Yikes!!! Here comes Ike!!!

[FianceeUvBigGuy (imported)]

Yoli here,

God has spared the San Antonio area, as He has the lower Texiz coast, the Rio Grande Valley (and my dumbass cuzzin), and Norther Messico.

However...I fear great devastation and death in the Galveston area. One emergency management source told all and sundry "Flee or you WILL die." WOW!

Ike will likely be a Cat 3 when he hits full-force, with winds well over 100 MPH and a storm surge that will inundate the area for considerable distance inland.

At least Ash(leigh) and I were able to secure from battle stations...Take the booze out of the cellar, put the guns away, and make arrangements for BG's flats-fishing boat to be trailered back to the Rockport area. The big boat, however, since it was skippered UP the coast in anticipation of Ike clobbering the Rockport/Port Aransas/Corpus area, is at risk, as are the skipper, his wife, kids, and pets on board. He messaged that he sensed the change in Ike's track and, having topped off the tanks, continued his voyage so as to pass the eastern boundary of the storm before things got too wild. He'll berth her in Louisiana, wait it out, then set a course back to Rockport.

I really wish I was on board that boat, thundering over the waves under glowering hostile skies, up on the fly bridge, shivering in the spray and sipping from a huge mug of kawfee (with Kahlua!). There's a CD player on the fly bridge and I'd have "Ride Of The Valkyries" on repeat

God, how I love that boat! With a Yo-Ho-Ho and a Dramamine, I'm Yoli, the Crazy Pirate Queen!

BG has expressed a wish that, as the boat makes it's way back to Rockport, the skipper contact emergency management types and ask if he can be of assistance in areas that cannot be reached by road. We are going to relay that to the skipper. Even with five people already on board, plus pets, there's room to take a few stranded survivors (if there ARE any) on board.

Ash(leigh) has just reminded me that the boat is 56' long so it can accommodate another 15 souls if it must, at least long enough to get them to dry land elsewhere or transfer them to a larger boat.

Luv to all.

Yoli

Thanks again, God.

[moi621 (imported)]

I love storm. I wish I could have

felt this one first hand. In comfort of course.

I also like walking by the ocean on the beach in the rain.

Experiencing nature in all her fickle glory.

[ramses (imported)]

Traveling to Beaumont, TX right now. I am jsut south of Lufkin and just saw a huge pine tree that cut the Pine Forest Baptist Church in half (ironic). I still have a verizon signal for phone and computer but dont expect it for much longer. I just commited to a 1000 person camp in Texas City which is across the bay from Galveston.

Electricity is out all the way up to Jacksonville, TX which is only 2o miles southe of Tyler! I've NEVER seen this kind of outage this far inland. The stores that have generator power have gas lines that are INSANE. I topped of in time to avoid lines and have a stockpile in Beaumont where im headed.

I'll update later when I get a chance. I'll also take lots of pictures that I can share with interested folks.

[JesusA (imported)]

I finally managed to get word on the (distant) relatives in Terrebonne Parish. Somehow, I would never name a location like that “Good Land!!!” They’re in Dulac, Lousiana and the tidal surge was impressive. The closest family had a surge of seven feet at their house, which, fortunately is now, post-Katrina, nine feet off the ground. A more distant relative had the roof ripped off his house, followed by 10 inches of rain, soaking everything inside.

No one in the family was injured, but a lot of property was lost or destroyed.

And, they all worry about even visiting California and can’t understand how I can put up with earthquakes….

[ramses (imported)]

At least you can see a hurrican on a satelite, days away. We usually get 5-10 minutes warning on tornadoes too. No warning on earthquakes...

[tugon (imported)]

Besides prayers for all and relief many are safe I was shown how powerful that storm is. In Ohio we have had 75 mph winds attributed to the hurricane. As I was returning from Columbus trees were being uprooted and blocking parts of the roads. At one point we had to take turns passing through a narrow area of road since the rest was blocked by felled trees. Roofing shingles were blowing off and landing on cars only to be blown away by another gust. Trees were being stripped of their leaves and reducing visibility. We have been losing power off and on since the winds began. I still have only seen a small portion of the storm. Much worry and prayers to all who have to deal with hurricanes.

[Blaise (imported)]

Besides prayers for all and relief many are safe I was shown how powerful that storm is. In Ohio we have had 75 mph winds attributed to the hurricane. As I was returning from Columbus trees were being uprooted and blocking parts of the roads. At one point we had to take turns passing through a narrow area of road since the rest was blocked by felled trees. Roofing shingles were blowing off and landing on cars only to be blown away by another gust. Trees were being stripped of their leaves and reducing visibility. We have been losing power off and on since the winds began. I still have only seen a small portion of the storm. Much worry and prayers to all who have to deal with hurricanes.

Gasp, we had winds like that here! Ike is amazing.

[ramses (imported)]

In Beaumont, TX now and sleeping in my office tonight since we have generator power and AC. I'll be busy in the next few days lining up my vendors to set up some massive tent cities. One tent city will have over, 1000 occupants and we'll be feeding them 3 meals a day.

The large one That I'll manage will be in Texas City which borders Galveston. It seems that cell phone service is getting better so I should have an internet connection through all this. It's amazing how much all this stuff cost. I think I ordered about $500,000 worth of stuff just today!

Will stay in touch, Ramses.

[Blaise (imported)]

In Beaumont, TX now and sleeping in my office tonight since we have generator power and AC. I'll be busy in the next few days lining up my vendors to set up some massive tent cities. One tent city will have over, 1000 occupants and we'll be feeding them 3 meals a day.

The large one That I'll manage will be in Texas City which borders Galveston. It seems that cell phone service is getting better so I should have an internet connection through all this. It's amazing how much all this stuff cost. I think I ordered about $500,000 worth of stuff just today!

Will stay in touch, Ramses.

That amazes me. The scales fascinate me.

[moi621 (imported)]

Out Californee way Ike had not effect.

Could have used the rain. Ours is on and off. Off now.

Anyone getting drought relief from Ike ?.

Sorry Y'all are suffering so.

California gets the big news when 8 homes

slide down a water logged hill - Laguna Beach.

But, our disasters are very local affairs.

No hurricanes, No tornadoes, floods mainly in

the desert where they can have flash floods,

unfortunately neighborhoods have been built there.

Earthquakes are really confined to a small radius of

damage. Most happen in no where land.

Good luck to those suffering from Ike, the storm.