Ol' Gar, Gitchur Umbrella out!

[jlwild]

Talked this evening (6:00 P.M. Friday) with Bickford's and and yesterday the Grimsley's in the Houston area. They are all busy getting loose items secured, plus praying they don't loose electrical power. Looks like Houston is really in for it.

[GAHorn]

Here's the CURRENT (Updates each time this msg is opened) radar returns from Houston and Lake Charles overlaid each other:

[flyguy]

I hope all we get is a little wind and some big rains. We don't need power outages for two weeks but it is likely. Keep us all in your prayers and thoughts. Our "Hurricane Party" broke up about a half hour ago and the wind began to pick up about 15 minutes ago. We are 150+ miles from the Texas coast where the eye is supposed to hit and already the outer bands have begun the dance of destruction

gar

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[flyguy]

0730 and we are still here! We are almost totally unscathed (SO FAR) Just some wind gusts around 30K and very little rain. I just got a call from Ronnie Massicot and they didn't get much wind but are out of electricity. So far (knok on wood) we still have power. Concerns for those who are still in the path of IKE - - we are praying for your safety! IKE has not diminished a lot in strength and seems to be following pretty much a northerly course as of now. JWild and those in Brian/College Station may feel more of the effects than they wanted or expected.

More later if we still have power...................

editing at 0900 wind coming up, gusts maybe 35K and small squalls

[GAHorn]

My Mom lives just a few miles from downtown Houston to the SouthEast, in University Oaks, on the north shore of Braes Bayou. I'm up in DFW awaiting Ike's arrival but I called her this morning. She's out of electricity, low water pressure, and limbs down in the yard, but no trees on her house. The bayou is over it's banks into the street, but her house is on top of a 10-foot knoll above street level. The neighbor's evacuated to Arkansas and they called her to check on their place (which flooded about 10 years ago for the first time since the neighborhood was developed in the early 1950's.) It's flooded again despite the $80 million spent in the last year widening/deepening/straightening Braes Bayou. (I think all they did was make it a wider storage area for water.) As Houston has developed to the west in a maddening pace the last 15 years, there's so much concrete, pavement, new streets and developments, the water run-off from ordinary-to-heavy rains send that bayou up near it's banks. My folks house flooded 10 years ago for the first time just due to a heavy TRW system that passed west of downtown Houston. (Rita didn't even flood that bayou, but that heavy TRW just west of Houston did.) It flooded the Houston Medical Center shutting down hospitals and flooding emergency rooms. That's why the Corps of Engineers just spent over a year and million$ "improving" the bayou system.

Didn't work for the neighbors, and I told Mom to get ready.... the bayou will continue to rise for hours after the storms are over.

[flyguy]

Sunday 1100: - - - - we are now doing the clean-up and the power just came back on about an hour ago. Again we had very little damage at our house. Lots of tree limbs and debris around the neighborhood. Our VFD is asessing those who "need" help and delivering bottled water and food if needed. GARY

I am going to cut/paste this part of an e-mail I got this morning from George Courtney in Hammond.

[ Cynthia had been in Lafayette with son, daughter, and four grand children. She came back Thursday with three of the grand kids and they all took our bed in master bedroom. I slept in "guest bedroom" in a very small detached building out back.

I awaked in pretty much darkness to sounds of the window air conditioning unit fluctuating telling me we were having power surges. Then heard more than usual acorns hitting the metal roof. Then heard what sounded like hail but turned out to be even more acorns and heavy outburst of rain. Got up and looked out the door towards the house and saw big trees on other side of street bending almost in half. Then I heard a wind that scared me enough to where I hit the floor and rolled up against the wall.

Then I heard the huge Water Oak next to the little building I was in twisting and cracking and it was obvious it was coming down. It did. I got up, as it did not hit the little building, to see the entire tree sitting on the quadrant of the house where the master bedroom was. I cannot express my feelings. I know trees. I know the damage they do when they come down.

We had a whole bunch of Blessing. Cynthia and the grand kids were perfectly ok. Little Jacob was still sleeping in his crib. There is damage to the roof but minimal compared to what it could have been. Another large oak just across fence had not only saved the other neighbor's house it greatly broke the fall of my massive one.

Will probably take me a couple of days to get it off of the roof. It is the type of puzzle that needs to be done slowly and carefully due to all the pressure points and weight distribution on roof. The tree at the base is about 5-6' in diameter. Conservatively speaking. May have to hire someone to get trunk off of roof as I am not sure I can do it with ropes and slings and pulleys. I went up in attic to asses situation and damage. Bit later, walking back out towards street, we noticed a huge Pine across the street had snapped and we noticed it was on a house. We ran in that direction to discover it went right through the middle of that house. A car was in carport and I was sure we had at least one fatality. Another Blessing. They were on vacation, were to return the day before, got delayed trying to find a flight.

My best to you all. Thank you for your thoughts and Prayers. Hope to see all of you sometime in near future.

george ]

OL' GAR

[cessna170bdriver]

Ol' Gar,

Are these neighbors of yours?

[flyguy]

Ol' Gar,

Are these neighbors of yours?

NAW THEMS THEM SKINNY TEXEICANS THATS GOTS MORE BEER THEN BRAYNS - - PROLY WITH THAT BUNCH U LOOTERS DOUN IN GALLYVESTIN TRYIN TU GITS SOOVYNEERS FRUM RECKED BILDINS.

[GAHorn]

Every time I see folks that skinny, I can't help but take notice of their teeth. Methamphetamine users look just like that, and usually with rotten teeth as well.

Don't think I'd want to wade around power lines, electric meters, etc. like that.