I don't like IKE. Hurricane Ike is a storm as big as Texas, literally, and it's heading straight for my home town, Houston. This is one of the biggest (but not strongest) hurricanes in modern history.
The governor of Texas said that anyone near the coast in a 1-2 story home faces certain death. That's a pretty dire warning, but it's because of the "storm surge."
When a hurricane travels over the ocean, it literally sucks up the water into itself. The level of the sea under the hurricane is significantly higher than the level of the sea outside the hurricane. This creates something like a slow tsunami. It doesn't come crashing in as one wave. The water level just keeps rising as the hurricane comes in. The storm surge for IKE is expected to be 20-25 feet (7-8 meters). That will only affect the areas within several miles from the coast, I think, but still it's huge. The island beach where I played almost every summer is already under 8 feet (2.7 meters) of water.
So, my Mom is packing up and heading out of town pretty soon. She is well out of harm's way now - on her way to Arkansas to visit her parents. My sister, April, is down in MacAllen, in south Texas, with our cousin Twila. They should be safe, but any prayers for people and homes in the path of IKE would be great.
4 comments:
Josh,
I just talked to Sylvia - from what she can see, mom's house is fine. They had power off and on, but it is on now. She said it did not look like there is any real damage.
My apartments do not have any power (at least as of about 2 hours ago), and apparently there were leaks in every building. So, I'm thinking that I may head back up to Houston tomorrow and make sure everything is ok.
April
Hay Josh
It is mind boggling. A storm the size of Texas and yet it is an insignificant display of God's power.
Brad
Hi, Josh
Have you seen these photoes? They're impressive!
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html
Ilya
Houston is working through the aftermath of Ike. By Houston, I am referring to the entire area not just Houston proper. Galveston was hit so hard, as was Bolivar Penninsula (which is now an island of it's own), as was the southern area of Houston suburbs. There are homes that were completely demolished, homes that were destroyed, lives lost.
However, you can see the goodness of the people and the hearts of the people through all of this. There are still over 1 million customers (not people) who do not have power, probably that many who do not have water. FEMA has set up PODS (points of distribution) that hand out water, ice and MRI's to those who are without. People have been displaced and now have no jobs because their companies have been destroyed as well. Lives have been changed. However, as you watch the miles of lines at the PODS, you see that many of the volunteers are in the same situation that those who are receiving those items. Gas, food and water is at a premium. To give an idea, I am staying at mom's house since I do not have power or water at mine. The other day, I drove for about 1/2 hour to find a gas station that was open and had gas. Once I found one, I waited in line for over 45 minutes to actually get gas. This is a best case situation - there are so many that can't get to a gas station that is open. There are stations that have gas, but no power to pump the gas.
I have lived in 9 states and am proud to be a Texan! We take care of our own. It is rare that you hear of Texans say "the goverment needs to give me....", what you hear people here say is "we are going to make it through this and we are going to be better for it". First responders (police, firemen, medical workers, etc.) have left their families to fend for themselves to take care of the community. People who work for other power companies have come in from all over the country to help get the power back up and running.
On Monday as I was driving back to Houston from McAllen, I passed countless trucks that were loaded down with generators, food, water, gas cans, etc. These people were coming from other parts of the state. It makes my heart glad to see the people of TX pull together.
My company had it's corporate office pretty much demolished. The owner of my company sent out an email to everyone stating that we will go on, we will grow through this and we will get better. He gave God the glory because although we lost 2 offices in Ike, no one in our company lost their homes or their lives. We are making it through. We are growing and getting better.
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