Bits Of Ike Video

Hurricane Ike Photos

A memorial to the Great Storm of 1900, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. History, is pounded by Ike's surf more than 12 hours before the eye came ashore. (from Chron.com)

I can't find what I need to get the little video I have uploaded, and I still don't have power at the house. So I thought I'd just put up some pictures, some of which were taken by friends, and some of which were the best from chron.com. This story is now below the fold on your newspapers, if not completely off the front page. But, as the pictures show, this story is not over, whether or not the ADD media outlets have found some shiny new sound bite to play with.



Hurricane evacuation, Texas style (from Chron.com)




Surfside Beach, well before the storm arrived. Storm surge is already inundating land. Note: we twice rented the blue house in the middle on the shore. (From Chron.com)





Scenic Galveston (From Chron.com)





Before and after: a section of the Bolivar Peninsula where we have also rented beach property. (From Chron.com)




Night time in the destruction zone. (From Chron.com)



The state of nature. (From Chron.com)




The central business district and flooded Buffalo Bayou. (From Chron.com)





My office building, the Chase Tower, which suffered the worst damage in the CBD. Nearly every window below the 30th floor in the east side of the building was shattered and documents and equipment littered the streets. (My office is the opposite side and higher, fortunately) (From Chron.com)


Chase Tower, the day after.



Chase Tower, 5 days later, open for business but boarded up.




At least 75 miles from the ocean, an old oak in the park topples, roots and all.






Same park, roots hold, but the trunk could not bear the strain.

All Clear

No apparent damage at my place, and all safe. But not enough power or bandwidth to do a proper post. More later when lights and internet are operational.

2230 Spetember 12

Wind is kicking up some more, but still not a drop of rain, and nothing worth putting on video--thank goodness.

I'm probably going to turn in here in a bit. We've still got power. Wonder if that will last until morning?

2038 September 12

Well, it's getting real. The lights flickered on and off, the wind is loud enough I can hear it inside the house, and I can't seem to get videos to upload to Youtube. I gathered up Alyssa, the recalcitrant feline, and folded her into her cat carrier. She's now in the safe room with the dogs, who are in their kennel. Gumbo, the genius wonder dog, figured out Alyssa was there and commenced to whining and all manner of canine speech to let me know that she would like to eat her. I declined.

The rain has reached South Beltway 8 which is about 40 miles south. I may yet have several hours before the brunt of the storm is here. Meanwhile, I'll just watch a movie, have a drink, and enjoy the show.

1930 September 12, 2008

It's kicking up a little, but you can tell we're still a long way behind the wind and rain at Galveston.

1444 September 12

Hurricane supplies are ready.

1300 September 12

I took this footage at about 1:00 p.m.

1200 September 12

It has gotten cloudier and the tops of the trees are swaying in a fairly consistent 5-10 mph wind, still from the north and east.

Gumbo, the Wonder Dog, for her part, has no intention of protecting me. She doesn't even want to stay outside.



I wonder if I'll be sleeping with them in their hidey hole tonight?

1030 September 12

Well it took forever to upload onto Youtube, but here's my first attempt at a video post.

0730 September 12

Looking at the local TV reporters would show you that high tide last night has already surged over the berms and into the streets of some parts of the barrier islands and receded again this morning in advance of the coming storm. The wind on Galveston Island has also come up past 20 mph, a foreshadowing of the gale to come. Here, in the nieghborhood this morning, there was only a slight breeze--from the east--the very outer edge of the top of a counterclockwise circulation.

It's out there somewhere.

The Night Before The Storm

Tonight, I was puttering around the yard trying to get "ready" for the storm, moving all those loose items that might blow around and break a window inside.

There was nothing unusual that I could sense to indicate that there was a storm offshore with tropical storm force winds fully 275 miles out from its center. The neighborhood was quiet. As is typical in Houston, the air was wet, warm and still. Actually, if you payed close attention to the dogs, they were sniffing the wind, the hair standing on their backs, and they'd occasionally bark at nothing.




I got to thinking, if I ignore what I know from the internet, Weather Underground, local news, radar, etc., thus must be something of what it was like on Galveston Island in September, 1900. Someone working on the Strand down near the docks might hear a mariner talking about there being a "hell of a storm" out there somewhere over the horizon. Or you might not. If you did, he might or might not have any real information concerning what type of storm it was, how big it was, which direction it was moving in, or what you could expect.

You'd just see the clouds come over the horizon, the tides would increase, the wind would rise until it reached 135 miles per hour, the rain would fall in torrents, and the ocean would inundate your little island, killing 8000 people in one day. Corpses floated in the streets and Galveston has never regained its commercial prominence after the natural disaster with the greatest loss of life in U.S. history.

And the night before, it would have been just like this. Sunny. Hot. Still.

But as I was finishing up the yardwork, the gate that had stood open in the still air all night creaked once, creaked again, then caught enough breeze to swing shut and latch.



There's been a change in the air.

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If we get some hurricane activity at the house this weekend, I will try to post some pictures, video and narrative.