Wow it's pretty amazing what nature can do. At this time last week I was preparing to "shelter in place" as Ike bore down on Houston. The morning was sunny and beautiful, but as the day progressed the skies darkened and the wind began to pick up. I had gotten all the suggested supplies, batteries, bottled water, canned goods that didn't need to be heated to be eaten, books to read, matches, candles, and so on. As the evening progressed the winds picked up. I chatted online with my friend Charles and we commented on the wind and the reports about the storm surge flooding to our south. At around 12:45 I heard a loud BOOM!!!! A transformer had blown and I was plunged into darkness. I started text messaging Charles to continue our conversation. Suddenly I heard sirens, and not long after found out the historical restaurant Brennan's just 6 blocks away was in flames. It burned to the ground in 20 minutes, a great loss to Houston.
I finally went to sleep around 2am and slept through the worst of the storm. My apartment's walls are incredibly thick so I didn't hear anything. I awoke to a dark day with fits of rain and wind. I peeked outside to see the building was still standing with minimal damage, but a tree was in our parking lot. Luckily no one had cars parked under it.
Saturday night Charles, Nancy, and Rich came over and we pooled our frozen and refrigerated items together for a strange potluck. I grilled chicken and we sat outside on my patio in candlelight. On Sunday, I spent most of the day outside reading. Without power, my apartment is dark even during the day! Sunday night we all gathered at Nancy's she didn't have power but her gas stove and oven was working so we had another hot meal. Monday I got power back! We opened YA briefly and fed hungry kids sandwiches and bottles of water. The power at YA probably won't be back on until late September. We are in a commercial area and no residences are on our grid so we are low on the totem pole for it to be turned on.
I am now on the hunt for internet, I won't have mine restored for a few days at least, a small sports bar, Jakes Philly Steaks has a great connection and no one really knows about it. The owners are really nice and welcoming. I can see myself hanging out here a lot.
I am posting a couple of photos one is of the tree in my parking lot and the other is a shot of one of the buildings downtown that was heavily damaged.
