Ike and I

I weather the storm just fine. It was quite a scary night, I must say. I woke up to the sound of things flying through the air hitting the roof of my friend's house, clutching my pillow for fear that something was going to be flying through the window any second. I re-located to another room quickly where the brick wall surrounding the house was more protective. There would be no more sleep for me Friday night. When the sun started to show through we ventured out to find this:


We discovered that we would need a canoe to get anywhere beyond the end of the driveway:


I finally got to my house on Sunday morning to find my house virtually unscathed. My palm trees were lying on their side, and all sorts of tree limbs and leaves were littering my front yard:


I faired much better than my neighbor:


Luckily these trees fell in the front yard and not on his house or my garage.

Here is the most severe damage I suffered:



I have nothing to complain about. I've been staying at a friend's loft, who has air and internet, it has been heaven. I show up to work looking like a rock star, while everyone else rolls in with hair out of control and wrinkled clothes. Even the beautiful people and attorneys look a mess. No one has power, even the wealthiest of the wealthy. Power lines are down all over the city and there seems to be no return in sight. They are predicting 2 to 4 weeks before Houston is back up and running. Windows all over downtown are blown out. In our office space alone we lost 129 windows. Lines for the gas stations are a mile long in areas that actually have power. There are no stop lights anywhere- everything is a 4-way stop. I was asked earlier today if I regret not leaving. I don't. I've enjoyed this little adventure. People are actually out on their front porches having their evening beer, grilling out and visiting with each other. Neighbors are out helping others in any way that they can. It reminds me of Bonne Terre a bit, the friendliness.