Houston Chronicle...Galveston Daily News...Beaumont Enterprise
KHOU- Channel 11...KTRK- Channel 13...KPRC- Channel 2...KRIV- Fox 26
City of Houston Wind Data Information
With the advent of daylight, southeast Texas is beginning to evaluate the damage done overnight...and it appears to be substantial. Just as in 1983's Hurricane Alicia, downtown Houston took a solid hit, with many office towers sustaining substantial damage to windows and other glass surfaces. One condominium building near Minute Maid Park had one of the roof-mounted air-conditioning units blown off the roof and onto the street below, apparently (and thankfully) doing no additional damage. In the Clear Lake and Galveston areas, there also appears to be substantial damage. Getting exact and definitive reports may take some time, as something like 4 million people in SE Texas are without power.
My ex-wife and her dogs spent the night with friends in Pasadena, but they lost power early on, and I ended up sending her updates via text messages. 2500 miles away, and I was the one telling her what was happening. We still don't know yet how Seabrook fared, although I do know that old Seabrook flooded, since it was part of the mandatory evacuation process and access is likely still restricted.
As you might imagine, I got very little sleep, and I'm exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Having gone through several hurricanes and tropical storms, both in Texas and in Florida, I had a pretty good idea of what damage would be done and where if the storm went up the west side of Galveston Bay, which is apparently exactly what it did.
At this point, I'm like everyone else, in that I'm limited to what I can find out by watching CNN or MSNBC. I can't call my ex-wife, because the cell phone on her battery is low, but I did get a text message from her this morning, so I at least have the comfort of knowing that she and those she stayed with are OK, all things considered. It may be some time before I learn if our house in Seabrook survived. I'm trying to be optimistic, but it's a 40+year-old wood frame/brick veneer structure that was built before hurricane codes were even part of the collective thought process along the Gulf Coast. There's a lake in the back yard about 8' below the property level that hopefully would have absorbed a good part of any storm surge in the neighborhood, but I'm concerned for her house. I no longer live there, but I did spend eight years on my life in the cul-de-sac on Nassau Drive in Seabrook, so I have a huge emotional investment in the outcome of this dilemma. We may be divorced, but I still care deeply for my ex-wife, and that tiny little house is her life. It's where she raised her two sons, and that little corner of the world represents close to 15 years of sacrifice and memories. For her sake, I hope the news will be good.
What I do know right now is that the Texas Gulf Coast from Surfside Beach to High Island got hit pretty hard. Galveston Island took a direct hit, as did the western side of Galveston Bay, from Texas City through Seabrook and into Laporte. Power will be out to many thousands for what appears to be an extended period, perhaps weeks. I heard one estimate this morning that said that one out of every four Texans are without power this morning, and that's not going to be resolved overnight.
Y'all may or may not know this now, but all of us will, regardless of where we live, likely feel some effects from Hurricane Ike. Given that the storm struck the epicenter of this country's petrochemical industry, gas prices are already rising in some parts of the country. While listening to NPR yesterday, I heard one analyst relate his opinion that if you were a terrorist and trying to strike a blow against America, you could hardly do any better than imitate Hurricane Ike. What remains to be seen and evaluated is the extent of the damage- to people, structures, and refineries- but there seems little doubt that it's substantial.
My heart goes out to the people in my former hometown and the surrounding area. As the weekend marches on, more will become known about the extent of the damage done by Hurricane Ike, and I fear the news will not be good.
Meanwhile, here in Portland, it's a beautiful sunny day. I almost feel guilty....
Stay tuned....
