A Few Pics of IKE

Here are a few pics from what hurricane IKE did here in southeast texas. Feel Free to add to them.

Robert

A closed road because a house had washed off the piers and finally stopped about 100 yards away from its original spot

Debris left from flood waters on Interstate 10 going toward beaumont from houston

Around the corner from my home

Under the downed trees lie 76 of my large hibiscus that just did not make it :-(

My seedling house where I had also put some of my larger hibbies in for protection. Needless to say it did not help! The bench went over and snaped and crushed about 100 of my beauties. Some made it some did not.

Black Dragon in the seedling house so far has made it. Keeping my fingers crossed :-)

This message was edited Sep 24, 2008 8:29 PM

A smaller house of mine in total shambles. The frame is up but severly damaged. Pipes are concreted 24" in the ground. Notice the cinder block handing on the left of the picture. All in all about 1100 plants in here with more than 70% destroyed.

This message was edited Sep 24, 2008 8:34 PM

oops my daughters messy room before we left. We were scrounging up PICS for insurance LOL. She ought to love this!



This message was edited Sep 24, 2008 8:40 PM

OK back to my neighbor's yard

More PICS Baptist Church in the neighborhood

There are many more but share your PICS and many who refuse to evacuate the only thing I can say is LEAVE when they ask you too. Too many people stay and even 1 death from these things are too many. Here Again is my new seedling "Ike's Angel" Bloomed a couple of days after Ike and again the house she was in was crushed. How did she survive. This is why I call her Ike's Angel. Take care and add pics to this thread There are many many other stories and pics. It's good release here and the people are family they care and understand. Thanks to all.

Robert

P.S. My night runner peaked through today and I was overjoyed. I just hope it makes it. Ikes Angel is the next PIC





This message was edited Sep 24, 2008 8:58 PM

"Ike's Angel"

Sorry about all your damage Robert--that's so sad that you lost that many plants. I'm really glad to hear that you and your family and your house are all OK though, that's the most important part. I love Ike's Angel--very appropriate name for it and a beautiful flower too!

I too wish you all the best with your cleanup. You have really humbled me with all your pics. I was complaining to DH tonight to go get my patio plants and put them in a safer place,so they wouldn't get blown off and break. It made me relize how blessed we have been. Thanks for sharing. Wish we were there to help.
Lynda

Ike's Angel is very special - for many reasons.

The picture of your daughter's room made me smile. Every year, as soon as hurricane season starts, DH goes around the house taking hundreds of pictures which he downloads to a disc in case we need it for insurance. He opens every drawer and closet snapping everything. This year it was a rainy day and I had some laundry (mostly my undies) hanging on every hook and doorknob to dry. I can't wait for the season to end so I can toss that disc - very far. LOL

Here are some of my pictures. I stayed through this and I will never ever do it again even if I must beg for gas. It was so very scary especially when electric went out along with the street lights. Then as I called a friend in Maryland after I heard the roof creaking. I ask him to put on the TV and see what was happening. I told him the wind was so bad it sounded like a train. I did not realize for days what I had said and he told me when I realized I actually heard the tornado that cause pine tree tops to break that he knew when I said it but thought I was scared enough. He was glad I did not realize what I was hearing. Here are some of my devastation.

That is my hoop/greenhouse smashed in one whole side. can't get to it yet to see what I lost.

This picture from the other side. What a mess.

You can see to the right side of it the large branches down. I can not get through until I cut those limbs up. Yes i know I am not suppose to but no one has even offered from my neighborhood and they know I am disabled. I will do it but a little at a time.

The pine tree top between the tree and my house I was very blessed as that is my bedroom. It did land on my azleala bed and looks like one made it. They were big and had been there around 7 years.

my driveway

my neighbors home.

My beautiful 17 yr old pomegranate I planted. It is layint over and it is so tightly dhovef into the ground can't det it to stand up without digging alot of dirt away. I also have 2 Christmas sennas overflat on the ground. One Dennis saved after Rita but it is big and I am not as strong as he was. I love my plamts so much. 2 times in 3 years I have lost so much.

I found this right where it is and ask the same question. "why" but it is an ast of nature at one of it's most fierce times.

I am so sorry to hear about all the destruction you both had.Wish I lived closer I'd come help with the cleanup.


:-( kyle

TY Kyle makes me want to throw in the towel. Under all of that is more I have no idea what is alive. I did try to pull some of the limb off the azealas and they look like they are gone. Got tired and came in. I rest awhile and work awhile. It is all I can do.

A lot of years of work down the drain again. But I would lose my total sanity without my flowers. I will take my time (will have to) building it back up. If nothing else between Rita and now I got to learn patience or die trying to learn it. :o)

Here's a few for you--all these houses are on my street (mine is one of them--you get to guess which and is the oldest at 15 years)

house on my corner

these were all taken yesterday morning for my weekly Houston Free Press column--I'm not using any of these in my column but got lots left over--and they only cover my block--all of these tarps are covering roofs stripped to the plywood, and they lost interiors too from the leaking

we were on the clean side but had tornado activity according to the Harris county sheriff's and the 4 AllState adjusters that came this week--no one with any other company has even had adjusters out yet

a variety of ways to make temporary roof covers--he got the last of the combined tar paper we all had as a group--we all worked together to tarp roofs and put up all these fences temporarily--they were all down too

the front of my friend Joel's house

and the back of his house

the house with the blue tarp here to the right is my super next door neighbors roof--they had the delight of waking up the next morning to their bedroom roof collapsing on them

brand new fences done in July with 2' sunk concrete posts dropped like a house of cards--a full half mile of it

and last but not least--are they ever coming to pick up all this wet carpet? these are my 2 next door neighbors houses

Oh my gosh, all of your pictures are so terrible - I can't even imagine going through this!!!! What is really important though is that you and your families were spared. Robert, I'm so sad about your greenhouses and all your plants :-( And Sandy, what a struggle it must be for you to clean up being disabled....

People are always afraid of California earthquakes. I'm just grateful we don't have hurricanes and tornadoes - I think you all must have much more stamina than I!!!!!

Take care of yourself and your families, there is nothing more important than that.

karen

I think everywhere has the potential for some sort of natural calamity--be it earthquake, tornado, hurricane, blizzard, flood, tsunami from earthquake, horde of locusts, pandemic, you name it--so you may as well live where you want to.

=)
after all, Maine is supposed to have the next tropical uproar.....

Video I took and posted on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaRgvVGK93k

Our house is on the end there (our silver Camry and Jeremy and Tracie's gray Dodge truck) of the first strip of homes in the film. The scene where water is coming up over the road is on Hwy 35 in front of the western wear store there. The power lines in front of that place were all shredded and hanging open in the water. The one with the tan strip center actually has a billboard laying in it's parking lot that fell and blew from nearby. Shortly after that there is a shot of the railroad bridge in front of Wal-Mart on Hwy 35. The road actually dips down far there, but was impassible due to the standing water. We were blessed and faired pretty well.

The photo attached here is of an antiques store that was basically gutted by Ike. It's right by my house.

Closeup of the antique store roof

While trying to take a before photo of the front of my house as the winds were whipping up and we were about 1 1/2 hours from 80+ mph winds, my camera caught this leaf in motion as it was being blown in front of my lense. (Wish my palm trees still looked like that, although those 4 hibiscus in the front look untouched!)

What the power lines on my street USE to look like! (Hours before Ike)

Tough-looking clouds were moving FAST. You could actually see the somewhat circular pattern they were making.