"Hurricane Ike! A storm the size of Texas." A phrase to cause fear to all those who hear it. For a week we have heard that Ike was coming, but we didn't know where it was going to make land fall. Mandatory evacuation orders went out to all coastal towns between Louisiana and Corpus Christi. The National Weather Service actually sent out an announcement stating to "Evacuate or face certain death!" No joke, they really said that!!!
Ike made landfall the middle of the night on September 12th just south of Galveston Island. It was projected to run right over Houston on its way up to Dallas. This storm was so big and so intense that it was still to be a strong Tropical Storm/weak Category 1 as it made it's way through North Texas (where we live).
My parents, who live in southwest Houston, started seeing the effects of Ike much earlier in the day. This picture was taken at sunset from my parent's house. Pretty picture, unless you realize that the cloud bands in the sky are a precursor to a hurricane with sustained winds of 110 m.p.h. (Winds of 111 m.p.h. are considered Category 3!)
Galveston, amongst many other towns along the coast, was pretty hard hit. The storm surge was estimated to be at least 20 feet high. The sea wall that surrounds parts of Galveston Island is only 17 feet. All other areas not protected by the sea wall were flooded as soon as the storm surge made landfall. Yes, that is an actual idiot, I mean, person watching the waves crash into the sea wall. There were many who chose not to evacuate. There aren't exact numbers yet as to how many casualties Ike left in its wake, but I sure hope people think twice next time.
I feel that Texas did a really good job of getting people who were in the most danger out well before Ike reared its ugly head. Texas issued a manditory evacuation for all coastal towns two to three days before Ike was to make landfall, but told towns more inland to stay put and hunker down. This cut down on the number of people trying to get out of dodge. Emergency shelters were up and running well in advance of the hurricane as well. News reports began on Thursday about several such places in Dallas and Fort Worth that were up, ready and waiting for the first of the evacuees to arrive.
Ike was still a very well organized storm as it made its way towards Dallas. It was originally projected to come straight through DFW, but vered off to the east. Where we are, in Lewisville, we got a really cloudy, overcast day with drizzle to light rain, and some wind. Nothing like we were expecting, thankfully.
My parents were fortunate in the fact that they too are safe with only minimal damage to their fence and an 8ft tree fell over. Unfortunately they are one of the millions without power. They decided to make their way up to my sister's in Austin to wait out the power outage and the lack of a/c. They may have come to Dallas except that some of the roads and freeways between them and I-45 (the main route to Dallas) were flooded and could not be passed.We are very greatful that this storm has come and gone leaving our family safe and sound.
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