I am still unable to see news coverage of this but a very dear friend, Mrs. Jacqueline Vaughn sent me her account of the aftermath and with her permission I have posted her words here. She's a little long winded but this is well worth the read. Thanks Jackie, glad you guys made it out alright!
This is a general report sent out to all our friends, so bear with me if I'm telling you things you already know or about places you either know well or don't care about.
All is well in our household. Minimal damage - at least as far as we can can tell so far. Our main side gate is hanging by one hinge, we had one long limb about 4" in diameter fall and hit the back porch light, but it appears it didn't damage the roof. Another tree in the front yard, a tallow tree, lost its top. Our neighbor across the street cut it up with his chain saw and he and the guy next door piled it at the curb. Good folks, both. Others in our neighborhood fared far worse. Quite a few trees were uprooted and some went into houses. I haven't heard of any injuries in the neighborhood, though.
We lost electricity about 10:30 Friday night. It came back on about 6:30 Tuesday night. Some aren't expected to get power for up to a month. We had a Coleman propane lantern, which we didn't even use. We lit one oil lamp and otherwise used flashlights and opened the curtains during the day. We kept our water pressure, which was good, too. Our home phones went out with the electricity, but we had our cells and were able to charge them in the car after the storm passed. Access was limited and spotty, and text messaging was encouraged.
We brought Talesia to our house Thursday evening but her mom stayed home to look after the animals and protect the house. Her fence, which was held together with bubblegum and paper clips, fell down completely, and she has several very large limbs down. No electricity, of course. Most of the area lost power, well over 2 million households; about one-third of those have been restored. Restoration has been on a priority basis. Over 7000 electric company and tree removal people are in the process of coming to Houston from as far away as Canada and New Jersey. There are volunteer organizations from around the state and neighboring states that are setting up mobile kitchens to feed all the first responders.
My weather station went dead just as the storm started, so I have no idea what winds or how much rain we received. I did note one gust of 50 mph late Friday afternoon just before it went dead. We haven't look to see if the gauges are still on the roof.
I had just received a full three-month supply of my Humatrope, worth about $18,000. It has to be kept cold. Our neighbor across the street has a generator and was nice enough to let us store it in his fridge. Then, with typical generosity, he loaned us the small extra generator he was using to power a small air conditioner and a couple of other things so we could keep our freezer and fridges cold. By alternating power among them, we were able to keep them all cold. All we lost was some ice cream, which we drank as milk shakes.
There were no generators to be had after the storm, other than junk sold by scalpers. We could have bought a small off-brand one for $2100, and I think some people might have actually been desperate enough to do it. If the generator doesn't work, it'll be money long gone down the road.
Monday we drove over to Austin, about 150 miles west of here, to get a generator. There were more people from Houston there looking for generators than Austinites. The nice folks at Lowe's there told us they'd heard of a couple of places that might have some generators and even gave us copies of names, addresses, and phone numbers. The nearest was Costco and we went there. They said they were sold out but they might be getting a truck in and to check back in a couple of hours. We did, and they then told us that if the truck came in, it would be after they closed. The truck might come in the next day, and it may or may not have generators on it. We gave up and went home.
On the way to Austin we saw blatant price gouging at some gas stations, charging as much as $4.14 a gallon for regular, when the typical price had been about $3.39. There were long lines at most of them at least half the way to Austin.
We bought a couple of heavy-gauge extension cords at the Lowe's in Austin, figuring they would be hard to come by here. We filled up with gasoline in Austin and again about halfway home. The Expedition is very happy on the road and we got about 16 mpg. and arrived home with most of a tank of gas.
Tuesday we went to our local Lowe's on the off chance they might have gotten generators. To our amazement, they had just gotten a shipment. We quickly got in line. They dedicated two cashiers to generator sales, so the line moved quickly. The cashier got snotty with us because we wanted to buy two, but her manager told her to sell them to us. We then called a friend across town, where the damage was worse and he'd taken a limb through the roof. We asked if he wanted us to get him a generator since he'd had no luck in finding out. He did, and I got back in line. I had to let two people go ahead so I wouldn't get the nasty clerk, who still shot me baleful looks. We made it clear we weren't buying them to scalp them, and the clerk who was controlling the line helped us. One guy whose family was in line was going and getting armloads of things people would need, such as extension cords and passing them out to those in line who wanted them. When a pallet of gas cans came in, he helped distribute them, and others helped break open the wrappers so everyone could get to them. I missed the 5-gallon ones, but managed to get a six-pack of 2-gallon ones. We gave two to the guy we were getting the generator for, offered two to the guy across the street, and kept two for ourselves. The same guy who was passing out the extension cords was also helping to distribute the oil. I think a lot of us were sorry to see him get his generator and leave because he was so helpful. Lowe's is to be commended because the generators were the same price they were three years ago and $150 less than they were on the Lowe's website. They were of good quality and size, too, 5000 running watts and over 6000 start-up watts.
Our local HEB had a generator for its gas station, and we got into line. It took us about 70 minutes to get through the line. They hadn't inflated the price of gas at all and we paid $3.31/gallon. They had about 4 or 5 really nice employees directing traffic and keeping the lines moving. It was a terrific setup and very well-organized. We filled our tank and all the gas cans and set off across town to deliver the generator. There were trees down everywhere and you could see where they had been cut off and moved off the roads. Billboards were down and lying across buildings and cars.
There was a long, but orderly line there for ice as people waited for the machine to make a few bags. These were removed as soon as they dropped and the wait began again. Many people waited hours for a couple of bags.
All in all, people have remained civilized and helpful of one another, something very different from Katrina.
As we got over to Humble, where the eye had crossed, the damage was greater, with massive trees uprooted and crushing roofs. Usually it was the tree tops that penetrated roofs, but I saw quite a few whole trunks sticking through roofs. The wind damage seemed much worse than the water damage. Much of the power outages are from trees destroying power lines. We delivered the generator and headed home.
The generators are extremely heavy and we've delayed removing them from the car until today. We're going to set them up, make sure they run, and then store them in the garage. They're 5000 steady watts each, which will run the fridges and freezer, plus some small appliances and the computers (one has one's priorities, of course!)
Since we were without electricity, we didn't see the extent of the damage to the coastal cities until last night and today. I'll try to describe what I've seen and how it was before.
Many areas are still under dusk to dawn curfews, but Houston is now midnight until dawn. No one is allowed into certain areas. Galveston tried a 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. "look and leave" for one day and cars backed up for many hours. Those who did make it onto the island so interfered with cleanup work that they had to be sent away. The main road onto the island, a causeway with two separated bridges, is supposed to have been damaged, but I can't confirm that. The second bridge was just completed earlier this year. Barge traffic goes under them and the Port of Galveston is not far way.
Galveston took a direct hit from the storm, which came ashore as a technical category 2 storm. However, winds just slightly aloft were those of a category 4-5 storm and we received damage associated with those categories, which means almost total devastation. Galveston itself is protected in part by a 17' high seawall that faces the Gulf of Mexico and extends about halfway down the island. Galveston is a barrier island and was a major Texas since the 1700s and was a landing place of colonists of several countries before that, as well as being a retreat for the famous pirate, Jean LaFitte. It was virtually obliterated by the storm of 1900, before the seawall was built. At least 6000 people perished at that time. After that, it was decided that a seawall must be built and the city raised above sea level. Entire houses were jacked up and sand was pumped in under them. The mansions which couldn't be raised saw their first floors become basements.
Galveston is a very historic city and this time over 1700 of its more than 7000 historic structures have been damaged or destroyed. Because the water table there is very high, most burials are in mausoleums. This is because the caskets tend to float to the surface. This was a major problem in 1900, when coffins tossed about by raging storm waters did considerable damage. This time, some caskets were washed out as well. The tall ship Elissa suffered minor damage, losing some sails, while the Old Customs House and the Navy ships on Pelican Island seem to have taken some serious hits.
Galveston has a fair-sized yacht basin and most of the boats there were destroyed either by fire or by sinking. Some were carried the length of the island and deposited inland. There was a pile of boats stacked willy-nilly on the interstate. We're not yet sure where they came from, but some were in excess of 40' long.
Many people had beach houses on stilts not far from the water. The wave action first removes the sand from around the piers (stilts) and then the houses collapse. Those whose piers hold up are battered with water which is higher than the stilts and full of debris. They come down and add to the debris which then goes on to destroy other buildings farther in. Very few of those homes are left standing and those which are, are probably unsafe. Uncaring developers built hotels and condos right on the water, not even behind the protection of the seawall. People paid enormous sums for them. I doubt many are left standing and safe. A famous pier and building created in the 1920s and used as a speakeasy in the days of prohibition was destroyed. The Balinese Room was supposedly a supper club, but there was gambling and liquor in the back room. They were usually tipped off about an approaching raid, and in a flash the gaming tables were flipped over to plain wood and covered with table cloths, crystal, and cutlery, and meals were sitting on them. Alcohol and other items that had to be gotten ride of were dropped through trap doors into the water below. Supposedly it's become a respectable place in recent history, but I wouldn't bet on it.
A fair number of fools chose to remain and have paid dearly for their decision. About 1000 are not yet accounted for. On the other side, one elderly woman in a senior citizens' complex had registered in advance for assistance in evacuating. She started calling three days before the storm to make sure she'd be taken care of. Help never came. However, some of the other tenants who stayed there were worried when their shared flashlight blinks weren't returned. One waded to her ground-floor apartment and found her virtually floating on her mattress. He summoned one of the young residents who was staying with a relative and the two were able to get her out and help her to the second floor. Those at the top cheered and encouraged her. She says she wouldn't be alive without all of them.
Across from the northern/eastern tip of Galveston, and reached by a fleet of free ferries, is Bolivar Peninsula, which is very low-lying. The Gulf of Mexico is along one side and the Intracoastal Canal runs along the other side. Galveston Bay forms the far side of the canal. There is a rusting lighthouse there where about 150 people were saved from the same 1900 storm. Other than that, there are a few houses, cattle, bait camps, beer joints, a few canal homes, and restaurants along the road connecting it to the rest of the mainland. About 150 idiots decided to stay there and as conditions got worse, suddenly begged to be evacuated. The Coast Guard managed to send helicopters to get some of them, but conditions deteriorated. Those people wasted resources that were needed for others and that makes me angry. Very little is left on the peninsula except rubble and dead animals. Even the road was eroded.
Like New Orleans, Galveston is virtually a clean slate. I think it will be just about as hard to rebuild.
The tidal and storm surges did NOT extend far inland as computer models predicted, thank goodness.
Across Galveston Bay lies Texas City, with its multiple huge refineries. Texas City is protected by a dike which has gradually been silting in over the past 40 years. I haven't heard how the refineries fared, but with a 16'-20' storm surge in addition to the huge waves, I'm sure there's significant damage. That's another reason for oil and gasoline prices to skyrocket again.
Much of the coast, especially the Bolivar Peninsula, looks much as it must have when the first settlers stepped ashore long ago. The sand has reclaimed the beach, eroded and covered what was a road, and taken over the land on the other side. Much of the debris from all the manmade structures was carried completely across the peninsula and into the bay on the other side, where it continued to the far shore. The cattle that grazed on the scrub are drowned, and most of them were washed away, too. Only a few wobbly structures are left, and they look as if a good breeze will finish them off. The devastation is so complete there's virtually nothing left to cry over.
Up and down the coast from Galveston the little fishing villages were wiped out, with shrimp boats found far inland. One area near NASA and the affluent ClearLake community is called Kemah. It sits on a channel linking Clear Lake with Galveston Bay. A big (and obnoxious) investor bought all of the land and restaurants on one side of the channel and created the Kemah Boardwalk, full of expensive restaurants with mediocre food and even poorer service. He created a midway atmosphere whit a giant blue ferris wheel and other rides, even building a big wooden roller coaster that directly abuts a couple's property and extremely close to their house. He greased enough palms to have their protests overruled, and the roller coaster roared and rattled until at least midnight. He also built a restaurant called The Aquarium, which features a huge tank in the center full of sharks, rays, and other fish. Smaller aquariums are scattered around. There is a every expensive yacht basin there, and several others further up the channel. The other side of the channel had non-Landry's-owned restaurants and fish houses where fresh shrimp could be bought right off the boats. All of it is gone.
There is another The Aquarium in downtown Houston right by a busy freeway. It has the same features, and the owner managed to shake hands with enough people to get permits to keep three white tigers there. Their lives must be hell. Unfortunately, that restaurant is still standing as far as I know.
Downtown Houston had a lot of glass windows pop out of the high rise buildings. The winds not far aloft were category 4 or 5, and the windows just couldn't handle them. There is a lot of broken glass all over. Part of downtown sits at the confluence of two major bayous, and when they're full and raging, the juncture is amazing to see, with rampaging waves going every way and water roiling like a major rapid. The city, with its usual wisdom, built a long, winding parkway along Buffalo Bayou, with benches and gazebos and lots of beautiful landscaping. The street people who live there love it. I'm sure it's all been scoured away.
FEMA did better, but still has had a lot of problems they shouldn't have had after the Katrina experience. They brought water, but not food or ice. It finally arrived after Houston's excellent "can-do" mayor, Bill White, and our disaster coordinator, Judge Ed Emmett, got things going. PODs (Points of Distribution) were set up and hours for distribution were announced. People lined up in a very orderly manner, but the trucks with supplies showed up hours later, bringing insufficient supplies with them. There's real bungling of funds, too. Now FEMA has set up ONE site to make claims for aid. Over one thousand people were waiting all day on the hot tarmac of an old air force base. It's only open from 9-7 today, and every day. People are parking a long way away and riding shuttles to the claims area.
One man was scalping ice for $6 a bag. A news crew blocked him in until police arrived and arrested him. There has been some looting, mostly in Galveston and Kemah, and over 100 have been arrested. I'm for shooting them on sight as they did in the 1900 storm.
Flooding problems were exacerbated by a cold front that followed immediately on the heels of the storm, bearing extremely heavy rain that kept pounding the same areas so that what the storm didn't flood, the cold front did. We got very little rain from the hurricane, but quite a bit from the front.
The two businesses that have deeply impressed me with their help to the community are Lowe's and HEB groceries. HEB is a Texas chain based in San Antonio. They're always active in the communities they serve and certainly have been a huge help before and after the storm. Kudos to both.
To see some of the damage to Galveston, check out
http://www.chron.com/
Click on the photo gallery of the Ike's aftermath in Galveston and Devastation on Bolivar Peninsula.
That's it for now. More news as I get time to share.
Now, it's important to me to know how all of you affected are faring. Please email me and let me know. You know I worry about each and every one of you.
Again, we've been incredibly lucky to have stayed safe and sound.
jv
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