Hurricane Ike report

[David Newton]

To those who have remembered me and were concerned, thanks so much for your thoughts.
I haven't logged on until now, as I am borrowing this computer.
The hurricane visited my area with much damage, my son's fiance's family's home was flooded out, and they are tearing everything out as we speak. My home was damaged some, not too bad. My shop was spared, and it seems dry when I checked.
We are still evacuated, along with my mother-in-law who has medical concerns and we won't return until power is returned.

Thank you so much for those who have thought of us.

[Eric Hanson]

All the best towards a safe return Home.

[wildpikr]

We went through Gustav then Ike, too...but far enough away from the eye so that we didn't get the full force like the Galveston/Houston area. I did some picking in the dark by battery light to try to stay calm as the storm passed through...didn't work very well. Power was restored the next day for us but was probably because we were rebuilt after Rita in 2005. Recovery is tough, exasperating, frustrating and seems unending after something like this but you will get there. You will start seeing building contractors from all over the country converge on your area, if they haven't already. Be wary; be careful who you select. Good luck with your recovery. I hope there were no injuries to you and your loved ones.

[Timbofood]

Even as far north as Michigan we have felt some of those storms effects. The Kalamazoo river is well above flood stage, one small dam has been breached in Breedsville on the Black river. No loss of life but, certainly for those that are not "High on a Hilltop" there is a big mess to clean up.
I hope and pray that everyone gets back to some sort of "normal" life soon, best wishes to you and all there.

[David Newton]

Thanks, guys.
Mike, you must be close to us here in Beaumont. Rita was worse for Beaumont than Ike, but I have sustained more damage from Ike than for Rita.

Bolivar is almost wiped clean of buildings, I can't believe the destruction.

[Frank Russell]

Dave, how long have you lived in Beaumont? Frank

[wildpikr]

Thanks, guys.
Mike, you must be close to us here in Beaumont. Rita was worse for Beaumont than Ike, but I have sustained more damage from Ike than for Rita.

Bolivar is almost wiped clean of buildings, I can't believe the destruction.

Dave,

Yes, I'm a little bit east of Lake Charles. Ike's storm surge was worse than Rita's...there was worse flooding over here from Ike than during Rita also, but I'm high and dry; very fortunate. We had sustained category 2 winds for several hours when Rita slowed down after coming ashore...very scary...we were boarded up and ready again for this one...tropical storm force winds with gusts into the category 1 level. More than $50K damages after Rita...

When all returns to a more quasi-normal state maybe we can get together and make some racket, er...music?

[David Newton]

Mike, yeah, it would be racket...
Frank, for my life, so far.

[jaco]

Hang in there Dave. As a Floridian, we feel for you folks. My wife and I stuck out a Cat one once. It stalled for several hours and we were sure the roof was about to come off. Never again.

[GRW3]

I'm BOI - 1952. Spent many summers on the Island. The sea breeze makes you think it's way cooler than Houston at the same temperature. The characteristic moment for me is right at sunset when you hear the cicadas celebrate the passing of the sun in progression across the island from east to west. I was glued to DirecTV -Geraldo Rivera and Channel 11 on adjoining channels.

People talk like this hurricane outbreak is something new but my family has been living with this since the hurricane that destroyed Indianola in 1882. They come in groups of years. My German immigrant GGGrandfather moved to Waxahchie after Indianola was destroyed. My GGrandfather moved his family to Galveston in the late 1890's and my Grandmother was born between the big one and the almost as big 1905 storm. My father was in school when the 30's outbreak occured. I lived in Houston during the 50s and 60s outbreak, with Carla as the Keystone. Heard all the stories from the family back to the big one, saw all the damage done during my lifetime and still the only place in Texas I would want to live besides San Antonio is Galveston. It's just in the blood. I understand why they stayed, my family never left. I suspect the stayers were primarily BOI and the leavers were mostly mainlanders.

I was watching the news shows and remembering watching a younger Dan Rather report on the approach of Carla. Same channel 11, I believe, only then it was a Galveston station, KGUL (the hurricane blew it to Houston). No mobile satellites trucks or steady cams then. Just the big old time cameras and 'film at ten'. As the storm approached we lost sight of Dan, all we had was him over the telephone describing what was happening over the picture from the weather radar. No time lapse, no fancy graphics, just a stark black and white image with the only apparent motion the sweep of the radar showing the relentless approach of the storm.

Other hurricanes had been, and would be, shrugged off but not Carla. The damage was similar to what you see today. I know because I saw it in person. I was only nine but you just don't forget that. There are differences. The Balinese Room only lost the walkway to Carla. (My father had double dated with Mel Torme there!) Conversely, Carla had spawned some waterspouts and there were swaths cut through town that don't seem to be a part of Ike's legacy. We got in because my Great Aunt, who had survived the 1900 storm, died during (but not because of) the storm.

Even living in Houston we got our dose of hurricanes. The relentless wind for hours on end. Watching pine trees bend way over until the eye and then bend the other way when the wind starts again. Flooded streets. Watching every major road construction project cut down into the ground so the road can serve it's drainage function too. (Didn't know that? Watch the natives. When it rains heavy in Houston they get off the streets.)

Galveston was the Queen of the Gulf until the big one. It's still one of the best spots on earth when things are right. The smell of oleandar, the see breeze, the comforting sound of the surf, the tropical conditions all make it home to me. I wish my parents had never left. Of course that would have made moving to San Antonio harder. It has its positive sides but overall Houston is a good place to be from.

I think there's a song in this somewhere. I better get my pen out...

[mandroid]

Is there going to be a hurricane named .. Tina .. this year, Too?

''whats love got to do with it?''

[Bill Snyder]

Dave,
I called the phone number on your website today to check on you and got your answering machine. Glad to hear you are ok.

[violmando]

Hey, we even got the effects of Ike here in Ohio--I NEVER thought I'd see an hurricane in Ohio. 3 days of no electricity (many still don't have any), a fallen tree, and one shattered windshield for me personally cannot compare, of course, with what you all in Texas have been going through....I wish you all a speedy recovery, especially beautiful Galveston. Yvonne

[MikeEdgerton]

I've been spending my days and nights getting our Houston office back online. We're on the first floor of a building with a bayou running behind it. We would have survived unscathed except the windows blew out of the second floor of the building, the rain came in and found it's way down... right on top of my data center. What a mess. The majority of the folks that work for us jumped at the chance to come to work as we have power and A/C and they don't have it at home. I feel for you people, it has to be awful.

[JEStanek]

Good luck, Dave. My mom and brother and sister in law in Cinci got hammered pretty hard by Ike too. They were out of power for 2-3 days. Good luck, to all!

Jamie

[Jim Kirkland]

My daughter has worked many hrs in Santa Fe, NM managing the New Mexico National guard support throughout the storm area. She tells about how bad things are and the long recovery effort. Our Prayers are with you.

[ellisppi]

Best wishes to all, I heard from Cory, he got thru OK but no power yet. I grew up in Seabrook right on Galveston bay and went thru Carla in 61 right here when I was 8.

[GRW3]

Anybody else see this picture on the Houston Chronicle Web Site.

Chronicle Identifies him as Jim Gailbraith.

Owwww!

[HarveyB]

Yep, saw that pic. One of many fascinating photos. My wife is doing flood claims and she's coming across some pretty emotional ppl. She was doing a claim yesterday in San Leon and the only thing left were sticks coming out of the ground. Very sad, indeed. She actually was living in Corpus when Carla hit. Her father decided that the family would ride out the storm. Needless to say, that wasn't a wise decision. Their roof was ripped to shreds as well as losing half the house.

Harvey

[bropete]

Dave Glad you are okay. Ike spared my house and shop, something Miss Rita did not do. I have only minor damage but my daughter and son-in-law had serious damage. They will move in with us until. Let me know if I can help you anyway. By the way, I got some more walnut for us. Pete

[Mark Seale]

Best wishes to all, I heard from Cory, he got thru OK but no power yet. I grew up in Seabrook right on Galveston bay and went thru Carla in 61 right here when I was 8.

I grew up in Deer Park and lived in Seabrook for a few years before moving out here to the NW side out 290. We strapped everything down and came through remarkably well. It amazes me to hear reports from folks up north who are suffering worse than we did after watching the wind blow here for 10 hours straight. I've got friends that were in the direct path that are hardly missing a shingle and others that have nothing but sticks. Its a remarkable time down here.

[David Newton]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We are back home, and my wife cooked a meal last night, so all is well with the world. If it rains soon, I'll be messed up again, but it looks dry for a few more days.
The news showed some of Bridge City and Orange yesterday, it makes me feel spoiled rotten, those folks are devastated.
Good to hear from you Pete, I may need some walnut soon. I'll be looking for you.
Thanks for the call Bill, you got me moving, sort of...
I sold a guitar while I was evacuated, wonders of the internet!

[greg_tsam]

I got thru relatively unscathed in the Heights and was without power for two days only. I came home, bought a chainsaw and made some money cleaning up fallen trees. Didn't get rich, didn't charge much but paid for the saw at least.

I had some great jams at night by candlelight. Really awesome jams, actually.

[SoreFinger]

Dave glad to hear you are back home. Nothing like being in you own house again.
We got the winds from Ike here in southern Indiana. I still have tree branches on my roof. Trees and power lines down all over town. They were supposed to remove the branches this week, but haven't seen anyone yet. At least I can say is we were better off than a lot of others.

[David Newton]

After this last weekend I'm finally back in the shop. It has been very hard getting to building again, the forward motion was all but lost. I decided to start by doing a Spanish "V" headstock joint, which is one of the features of my construction style. It feels really good to do a good joint.