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Joined: Oct 2006
esnap,
You have no email listed, but noticed on the economy thread that you are in Houston. So are we. How did Ike treat you? Do you have power yet? We do not... two weeks later!!!
Email us through PW if you'd like to get together for pau hana sometime.
Aloha,
Lara and Tim
Posts: 255
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I didnt post in the Economy thread but....
Born and Raised in Clear lake Shores right next to Kemah. My Family has owned the same house on Clear Lake since the early 1960's. My brother arrived here on the Big Island on Wednesday Sept 10th to start his 10 day vacation. On Wednesday Night when the computer models all started putting Galveston in Ike's cross hairs we started to shift from Vacation mode to being totally devastated by Saturday as the first images started to make their way to the internet and KHOU.com. It was really hard to watch my brother react to the images we saw on the internet and TV. Our family home had been flooded 2 times previously by floods in 1979 and then during hurricane Alicia. Ike brought flooding that was by far the worst we have ever seen. My brother left last Friday to go back to Houston and has been working around the clock gutting the first floor of the house. We put tile through the entire 1st floor a few year ago so at least were not dealing with rotten carpets again... Hope FEMA comes through with debris removal as the trash is
already piled 3-6 feet on both sides of our street.
The pictures in the link below are some of the pictures we've collected from the internet and from friends who were nice enough to take some for us during and after the storm.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigislandhome/Ike#
God Bless Texas [B)]
Posts: 40
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Joined: Oct 2006
God Bless Texas, indeed, Big Island!
So sorry to hear about y'all's house. Last weekend, we gutted the first floor of our place down in Jamaica Beach. I was so grateful that the house was still standing that we made short work of the gutting, but it is heart-wrenching, none the less. It will be a good, long while til things are "normal" here again. Know what you mean about those debris piles... It's so crazy that even here in the "big city" our debris pile is about 8 feet high across the front of our house (downtown, in the Heights), down the street and practically all the way out to Katy!
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise for your brother to not have been here for the storm and the initial aftermath. I know he has a lot to deal with, but seeing as he's a Texan, he'll be fine, just fine. If he needs anything, do not hesitate to email us and we will do what we can.
Weird coincidence, this same 2-week period last year, we were happily camping on our land there in Puna. I guess, we're "camping" on our land in Houston now... Strange.
Thanks for sharing your pics, I'll post some, too, when I can.
aloha
Posts: 4,533
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Thanks for those pics!
I am so sorry your brother is having to dig his way out. Smart move on the tile!!!! Is there anything us PW'ers can offer in the way of help?
Mr. Dumond and I owned a house in Galveston many years ago which we sold in the early 90's. Just from a building stand point, it is good for me to see which houses withstood the devastation and tell why as well as I can from your pics.
My wife, son and I spent a few days with some friends in Lake way (suburb of Austin)
We returned home Tuesday after we had word that our business in Friendswood, Tx had power and was fine. (we figured we could stay there if we had no power at home) Our home was fine, we just lost a fence and a window, but oddly enough had no water get in our home. We totally lucked out and had a cold front blow in right after the storm so it was comfortable and we had low humidity for a few days after the storm. We slept at home very comfortably.
we got power back about 6 pm on Wed. It is more typical to have long hot, mosquito filled days after a hurricane. Many folks are now dealing with mosquitoes and no AC.
We were so lucky, several of our friends either lost everything or were flooded badly.
Since we are moving to Puna as soon as we can sell our home and business we hope selling our home fully furnished with washer, dryer, fridge, mower, weed eater, etc will be a help to a family that needs a home and every thing else.
Things will get back to normal, but I sure petty those families that lost it all.
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My mother-n-law lives in Lakeway, I used to until... well did I mention that my mother-n-law lives there. I'm glad to hear y'all made it through with nominal loss.
Big_island and Hoale,
So sorry to hear about your loss.. I know this is a trying time. The thought of NO AC in Houston may not sound to bad to some that have never been there but geez I know that alone has to be brutal.. I hope the nights stay cool. I stayed at the St. Louis(sp) last summer, I was amazed at how Galveston had grown. I had to drive a long way to find a place to get to the flats and fish.. I think I was almost to Jamaca Beach (New looking bridge). You're all in our prayers. And yes, God bless Texas!
Blessings,
dave
"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young
Blessings,
dave
"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young
