At least South Padre has power and water!

We had a busy day today! Of course overnight Hurricane Ike roared through our neighborhood. The wind was impressive, and I am so glad that we got those big limbs trimmed off our tree! Although there was steady rain, we never really got a deluge.

Early in the morning (around 7 or so) the water was backing up in the street. I went out with camera, cell phone, and raincoat, and walked around. Cleared out the leaves and branches from one of street drains that was clogged. The little bayou was running fast, but the good news was that it was running downstream as it should. Which told me that our big bayou wasn't yet impacted by the big storm surge that pushed up into Galveston Bay, the San Jacinto River, and anywhere else that it could. By around 10 our street was clear of flood waters and they never got more than a couple inches up into our yard. I've definitely seen much worse from a violent thunderstorm.

Tree branches were down all over the place, but no trees fell. Our street was easy to drive on. I picked up lots of limbs and piled them in the front yard. Hopefully the heavy trash folks will come by soon and pick them up.

By noon, after listening to the radio and the neighbors, it became obvious that power was going to be out for a LONG time, perhaps weeks. And the water pressure was down to a mere trickle. So we decided to pack up and head down to South Padre Island. We are so fortunate to have another place to get, all set up and ready. A little ironic that it was only a few weeks ago that Hurricane Dolly was making her mark there.

We left around 2 and arrived by 7:45pm which was GREAT time. The road was completely clear and dry. Closer to Houston the gas stations were all closed but once we got to Victoria there were many open and serving. We bought gas at the Victoria McDonald's truckstop for $3.59 which isn't a bad price! (They usually offer a fair gas price.) Almost the entire way down US59 and then US77 we saw houses and businesses boarded up. A reminder of how the forecasted track of Ike moved from south of Corpus Christi all the way up to Galveston.

We arrived on the island just in time for the sunset and hurried down to the beach. There obviously was a huge surge, much larger than the one that Gustav sent a couple weeks ago. No trash cans on the beach so the city must have taken them away. The water was oh, so warm. The pink sunset and rising moon made for a good ending to a long day.

Except of course my day was not done. All of my company's locations in Houston had damage from the storm, so I have spent the evening writing up incident reports, talking to adjusters, and getting things lined up for Monday morning inspections. Tomorrow I'll be working again most likely. Maybe, depending on the response, I may have to drive to Corpus to see any damage reported at our three locations there.

We are relieved to have power and water, and a safe place to sleep tonight.

Revisiting Hurricane Dolly

hurricane dolly 2, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

My husband just sent me this photograph, one of five that he took during the time that Hurricane Dolly was pummeling South Padre Island. Just stunning.

Update on the Island

We have been here in South Padre since Thursday morning. The beach, as you can see, is significantly eroded but the dunes are still in place. I'm impressed by how hard-packed the sand is - I guess the constant pounding of waves and rain will do that to sand. There are a surprising number of visitors here, too!

The house has fared pretty well. We have found a couple areas where water has come in, looks like it blew in through the brick on the western side of the house, and also down the common wall we share with our neighbor. Neither is very serious. I've wiped down the walls with a 10% bleach solution to kill the mold, and we will let the walls dry and see if the mold comes back. The house has been vacuumed twice, the windows cleaned, and (the nastiest job) the food thrown out from the fridge. The fence is propped up but will have to be replaced on two sides I think. The backyard neighbor has really bad damage (his house is quite old I think). The trees and shrubs all over the island are stripped of leaves. Our bougainvillea is just starting to put out brave new leaves on its bare branches.

The neighbor's cats have been invisible. But this morning I saw Nerino walking across the street, and Little Mama and her very vocal kitten arrived on the back patio as well. We put down food and milk, and they scarfed it down in no time flat. Still no sign of my husband's favorite, Faithful.

The power has been on since at least Wednesday, and the water is safe (since Saturday, according to Laguna Madre Water).

We went swimming yesterday. The water is fine - sandy green as the Island Breeze calls it - but the waves are big and the current moderately strong. Makes it fun to sit on the beach and just go in every half hour or so, instead of staying out there. Maybe today it will be calmer.

He's back!

Back home again! Neighbors gave him a lift to Port Isabel to wait for the Rio Transit bus. When it didn't come, he spent $50 for a taxi to Brownsville (the normal price) and caught the last bus of the day from Brownsville to Houston. Supposed to leave at 12.40pm but was an hour late - arrived here at 8.30pm! Had to wait quite a while in Sarita, where one of the passengers was pulled off the bus and checked out by the immigration police. Got to see IronMan and Transformers and some other movie with Dennis Quaid (all in Spanish) - all at significant volume. He says this ride must have been penance for all his recent sins...

Anyway, he's back home. We will have to go back down to check the house again once the power comes on.

Relief

He is on his way home... taking the bus from Brownsville. I'm so relieved. Bus should get in around 7:30 tonight.

More than seven days to restore power

The latest estimate to get all the power back up on South Padre Island is "7+" days. I don't know if my husband knows that, since I haven't talked to him since 4pm. I doubt I'll hear from him tonight... which is discouraging. If he were hurt or sick the calls would come but right now nothing. So I am left spinning in what-ifs and worries. I must to do 2 things next week - a deposition in Corpus Christi on Monday, and a file review in Chicago on Thursday. My thoughts are to drive down on Saturday, pick him up and do the depo in Corpus on Monday, and then drive him back to Houston. There are other things that should be done (a file review, and visiting my parents) but both of those things can be rescheduled. What-ifs and worries... I'm sure more will be clear tomorrow.

Update on local damages...

And by local I mean our street. My husband reports that our house has very minimal roof damage, a few shingles lost. One side of the privacy fence blew down. A bit of water under the front door. Amazing really.

He says the water was back on this morning when he woke up. Our neighbor to the east - the roof has a hole in it (not sure what size or which side). Our neighbor to the west - roof damaged as well, and the fence is down between our yard and his. The neighbor further up the street to the east - more roof damage as well. There was no street flooding on our street or on Gulf Boulevard close to us. Padre Boulevard was definitely flooded.

He is going to stay and work with the neighbors on their cleanup. He says he is fine and he does actually sound OK. Hopefully the power will be restored fairly soon so that he’ll have something to eat besides cold tortillas and cheese. The news reports say it will be “several days” before power is back on.

Cell phone calls aren't getting out - perhaps the traffic is too heavy this morning. He had to call me from the neighbor's land line.

I am hopeful he will take pictures but of course without power it's going to be hard to get them to me!

Causeway reopened this evening

According to the Weather Channel, the Queen Isabella Causeway has been reopened late this evening. This is great news, because the power-restoration crews were not staying on the island and until now have not been able to start the process of getting the electricity back on. The city manager was also interviewed and he said that the debris was more extensive than expected and they were working to get the roadways cleared before vehicles were allowed back on. Hopefully once the power is back on the water flow will also be restored to homes. I know there are millions of people in the world that don't have electricity and safe water available to them - I've even lived that way myself. But it's more difficult when almost everything you do has electricity integrated somehow. Makes you really think...

Hurricane Dolly exits, stage left

And good riddance, too. She left quite a bit of damage in her wake - we won't know the full story until the rain stops and the wind dies down some. At the peak of the storm my husband said the house was shaking and once in a while he would hear a cracking sound. Hard to know what that really is without further inspection.

The power went out around 11:30 this morning, and the water stopped around 3 this afternoon. Hopefully the city crews will be out in force to get the utilities running again. There are quite a few people on the island so that should help. And the causeway should be reopened soon (it has to be closed when the wind exceeds 39mph) now that the wind has calmed down to about 35.

Around 11 AM my husband "went for a walk" on the beach, from Bougainvillea Circle to The Palms (for those of you who know where that is...). He retrieved a football and a nice plastic bucket. He came back on Gulf Boulevard, which is where a photographer got a shot of him. Here is the link to the slide show - his photo is somewhere around 23rd or 24th. http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/Texas_Gulf_Coast_keeps_an_eye_on_Dolly.html

Update from South Padre Island

Hurricane Dolly is passing over the island now. Overnight the wind and rain were "very noisy" according to my husband. I spoke with him early this morning and again about 20 minutes ago. So far the power has gone out once for just a minute or two. Cell phone still working. He says "it's a good thing we didn't pay anyone to prune the palm trees because they are all pruned now".

Looking at the radar it seems the eye will pass right over our house. In a way I wish I was there to see it. Can't get him to take pictures during the storm - he won't open any windows or doors and says that the windows are too fogged/rained on to get anything meaningful through them.

hurricane dolly sunset

hurricane dolly sunset, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

This photo was taken by my husband, who is riding out the storm on South Padre Island. I was talking to him as he was taking these pictures, and all he could do was say "wow!" over and over again. Here in Houston the sunset was pinky orange too, but not quite as nice.

As you can see, the surf is quite wild-looking. He is planning on going down to the beach in the morning (after the storm passes of course) and taking a few more pictures. I hope his night isn't too rough.

Dolly heads for Brownsville

Looks like Brownsville is the target for Dolly. My husband is at our South Padre Island home, and I'm in Houston. Certainly he will have LOTS of rain and wind but since the storm should come ashore as a category 1 hurricane we are not panicking. Maybe he will send photos - if so I'll post.

Here in Houston we have already a little rain - desperately needed here and even more further west and south. Forecast winds of 20-30 miles mph here.

Getting ready for Dolly

We are watching Dolly, wondering if it will hit South Padre Island and hoping it will instead trend north to the relatively uninhabited land between Brownsville and Kingsville. We will see...