Filed under: World Events
After a very long morning with winds blowing constantly outside our door, things have finally calmed down. We have managed to go outside to evaluate the damage. For the most part it looks pretty bad out there. There are trees blocking the road right now and high water around the 59 and Bagby area. City officials have told us that one of the main water pumps is down and so water pressure is low. Some news reports state that the Houston downtown area is flooded and there were pieces of glass falling from some buildings. I did not venture to that part of town, but here are a couple pics I snapped while outside earlier.
In case any of you are wondering how I’m posting when the power is out, I’m using WordPress for the iPhone.
Filed under: World Events
It’s finally morning over here and I think that the worst of the winds has now passed. At last check the eye was 16 miles north east of the Houston downtown area. The bayous are expected to flood over but should crest later this morning. It sounds like there’s some debris flying around outside the compex now and some trash cans were knocked over but I haven’t heard of anything major like trees cracking and falling over around here. Once the storm passed I’ll be able to venture outside and check of there was any real damage. It’s still raining cats and dogs out here which will probably continue for the next day. In the meantime we will just have to find things to keep ourselves occupied like singing old campfire songs 
Filed under: World Events
We just lost power in the complex here in Houston. Now we wait until morning….
Filed under: World Events
The latest news reports indicate that there are power outages occurring around the Galveston and Houston area now. Some the outages are occurring in the Sugarland and River Oaks area which is relatively close to where we are right now. I don’t know how much longer we will have power around here but Centerpoint Energy has made a statement indicating that it might take several weeks to restore power to the area which could paralize the Texas economy for weeks. The rain around here has been on and off throughout the day but the winds are definitely picking up.
I have been listening to the KHOU News reports and I am quite amazed with some of the advice given to citizens in shelters. Some of citizens sheltering in the San Luis resort in Galveston have been asked to write their social security numbers on their arms for identification purposes. There are also some people out there that don’t realize how dangerous flying debis can be. Some video played on the webcasts show people out in the beach trying to take photos. Wind gusts in this area have peaked at around 50 MPH now and they are expected to get stronger overnight.
Filed under: World Events
It looks like the winds are starting to pick up around here. This is really the calm before the storm hits. Most of the roads outside are pretty clear and it looks like there are a couple of 24-hour pharmacies still open. Katz’s for those who know of it is still open and it looks like the Chinatown area is still pretty active with people heading into shops to get last minute supplies. There are some pretty funny “hurricane party” commercials playing on the radio. They state that they are offering “Hurricanes” at a discounted price. Good luck to anyone who is crazy enough to drive through hurricane force winds to a club to party when the real hurricane is on the other side of the wall. Personally, no thanks.
Fifty miles away in Galveston, the story is quite a bit different. There are reports that the storm surge has flooded part of the island already and fortunately most citizens heeded the evacuation order and have left to public evacuation centers outside of the Galveston and Houston city limits. Many of the roads are now covered with several feet of water and so helicopters are being used to ferry rescuers in and out.
The eye of the storm is expected to pass around the Houston metropolitan area between 1-3am on Saturday but weather conditions will start to deteriorate long before that. My family is fortunate enough to not be in the evacuation zone and city officials have asked us to stay put. Thank you to everyone who has sent emails and SMS messages asking if we need a place to stay. Right now we’re bundled down, but if things change I’ll be calling someone while on the road.
Posted on September 13th, 2008 by Andy Yiu
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