I just wanted to post a little update for those of you who have been wondering. Hubby and the babies and I are all ok! Our town WAS on the map for quite a while and there was going to be a mandatory evacuation here where we live, however...at the last minute, Ike decided to turn and go the other way. So, we had a "recommended voluntary evacuation". We had a hotel booked, but we decided to cancel. This town was like a ghost town though. 99% of the stores were closed, schools were let out (Thursday and Friday) and no one was at work....ALOT of people had already left town/evacuated. We went and bought tons of bottled water, gallons of water, ice, canned goods, batteries, filled our cars to the brim with gas, etc., etc. and had our entire house boarded up - we were all packed and ready to go and at the last minute, Ike made a turn for Galveston/Houston. I am SO glad/greatful that we didn't get hit with such an AWFUL and DESTRUCTIVE storm (I have been in the middle of a hurricane before and they ARE NOT fun) - but I feel SO incredibly bad for those in Houston, Galveston and the surrounding areas.
I was born in Houston and I am there ALOT. I have family there as well as in Conroe and Clear Lake - all were hit. All (family) are without power and some family did leave - other members of my family were too late and stayed and they are ALL without power. Luckily, some have generators. We have a ton of people down here from Houston, Galveston, etc....all the hotels here are packed and all you see everywhere is people letting their dogs out on a leash to go to potty. There are evacuee buses everywhere. The grocery stores here are sold out of SO MUCH stuff because they get alot of their deliveries from Houston and no one can get down here to make those deliveries. And, for over a month now we have had plans to go to Houston on the first weekend in October (the 4th) and now we are unsure if we will be able to go.
We do have some damage here though. One side of our fence fell down as we did get some of Ike's winds. My mom also lost a big part of one of her trees in her front yard. The lines here for plywood were just insane. Thankfully, my hubby got some ahead of time, but my aunt and I stood in line, literally, for over 2 hours waiting to pay for her plywood, then another hour in the pickup line outside waiting for the guys to load it in the back of the truck. The stores were selling bottled water left and right - there wasn't one person you passed that DIDN'T have water in their baskets. Shelves were almost totally cleared of all canned goods. People were really terrified of this horrible storm, and with good reason.
I ask that you all take a moment and pray for everyone who was hit by this incredible hurricane. It is going to take quite some time for people to recover. Some people lost everything....everything they had to their name - gone.
We are truly blessed here that we didn't get hit by this storm...however I feel so terrible for the ones that did. We aren't far AT ALL from Houston....and we were SO close to getting hit....for a few days they said that we were going to get a DIRECT hit....that thing was headed straight for us....and then it turned....how lucky are we....but then again, how UNLUCKY are the ones that took the blow
It just breaks my heart..this was so so scary...
These are just a few of the pictures that I snapped with my cell phone below. The long lines show the wait that you had for plywood...just insane. The other pics are of stores here that were boarded up and the part of my moms tree that she lost (trust me, it's much bigger than it looks in the picture).
Everyone please pray for those that lost everything....and for all of us here in Texas that were affected by Hurricane Ike
P.S. - for those that tried to PM me, I am sorry but my Inbox was full. I will read all PM's ASAP and respond ASAP....for those that didn't get through to me, try again either tonight or tomorrow, hopefully I will have my inbox cleared out by then. Thanks
