collect the piles. Of course the "pile" pick up did not even begin immediately. It was almost an afterthought, like "Oh we sure do have a lot of trash. How do we get this mess out?"

Recovery comes in phases that you will be so thankful for when you see them. Please be happy for those small steps, and although things are dismal(understatement) now, your personal survival depends on being able to recognize the good and use it to springboard through the next phase.


My prayers are with you all, in the coming months, as you continue to move forward.
Amy

[Ptarmigan]

In Miami, after Katrina/Wilma, there were long piles of garbage up to 15 ft. high lining the streets that sat for MONTHS.(Ikes surge produced even more for Texas!) There were special "hurricane debris" trucks, probably supplied by FEMA(??? definitely not the regular garbage guys) that came to collect the piles. Of course the "pile" pick up did not even begin immediately. It was almost an afterthought, like "Oh we sure do have a lot of trash. How do we get this mess out?"

Recovery comes in phases that you will be so thankful for when you see them. Please be happy for those small steps, and although things are dismal(understatement) now, your personal survival depends on being able to recognize the good and use it to springboard through the next phase.


My prayers are with you all, in the coming months, as you continue to move forward.
Amy

Thanks for the prayers and thoughts from Florida. Now, I know what it is like to through a monsterous hurricane. It's horrible!

[jabman98]

Checking in. I wasn't on the list, but live just slightly NW of downtown Houston. Tons of wind damage, but our house, cars, etc. are fine. We are fine. Landline never went out, but cell calls are still spotty. We still have no power. I'm borrowing power from a neighbor's generator so I can check email, do some necessary bill paying online, etc.

Tons of trees down in our neighborhhood. Many went through roofs, garages, etc. We are lucky to have escaped.

This is Day 7 without power. I have no reason to complain at all since we are so lucky and others have it so much worse, but it does get old. The street behind us got power back on Saturday night and has had it since, so that does make it a tad harder. Why do THEY have power and we don't??? (I know, I know, different grid...it's just frustrating.)

We never see electrical trucks in our neighborhood. I've decided the whole "out-of-state-electrical crews are here" line is a myth. I think the whole video of those trucks is like "Wag the Dog" - designed to placate the increasingly frustrated citizens. I drove all over Houston yesterday for a variety of appointments and saw only four electrical trucks in five hours. They were all from Houston. They're probably here and working in neighborhoods, but they're certainly not in ours nor in any I've seen since the storm. Mostly I see tree removal crews, both in our neighborhood and in my many stops around town yesterday. I guess the trees have to be removed before the electrical crews can do their jobs.

Again, no room to complain. I know we are very lucky. Very thankful we did as well as we did. Hearts go out to those suffering major losses.

[KatDaddy]

I talked to Bbadon he lives S of Port Arthur and works at the Enbridge plant E of Holly Beach. Hentext back the town is gone I told him I was very sorry and if I could do anything let me know.

[lebron23]

Safe in Far NW Harris County. Significant Roof damage through out the area. Assisting neighbors with newborns/elderly with temp repairs to roofs and fallen sheetrock.

at your house roof damage?

[windsurfer77058]

We had 18" of water downstairs but that's ok, just a mess and a lot of work. We lost our family home of 50 years in Bolivar. That's really tough. All of the family is safe and we'll get through this.

[Melly]

We are finally home, and the only damage we indured was we have a leak and some black mold are coming up other then that we can still live in our home, so thats good... I still consider myself very blessed, bridge City is like 10 minutes up the road and its a mess... I have no reason at all to complain.

[TXWXGAL]

Hi All

Checking in late, but checking in as safe. I haven't been able to spend much time on the web lately. Cleaning up my home which came thru Ike pretty good. Lost several large trees, all of my wood fences, and a few shingles from my roof. Family all safe and sound here in the east side of League City by the Kemah League City boundary line.

[Sanibel]

The crew picked up a trash bag that was apparently full of beer bottles and impatiently flung it down on the pavement. Guess it was too heavy? The bag exploded and glass flew all over the middle of the street. They just drove on to the next house and left it there. We cleaned it up.
I understand everyone is stressed out, but purposely adding flat-tire material to everything else just sent me into orbit.

After Hurricane Charley I wanted to pitch-in so I picked-up a long-handled brush and swept our street. After doing this for a few weeks I determined that most of the nasty litter I was cleaning up was from the recovery crews and their just throwing their food trash down wherever they went.