Ike blew!

Amazing what the insulation of an interior closet will do! I slept like a baby until Carter woke me up at 3 am because he had to go to the bathroom. He went right back to sleep, but I found Damian pacing the floor looking worried. He said if any of the windows were going to blow it would be in the kids rooms, so he headed upstairs to barricade them with their mattresses. I sat in the hallway literally too scared to move, but wanting to follow my husband around like a puppy dog so he could protect me. I have never been in a storm like that, nor heard our house shake and rattle as it was pounded with sheets of rain and relentless gusts of 70-90 mph howling winds.

As the sun came up, and we realized the worst was over we were relieved to find that we were still standing with no major damage! As soon as the rain let up, we were anxious to get out and see how the rest of the neighborhood fared. To sum it up, we were so lucky! Several trees around our neighborhood snapped like toothpicks, although some of our nearby neighbors weren’t. We saw many houses damaged, and some even with trees through them. Even 70 miles from the coast, hurricane Ike left major damage in his path.

The power went out last night about 11 pm, and we along with 4 million other Houstonians are still in the dark. According to our battery powered radio, it could be up to a month to restore power to everyone. We are also being told that all water needs to be boiled because of a sewer back up into the water supply. Schools in our district will remain closed for a week, along with many other businesses who incurred damage. I am so grateful we had a little warning and were prepared, but nothing can quite prepare you to brace yourself for the heat and humidity when you are used to the comfort provided by air conditioning! Things could have been a LOT worse, so we will take a little sweat. We, along with all of Houston, are glad that Ike took a hike! So sorry to all those in the northeast who are now suffering his wrath.