This one is for Texas --IKE

[Bird]

Power is back on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPY

Almost exactly four days without electricity really sucked. I'm making microwave popcorn, watching tv with the volume up and turning on the ceiling fan AND the AC!!!! In an hour or two, I'm even going to take a shower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie

I can well imagine how you feel. I told my wife I guess we should have a generator for emergencies, but so far we've been lucky. I think 8 hours is the longest our power has been off. Four days would be terrible.

 

[JazzDad]

Glad to hear you are going to take that shower. Most of us could tell you REALLY needed it.

 

[tallyho8]

To many people, just seeing the gigantic property loss is amazing but when your town gets wiped out by a hurricane there is so much more lost than many people realize.

Even if you are one of the very lucky ones as I was, who did not suffer enormous property loss and was able to repair and remain, your whole life is suddenly changed.

First you notice that all your friends and relatives have moved out of town or out of state. All your favorite restaurants, stores, lounges, bowling alleys, are suddenly gone. Your doctors gone, your dentist is gone, even your hospital is gone and you don't know what happened to your barber. You're just left to wonder what happened to your plumber, your electrician, that cute waitress at the truck stop, your tv repairman. They're all gone.

Yes, as long as you still have life, you can start over but it will never be the same and all you have left to cling to are memories......

 

[jinman]

Power is back on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPY

. . . In an hour or two, I'm even going to take a shower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie

Dang! Eddie, maybe Steph and the kids will come home if you do that.

Great news! Are you gonna add "Fix the flaky generator" to your list of things to do this year? Like Bird, I've been thinking of a generator. In the winter is our worst time for losing power. It happens every winter here and normally runs 4 to 6 hours of power loss. I'm always worried about the plumbing freezing up when that happens. A generator's cost would look cheap if we had to replace frozen plumbing.

 

[jinman]

First you notice that all your friends and relatives have moved out of town or out of state. All your favorite restaurants, stores, lounges, bowling alleys, are suddenly gone. Your doctors gone, your dentist is gone, even your hospital is gone and you don't know what happened to your barber. You're just left to wonder what happened to your plumber, your electrician, that cute waitress at the truck stop, your tv repairman. They're all gone.

Dudley, my new barber is from New Orleans. Who knows, he may be the one you lost.

 

[EddieWalker]

Well the funny thing about the generator is that it's a very expensive Onan with a Kubota Diesel engine. It's really supposed to be a good one and we were all suprised when it stoped working.

Did I mention that it's on my parents RV? We went throught the warning codes, checked the oil, changed the oil and fuel filter without any improvement. It kept going back to overheating. New thermostat didn't help. Water pump came off and it looks great. Radiator came off and we spent $65 to have the guy at the shop pull it apart to check it out. It's fine. The mechanic at Kubota thinks it might be a bad sensor. One of the readings that it's getting is that there is no tempature change in the first five minutes of running. It ran for hours and hours the first day, but then it would only go for an hour or two before dying. Now it will start, then die in five minutes. We can't get the sensor off, and in fact broke it off with a ten inch pipe wrench.

My $500 Coleman Generator with the B&S engine works fine. It's not as powerful and we had to be careful on how many things we plugged into it, but it got us through this. Of course it's LOUD, uses 5 gallons of gasoline a day and needs to have the oil changed every day.

I can see where this can happen again and we won't be ready.

Eddie

 

[dmccarty]

I have seen the pictures from Bolivar. What I can't tell is if the photos represent the entire place? There was a series of photos that showed some houses, apparently built to better code that look to be in very good shape. The windows even looked intact. Compare those houses to the piles from what used to be houses.

Then there is the photo of the one standing house in the middle of a wasteland. It looks like they might have been built just high enough to escape the surge.

I did see story today that all of Galveston was flooded.

The tv station web page I read had one story about Texas and one on the Ohio valley mess. Looks like progress is being made getting power back up. I could not find any coverage in the local paper. The WSJ had a report on page 12.

When I ran from Andrew I was amazed at the outpouring of help I found in NC. They had people organizing to go help out in FLA, collecting goods that were sent south in semis, and raising lots of money. This happened for all of the storms up to Katrina. Now nothing. Maybe people are just getting numb from these things?

After Floyd hit I made two trips down east to help out. First time was to a county that one river on the north side was all but receeded while a river at the south end of the county was still up. The destruction was unreal. I only saw two houses destroyed by raging water. The rest the water just rose into and then slowly left. The houses LOOKED ok but were destroyed. Some trailers in one really nice trailer park escaped destruction by inches. One trailer would be ok while all of the ones around it had been condemed. They only way you could tell driving by was the little red condemnation signs by the door. The ones that survived were just barely above the flood waters due to a slight bump in land or and extra row of blocks.

The south side of the county still had high water that was slowly receading but most of the houses were still under water. People had NO time to escape with anything but their lives. I remember searching one house that had a car in the driveway and a TV right next to the door. They had no time to even grab the tv, get into the car and leave. I assume they got in a second car and left.

What was really bad about this town was that the people had lived there for generations. I was talking with survivors who point out their house. Then their siblings houses. House with aunts and uncles. Grandmas house. All of them had been flooded out. Not good. They did not have family to run too for shelter. Ironically one of the streets was named "Water Street". Got a photo of the water running down "Water Street".

One guy who must have been close to 80 was sitting on his porch steps. He had a small little store that was washed out. Stuff just floated away. What stuck with me was that he was selling the good hard coal in his store which was scattered all over the neighborhood. The Red Cross came through and dropped off dinner. All he had left was hard coal on the ground, the clothes on his back, shell shock, and a pasta dinner from the Red Cross.

I got togather a bunch of people and went back to that town a week or so later to help clean up. We helped clean out homes that during the first trip were still under water. We got a thank you letter from one couple we helped so I know some people were getting it back togather.

Loosing power is PITA. But its nothing compared to what other people have lost. We have been real lucky with getting power back in the past storms. We won't be so lucky where we are now. We are litterally at the end of the line and will be on of the last people to get power restored. If all we loose is power for a month I will be thankful. Seen far far far worse.

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

Dan, so far this morning, in the Dallas Morning News and the Denton Record-Chronicle (both owned by the same company), I've read about:
1) the evacuees still in a shelter at the University of North Texas colliseum and also in a shelter in Lewisville (I live between Denton and Lewisville),
2) FEMA is going to pay evacuees hotel bills for a month (Sept. 14 to Oct. 14),
3) the Texas Rangers baseball team will be serving lunch to the children at a shelter in the Dallas Convention Center,
4) the ecological impact along the Texas coast,
5) and the President, Governor, FEMA administrator's tour of the coast.

So it's still very much in the news here.

 

[texasjohn]

Very educational set of posts...

Eddie..so glad you have power again... what a PITA re the expensive generator... hope you find the problem, obviously not a simple fix considering all debugging you have done so far.

mikim...thanks for your posts giving factual info re warnings and their variable effectiveness ..good work on your part and those you work with... sorry for your personal experiences with losing all.. you are a fighter and I admire that trait... hope I never have to find out what I'd do in similar situation. But, I may, Life is sometimes inexplicably unpredictable and uncontrollable.

tallyho8..your observations about how your entire social fabric changes and results in stresses FAR outside normal is right on.... the matter of having much predictability and control of our life and surroundings, IMHO, is key to good mental health... and when lost, I suspect, creates numerous and complex mental and physical health issues. These will now begin to emerge from IKE victims.

I once lived in a country in Central America. When I first got there, I was appalled at the miserable conditions of some which led to being constantly besieged by beggars... these folks had no legs, obviously were gaunt, all sorts of physical maladies. At first, I tried to give something to each one... but as the days and weeks pass, the heart hardens and I learned how to say "NO." Not proud of it, just a fact. I think personal generosity is influenced by the hope you can make a difference... and, if it seems that generosity will make no difference/improvement in a person's quality of life, then why give?

I think that there is a "give/emergency fatigue factor" that is beginning to set in nationwide. After years of giving for emergencies..9/11, Iraq/Afghanistan war, Katrina, Rita, other hurricanes, documented squandering/incompetent stewardship of government relief funds, sacrificing for homeland security, job losses, flat/negative earnings, rising health costs etc..... people generally feel less secure personally, financially and thus are less willing to give time and $$ from their personal reserves. This is exacerbated by the stories of slothfulness, crime, "milking the system", and demanding/unappreciative responses that arose from Katrina/Rita relief and now IKE.

We are far removed from my Dad's time (he's 95) when people truly understood hard times and self sufficiency... he had one set of clothes and stayed in bed on washday until they were dry, they ate popcorn all one year because they couldn't sell it and that was the only crop that made.

I, too, have been sensing that the response to IKE is more apathetic than prior emergencies. Hopefully the long run outcome will be better.

 

[RobJ]

Power is back on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPY

Almost exactly four days without electricity really sucked. I'm making microwave popcorn, watching tv with the volume up and turning on the ceiling fan AND the AC!!!! In an hour or two, I'm even going to take a shower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie

Just catching up on some posts. Elkhart got power back sometime yesterday. I prepared the fridge up there, everything in the freezer is in a gallon baggie. It works. The freezer in the garage was leaking, vension. My check for power up there is to call the place, if I hear my voice on the recorder...power is on!!

But in Spring, TX, no power still since Friday about midnight. Settled into the BBQ cooker and dinner deal. Run the generator about 6 hours a day, 3 in the am and 3 in the pm. I was running my neighbors (out of town) Honda, 5000w. A little older unit, runs wide open, pretty loud even though it has a huge muffler. But started acting up yesterday. My neighbor was using my old Robin 3500w my dad bought in 1983. My neighbor got another one so I got this one back. I started watching the voltage and RPM's and started backing down the speed. It's a lot more quiet now and I have it running in the garage. Door open about a foot and a fan pulling air out. Problem is being older and not as "fancy", the tank is only about 1 gallon. So just a tad over 2 hours. A little cable/cord management and life is better. I'm back feeding a couple circuits so some of the lights work like normal. People freak out when they drive by at night and see my flood and garage lights on!!

I did a test last night, fridge at 11pm with the gen just turned off, 38 degrees. This morning 8 hours later, 48 degrees. The freezer is stil at freezing. I think I mentioned but the top/bottom freezer/fridges keep the cold better than the side by side. We have both. I'm running 2 fridges, 3-4 lights, computer, DSL, TV, DVR (Dish Network), and phone chargers. So far so good.

 

[RobJ]

OK some generic Ike pictures...

First couple house pics and the last couple are my house. You can see the cleanup is mostly done and waiting for the county to pick up the debris.

Rob

Starting day 5 with no power.

Rob

 

[Bird]

I know some expect government help and some don't. Some are happy with the help they get and some are not. But let's don't forget that politics is a prohibited topic on Tractorbynet.

 

[froggy]

huh?? msg too short? ///ok---ooops meant to add this -- pics of interest
Hurricane Ike - Coastal Change Hazards: Hurricanes and Extreme Storms

Thanks for the link.

 

[RobJ]

Thanks for the link.

Those pictures say it all. My parents sold there house on boliver about 3 years ago. I wonder if it's still there. It was one of the higher ones but also had a large face. They were 6 miles off the ferry.

 

[RobJ]

I know some expect government help and some don't. Some are happy with the help they get and some are not. But let's don't forget that politics is a prohibited topic on Tractorbynet.

I don't see this as politics, as in red/blue, but they are saying not that if I buy a chainsaw to cut up some trees FEMA will give me some money back or a tax credit or something. Doesn't make sense to a working person like me. But I'm sure somebody will go out and buy a NEW chainsaw just because. Maybe I can buy a new tractor with a FEL(back on topic ) so I can clean up and get some FEMA money!!

Until you live and see this stuff first hand, you really have no clue. This includes me of course.

 

[dmccarty]

Rob,

Is that you house with the tree hits? We go lucky in Fran and Floyd that very few trees came down in our subdivision. One did but went between houses. Other places were hit real hard. I had two limbs that fell and hit the side of the house. A couple of feet in either direction they would have gone through a window. Very lucky.

Our neighbor eventually had ALL of his big pines removed. We both worried greatly about those trees hitting the house. If they did they would have gone down to the slab...

These disasters bring out the best and worse in people.

When we went back to help with Floyd clean up. The Babtist's had youth groups doing grunt work cleaning out houses which is what we did. The older Babtist men with contractor skills where helping rebuild the houses. The women were back at this large church preparing food. The Babtists had a large trailer that had kitchen and bath facilities. They were ready to help. The first trip down there a group of Menonites had come to town. The men were out working while the women were organizing supplies. When I returned the Menonites were still there working. They were working out of a building where we were to meet up with the contact I had from the town government. While we waited for the contact to show up those women put us to work!

Which was fine since that is what we came to do.

Eventually we went to clean up a house. This house was under water when I was down there on the first trip. We could not cross the bridge to even get near the area.

The house we cleaned out was owned by a young single man. Some people in the neighborhood had made good progress clean out the house which is the first step to recover. At one point the owner and I were taking a break talking about the flood. He had just bought a brand new couch. It had swelled up so we had to break it apart with an axe to get it out of the house. Not pleasant for him to watch. While we were talking I looked up and noticed his roof. It was in very good shape. Wind had not been the problem it was the flooded creek behind his house. I made a comment about the roof being in good shape and we both started laughing. It was pretty ironic.

After we finished we were going to head back and get lunch. An elderly lady stopped and asked if we could out her friends who were just down the road. They needed to have their appliances removed. I gather the team together and they said lets do it so off we went.

Well it was NOT just down the road. It was WAY down the road. Past yet another cemetery with caskets and vaults popped out of the ground. The house was an elderly couple's who with their siblings had cleaned EVERYTHING out of the house except the appliances. Long story about appliances but I'll just summarize. Dont' open them. Leave them shut. Tape them shut and leave them that way if you can. If you open 'em run like heck. The smell is unreal.

This family got my name and eventaully sent a thank you note.

After we returned and got lunch our contact was wondering were we disapeared too. We went to a third house. The first trip down the water was still up and the only way to this neighborhood as by boat. We had stopped at the water's edge and could go no further. The water was filthy. We were down stream from the sewage plant and the smell was unreal. Yet people were riding ATVs in that stuff. There was a house that was just high enough and had an airboat. Airboats are not seen alot in NC so it stood out. A Guard truck went past us to search for people. He had enough clearence to make it but it sure looks like water got into the cab. Don't really know how he managed to stay on the road.

The house we went to clean up weeks later was past the spot we had to stop at with the airboat. The elderly couple we were helping clean out at this third house were rescued by the owner of the airboat. The water had come up so far and so fast there was no way for them to leave. No warning. Their house was built up a bit high but not high enough. They said the car lights came on as the water rose. They could see the flood waters lighted up by the car lights that were underwater. Without the man in the airboat they would have died. He saved the people in the neighborhood. A dozen or so houses.

This family had hired some people to clean up. When we go there I was afraid they were looters since all we could see at first was them carrying things from the house. The funny thing is that after my first trip you realized real quick that there was nothing to loot. But a looter may not know it. The husband payed off the hired help and we finished the job. They both were very thankful that someone was there to help. She had just finished chemo. She sure did not need this stress nor the exposure to what was in the water much left the mold in the house.

At all the houses we left behind supplies like N95 masks. The masks were very hard to get in the flooded out areas. When we gave that lady a box of N95's you would have thought we gave her a box of gold.

Back in town, in my first trip there was a Piggly Wiggly that was just above the flood. A good part of this town had been wiped out. The areas that had flooded were mainly still flooded. The only food at that point was from the National Guard kitchen and the Red Cross. Not ONE window was broken in the Piggly Wiggly. No Looting at all. Lord knows these people had the need.

These disasters bring out the best and worse in people.

The level of loss is really hard to comprehend. Even when seen up close. And smelled up close.

Later,
Dan

 

[RobJ]

Good Post Dan, thanks for sharing. No our house didn't suffer any major damage, couple broken windows. One real close near miss. Couple of those pics were houses in our neighborhood. Those about as worse as it gets I suppose (with all the rain afterward).

Like you pointed out, there are those in real need of help, then the others.

 

[MossRoad]

Day four without electricity. The generator is getting kind of finicky. It's running strong for a few hours, then it dies. Everything in the fridge and freezer is still good, but if the generator gives out completely, I'm in trouble there. Steph and the kids have gone to her Mom's house where they can bath and get ready for the next day. Laundry is starting to stack up too.

I never imagined it would take this long.

Eddie

20 or so years ago we had an ice storm a bit south of here. Some places did not get power restored for 6 weeks. Start making plans for the frozen stuff. Rent a locker somewhere or give it to friends and family so it doesn't go to waste. I hope your power comes back soon. Best of luck to you.