Hurricane IKE Rollcall...

[Ray52]

Riverrat.....(Do I really have to call you that??) I appreciate the offer and may be looking for something.  This is from an article posted about 2 hours ago on KFDM.com asking residents not to return......

ORANGE MAYOR Brown Claybar

"We don't have the infrastructure.  A third of our city is under water.  100 percent of Bridge City is underwater, a large portion of West Orange is underwater.  We're are just not ready to go and don't need alot of people back right now."

I wish I knew when the actual statement was made.  I live in West Orange and I hope to be back soon if for no other reason than to see the damage and what I can start doing about it.  I lost 4 pecan trees to Rita and still have 4 left if they made it so don't expect the problem with limbs.  More pictures of Orange are starting to appear on various sites, orangeleader.com and orangepd.com, but still none of my neighborhood.  There are a couple of the floodwater at Signal (where I work) and of coffins which floated to the surface at the Hollywood Cemetery about 1/2 mile from my office but none of my neighborhood.  Maybe because its okay with little damage, or maybe because its still to wet to enter.  I hope for the former.

 

[badknees]

Wow!  Looks like a jungle.

Should be no shortage of firewood again this year...

Keep your eyes open for reports from Bolivar - Crystal Beach and Gilchrest will certainly be the site of some fatalities as soon as the reporters can get in to cover the area. The destruction there is massive and almost total. The right front quadrant of the storm with the maximum surge plowed through both of these communities.  It ain't pretty.

[SHANEA]

I talked with TWWG the other night - Saturday I believe - and they were doing well and the new roof appeared to have stayed on.  Talk about timing, he had had a new roof put on and they finished a day before the atomic bomb went off.  No power where he is at - at an undisclosed location...   

[randell]

We got home yesterday evening.  I45 was packed coming back from Dallas.  I45 was shut down from flooding where it meets I10 downtown.  Lots of trees and billboards down and several fell on buildings. I was up until midnight cleaning my yard - got 13 contractor-sized bags of leaves and 7 bundles of branches from my yard.   We came home because my neighbor called us and told us we never lost water pressure and the electricity was back on.  We have gas and cable tv as well.  My mother-in-law who lives 1/2 mile from us has not electricity.

We lost a couple of shingles and had a small amount of water get into a closet downstairs - can't figure out where it came from.  Other than that the house is undamaged.  I can't believe how lucky we were. 

[uh_clem]

Anyone know about conditions in Katy?

[Ray52]

I spoke to my sister who rode out the storm in Orange.  Her house was one of only a dozen or less which didn't get floodwater in that part of Orange and today she was able to get out and find a cellular signal.  It was great to hear her and since her property is waterfront gives me hope that some of the doom and gloom stories coming from Orange are exagerated.  I've also finally found some online photos of my neighborhood and there are definitely some houses with water in them, but also some appear to have remained high and dry.  Officials are allowing residents to enter to survey the damage to their homes but requiring them to leave before curfew (7 PM) so I plan to give it a try tomorrow morning.  I'm optimistically thinking that I'll find nothing worse than minor damage and a ruined refrigerator since I left in a hurry without emptying it. 

[Ray52]

Clem, my brother lives in Katy off of Fry Road on the south side of IH10.  He's been without power since Friday night but most of the area never lost it or already has it restored.  I think for the most part Katy escaped damage.

[SHANEA]

I talked with TWWG this morning.  They lost some shingles, trees down, fence down, but all in all they are lucky.  No power yet. 

[uh_clem]

Clem, my brother lives in Katy off of Fry Road on the south side of IH10.  He's been without power since Friday night but most of the area never lost it or already has it restored.  I think for the most part Katy escaped damage.

Thanks, Ray52.

[SHANEA]

WL2 has been accounted for.  He is at work    and the power just came back on at his house...

[SHANEA]

TWWG is at an undisclosed location, sitting in a lawn chair in his front yard with a cell phone in one hand and a beer in the other  observing how dark the world is w/o electricity...  Said he has really gotten to know his neighbors the last few days...  The distict sound of chainsaws in the air.

[mule ears]

The distict sound of chainsaws in the air.

And I am sure the signature sound of all post storm power outages, the ubiquitous generator

[riverrat]

By now you may be home Ray and I hope you find your home in good shape.
And you can call me Cindy
The statement you mentioned was made early on after the storm. They keep replaying things from just after. Many places are up and running with generators. You can even grab breakfast at the local Waffle House. Not to make light of any of this: there was extensive damage due to flooding in many areas around here.

What bothers me the most are the people who have been simply inconvenienced that are calling in to klvi and bellyaching about "when is FEMA coming in with free (fill in the blank)" There are people that have lost everything and these yahoos want handouts. I just wonder how many of these are leftovers from Katrina that came here and never left. (Ooh that makes me sound bigoted doesn't it? Whatever. It's the truth.)

I appreciate having this place to come to and chill out, and on this very rare occasion...vent.

[Undertaker]

Dwelling is in Richmond, no damage to dwelling, lost rear fence and have already cleaned my and neighbor yard, no power condition was short term only, as I am close to prison system power grid and thanks to the good Lord and the Texas Prison system I now have power back, Uh-Clem just visited home in Katy, few trees down, Katy mills mall open, power on in some areas off in other does not look like any injuries or deaths we and Katy were on west side max wind at my home was 82 MPH in a 3 AM gust. Gilcrest, Boliver is almost total in destruction, as I appraise real estate and may be involved with such do to storm, I will give update as I visit any area assigned, as of now I am on hold waiting to proceed with appraisals when told to do so.

[uh_clem]

Uh-Clem just visited home in Katy...

Thanks, Undertaker.