From Kathy Kilmer –

 

As everyone knows, parts of Texas were blasted by hurricane Ike last weekend.  I have sent emails to classmates in the Houston/Galveston area, asking them to “check in” to let us know about their experience with the storm.  If anyone hears from Danny Bartley, who lives in Galveston, please let us know.  

 

Jacksonville, where I live, is almost 240 miles from Galveston, and we normally receive only what’s left of former hurricanes once they are downgraded to tropical storms or tropical depressions.  Not this time.  Ike was a “category I inland hurricane” when he arrived…….and I now know there is a huge difference in a hurricane that’s barely still a hurricane and a tropical storm.  What lingers in my mind is the sound of the wind – “relentless, howling” wind as I’ve always heard it described - 6 hours of it, 2 hrs. which were very scary.  We were lucky – lost a couple of large trees, MANY branches down - one still on the house, missing/loose shingles, a panel off the greenhouse, etc.  Our electricity was off for only 2 days, but much of the area is still without power or water (7 days now).  Literally, with each mile driven south, the damage increases.  I can now say I’ve experienced an “inland hurricane,” and once is enough.

 

Good grief!  I just saw on TV that remnants of Ike have hit Iceland with high winds and rain, and that Norway and Sweden may be affected as well. 

 

 

 

From Charlie Taylor –

 

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

 

From Gayla Duce –

 

My fiancé (now with me in Corsicana) WAS from Galveston. Lost a beautiful home on the west end but everything is ok.  The house had enough furniture in it to make it inhabitable, but we haven't found one scrap of anything.  Just pilings in the water.  He was down near Bolivar, blocks from the beach.  His boat broke and half was in the swimming pool.  His daughters and their families live in Santa Fe, TX north of Galveston.  They suffered water and tree damage but all are safe.  We went down there every weekend in college and all of the old hangouts, bars, restaurants and his parents, aunts and grandmothers are gone. 

 

From Cynthia Cannon –

 

Fran and I stayed here (and Fran's sister and 2 nieces). I have to say it was scary, but we are fine. no house damage, no bodily injuries, no water in the house. I did lose the tops of all 5 of my big trees, which landed in the yard or on the fences, not on the house. I've already cleaned it up and had someone cut out the big limbs that were stuck in the trees. We were without power for only 3 days and thank God for this cool front making it bearable. sleeping at night is quite nice. most people sit outside under a tree or on a porch. biggest problem, other than food spoiling, is lack of ice for that . Most in this area has water, so can wash and shower.  I have Dish satellite and I think they got turned around a little and are not facing the correct degrees for a signal, so I unplugged it and can get 2 local channels with the old rabbit ears I kept in the closet. Only about 30% in Houston have power, so we feel very lucky. We're in good shape.

 

From Judy Manning Blissard –

 

We live near Rice University and had a tree and many limbs down and our power was out until Wednesday night.  The building downtown where I work suffered only minor window damage and the law firm has been up and running since Tuesday.  In the scheme of life, broken limbs and no electricity are just inconveniences.  We were very fortunate.

 

 

From Lois Dickerson Morton –

 

I live in Katy and did OK with mostly just tree and fence damage. The opening of my art show Sep. 19th at The Green House Art Gallery on W. Alabama ( www.greenhouseartgallery.com ) has been postponed because there is no electricity.  It is rescheduled for Fri. Oct. 3rd.  Hope everyone is OK. I am very grateful.

 

 

From Christine Everts Hornbuckle –

 

We came through Ike with tree damage, and shingles off our roof.  We lost power for 2 days .  We are o.k.  No air conditioning but we have fans.

 

 

From Brenda Bock Linzel –

 

we are okay...but david still doesn't have power at his office...payroll goes on.  we went to college station until the power came back on monday.  i am in insurance and our office is off and on with power.  VERY frustrating trying to help "my " people!  glad to hear from YOU as i expected you were hit.  heading to dallas tomorrow for a bar mitzvah weekend of relatives and fun.  will be back on monday to deal!  thanks for checking.....cynthia was wonderful about calling.  we live in a very heavily wooded area and were just so lucky the trees didn't hit our house.  the subdivision looks like a war zone....