I Survived Ike

These past few days have really brought a new meaning to "Surviving Houston & Dental School." Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston on September 13 at 2:10am as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph (a high-end Category 2). I live in central Houston a little west of downtown. We lost power at about 1:00am and we lost water a little bit after that. The storm was in full-force here about 3:00ish. I peeked out of my window a few times just to look and it was like nothing I have ever seen. The best I can describe, it was like in the movies where a ship is on the ocean and the rain is blowing every way and there is absolutely no visibility. The trees that I could see were completely blowing sideways and the wind didn't let up for a second. I kept hearing sounds of things falling over and being blown around. Everyone has been asking me if I was scared and, honestly, I wasn't. I love storms and this one was just too cool. I know that it was dangerous, but I still thought it was one of the best storms I have ever seen. The aftermath was not so cool though.

The next day after the hurricane, people were already walking around looking at the damage. The pictures I took were directly after the storm. I was without power until about 3:45pm today (I got water back Saturday) so I haven't been able to look at all of the pictures from everywhere else around Houston. From what my mom has been telling me, some of the tall buildings downtown are in pretty bad shape. I drove around a little bit today to go find a restaurant with hot food and cold drinks and the biggest thing I saw was a lot of trees and debris on the ground. Of course there were a lot of buildings with wind damage and signs and traffic lights were torn up, but I think Houston will be able to recover.

The hardest thing about living in Houston with no power was, of course, the humidity. I took a shower Friday night before the storm, but by mid-day Saturday, I was already so sticky and so uncomfortable. I will never take electricity for granted again. I had to throw away everything in my refrigerator and I had to sit in my car for about an hour just to charge my cell phone and cool off. I've been living off of tuna, chips, crackers, and granola bars for 3 days, but I was able to treat myself to a steak at Saltgrass today. I felt like I deserved it! :) It will still be "Pringles and Milky Ways" for a few days until I can go get some groceries, but the worst is over. At least I can heat up a can of soup now.

I want to thank all of you who called or messaged to check on me. It made me feel better to know that I was in your prayers. It really means a lot to me to know that you care! :) Maybe when the next hurricane comes around, I'll be an evacuee. Until then, I'll be enjoying the luxuries of electricity and water!