The Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

We finally got phone service so I'm able to write about our hurricane experience.

It started last Friday night with the wind picking up. Thick clouds rolled around with little spits of rain. I took the dog for a walk that night wondering if we were going to get any rain out of this system at all.

We fell asleep late as the wind continued to howl and the rain beginning to fall. The power grid was tested by the winds several times before it completely failed. Each interruption lasted anywhere from a few seconds to perhaps 2 minutes, the final one at around 3 am. Plunged into darkness with flashes from lightening or transformers exploding as our only light we knew it was going to be bad.

As one can imagine, sleep didn't come easily. Our alarm system finally let us know around 5 am that it didn't like being on the battery that long. It beeped continuously until we disconnected it from it's power source. That's when we heard another sound: the whine of the water detector in the attic. Sure enough we had water trickling in from wind blown rain which landed in the AC pan. This detector was very loud and had to be disconnected from it's power source too.

By this time it's past 6 am and the wind has switched directions. The eye of the storm had passed us. Unfortunately the tall cedar tree in the front yard couldn't handle the new direction of the wind and was about to be ripped from the ground. In the driving rain my husband and I tied the tree in place from 3 different directions and hopefully saved it. It was just beginning to get light around that time and we could see the amount of abuse the trees were taking from the wind. It was both awesome and terrifying!

With all the rain we had taken in we decided to start the sump pump to prevent the backyard from flooding. Fortunately we bought a generator a couple of years ago just for this reason. We did get water up to the house but nothing inside. The pump helped.

As the storm was fading from our area we started cleaning up. I wanted to get as much out of the driveway as possible so the water from the yard could drain to the street. I next moved to the pool and scooped out over 50 pounds of leaves and branches. It was gross. I hoped that we would get power soon so the pool wouldn't get to far out of control.

So we spent most of the day cleaning the yard and talking to neighbors. My husband helped a few of our neighbors clear out large branches and broken trees from yards and streets. I offered our freezer space to some friends and ended up storing a few things for them. Everyone had minor damage, mostly trees, branches and fences, but nothing major.

The next day we woke up to another storm which dropped over 5 inches of rain in less than 3 hours. As it turned out, as Ike made it's way north through the country, a stray feeder band came back around to trouble us some more. This was worse than the storm itself and we had to man the sump pump again and keep the drains in the backyard free of debris. It was scary to have to live through it again so soon!

After that storm left the area, we resumed cleaning up the yard. We had hopes that the power in our neighborhood would be restore that day but as the day went on it looked like our chances were receding. Even in the mists of a wild rumor circulating throughout our neighborhood that the power company was there our hopes became dashed as the day wore on. Perhaps on Monday we'd have power again we all hoped.

As the day progressed and as people came out to help, several of us organized a party at the club house to get rid of food that wouldn't make it another day without power. I showed up around 5:30 and was immediately given a cup of wine. It was great sharing horror stories with friends and finding out just how much damage there was and how we mostly escaped unharmed. I wasn't there long when we discovered the power had been restored! It was as if we all had been given the greatest Christmas gift all at the same time. It was such a relief to all of us and we celebrated with a song. It was one of the nicest experiences I've ever had.

The total amount of time without power was about 40 hours. Much of Houston is still without so we are fortunate.

Today I finished cleaning out the pool. Right now it's a beautiful blue color with no debris. I knew it wouldn't take long. I'm also sweeping out the house of the leaves we brought in from the yard, and also sweeping the decking around the pool. I've called many of my friends and everyone got though with minimal damage. Many of my friends have property in Galveston, which was hardest hit. It doesn't look good for them.

Anyway, it's hard getting around the city since there isn't power everywhere. There's very little gas and few grocery stories are open. Tomorrow will be a better day and things will progress as the week goes by. My tennis leagues have all been canceled which is good. We all need to stay home and not be a burden on the infrastructure of the city.