Images from Ike

It has been quite scary to watch the story of Hurricane Ike unfold, especially with so many people that I know and love possibly being affected. Ike made landfall early this morning, with its center over Galveston. From what I've read, it appears that Houston and Galveston got most of the damage. My hometown has so far been virtually untouched by this massive storm, which is shocking. I am so happy that my family is out of harm's way, but my heart goes out to those in the Houston and Galveston areas.

Here are some pictures of the devastation, all from the Houston Chronicle.

Galveston:







Houston:

Still not liking Ike.

I didn't update on Hurricane Ike yesterday, so here's the latest.

The hurricane's path has turned slightly north towards the Houston area. My hometown is an hour and a half south of Houston. This is good news for my immediate family, but with the very unpredictable nature of hurricanes, they are far from being out of the woods.

I said in my last post that my mom had already evacuated, but I had assumed wrong. She actually hadn't at that point. Yesterday she got her whole house boarded up and then decided to stay until this morning and reassess the situation. Let's just say that I hope her reassessment has her driving to San Antonio where she'll be much farther inland. As a matter of fact, I just read on CNN that those who decide to stay and stare down the storm are doing something similar to staring into the barrel of a gun.

Yikes. Mom, are you listening?

I spoke with both my dad and my aunt on Wednesday and figured out that my dad will be safe and taken care of through this. Good - one parent down, one to go.

Ike is expected to make landfall late tonight or early tomorrow and be at least a category 3 hurricane. You can bet money on the fact that I will be sleeping fitfully or not at all.

As always, thanks so much for your comments, thoughts, and prayers.

(image from here)

I do not like Ike.

I just found out a few minutes ago from my brother's blog that Hurricane Ike is headed straight for the Texas coast - and thus, my parents. My mom has evacuated, and I haven't been able to track down my dad yet. It's times like this when I really wish we had actual TV channels at home, so I could easily keep tabs on this damn monster.



When I was a kid, I used to think that a hurricane was a big candy cane floating around the sky. Unfortunately, life is not like Candyland. Hurricanes are pretty awful to live through. Back in 2003, Hurricane Claudette wreaked havoc on my hometown. I had moved away by that point but came to visit the next month. I took a lot of pictures of the damage - which reminds me, where's that damn scanner I've been wanting for years now?

The point is, Hurricane Claudette was only a Category 1 storm, and it did a shitload of damage. Ike is already a Category 2 storm and is projected to become at least a Category 4. The very famous Hurricane Katrina was a Category 3.

Yeah, I'm freaking out.

Fire, Fire Everywhere!

This is a satellite image of the fires burning in Southern California right now. It's pretty scary and sad to think of all those affected. I have been affected indirectly, as there is a fire burning near my school. Classes for the entire week have been cancelled. Naturally, I'm thrilled - but at what cost?

Here's hoping that everyone out there stays safe and out of the line of fire. (No pun intended.) I hate that these things happen. I can't imagine losing everything I own or having to pick what belongings to pack. This is all so very sad.