I know Bestamaw,Linda and Valerie live in Texas. Are you all having to pack up ? Sure hope everyone is and will be o.k. Just thinking about you guys .

I think bestamaw has already evacuated Galveston to her daughter who lives in the northern outskirts of Houston. From what I've been hearing on the news, it sounds like Linda could get Category 1 Hurricane force winds, since it's coming in further east than what they originally thought. We'll probably get Tropical Storm force winds here...Linda is east of the I-45 corridor, while we're just east of the I-35 corridor. Now the county my mom and sister live in is under a Flash Flood watch...they're further east than my father and I are, but I don't think they'll see anything worse than what we'll get, although they might get more rain than we will.

As for preparing, there's really nothing that we can do, except to make sure we have water on hand, along with non-perishable food, and bring in anything that could blow around in the wind...I already threw some dead petunias away, and put a broom and a few other little things in the garage...I still have to put the garbage can in the garage, but that's about it.

I have prepared as much as possible. I will be working when the storm hits and will probably remain at the hospital tomorrow. They told us to bring a bag to stay until it is over. The way it looks, Ike will come over the top of us or just west of us which makes it worse since we will be on the bad side of the storm. Thanks for asking Anna.

Thanks Anna for thinking of us. This is definitely NOT going to be a pleasant evening or tomorrow. If ya'll want to see what Galveston is enduring right now BEFORE high tide, before the 14-16 storm surge, before the 10" rain, and before 105 mph winds push the breaking waves in, go to KHOU.com. There may NOT be a Galveston when this thing is over. Galveston will look like New Orleans, I'm afraid! The water is equal to the seawall, which is 15' to protect Galveston. When that surge happens - Galveston Island is expected to have 9' of water all across the Island!!! LOTS of homes/businesses are going to be lost. AND, yes, there are some STUPID people who have refused to evacuate!

There's a chance I will have water in my home - - - if I have a home! Just not sure yet!

Linda is going to get some strong winds and rain, and I pray she doesn't flood! LINDA - girl, I admire you for staying! You are brave!

I am 72 miles from the coast at my daughter's house, and we are 'hunkered down' for a very scarey night! Now, my home is just about 17-18 miles from the beach, near Galveston, and with the HUGE storm surge expected, my little town has faced mandatory evacuation. I left to be with my daughter and g-daughters. Not going to kid ya', I'm worried!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm worried to Cathy. I had no choice but to stay. I start my 5 days on tonight and I have to work because I would not leave my co-workers in a bind. We will be very busy at the hospital. We always have lots of babies during storms. Best of luck to everyone in the storms path.

I'm worried for both of you, too! Cathy, just make sure you stay at your daughter's until they give the 'all clear' to go back. They say the storm surge is expected to be at least 20 ft and they've already been showing pictures of flooding by the surge.

I still need to bring my garbage can in, but I think that's about it. They're saying we could have sustained tropical storm force winds, with higher gusts possible. About the only thing I think everyone here is looking forward to is the much needed rain from this storm...we're currently under voluntary water restrictions and can only water between 8pm-12am and 12am-10am.

Val: I'm going to see if I can muster up some wit here:

Uh, will you pick up MY garbage can when it FLIES by your house?

LINDA: It's getting worse by the minute. I'm afraid Galveston is GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it lands, I will, Cathy! *L* Just hope it doesn't come thru any of my windows!

Somebody in New Mexico is reporting that they're getting bad weather already from Hurricane Ike...uh, I don't see how that's possible, since it's still in the Gulf of Mexico and N.M. is nowhere NEAR the Gulf! Now I can see FL, Alabama, Mississippi and LA getting weather from the storm, but NOT N.M. Just doesn't make sense since most of the weather is on the backside of the eye.

That's pretty amazing, since I'm 72 miles away from my hometown, and we have yet to get any of the rain bands here! They are coming, though. Clouds are looking fierce!

In a couple of hours, all power will be lost. From that moment on, we could be 'powerless' for 2 or 3 weeks. So guys, if I 'disappear' for a few weeks, that will be the reason (I hope that will be the reason!)

Keep all of us in your prayers tonight, knowing what we are all going through. NOT FUN!

Cathy, Linda, and Valerie, I have all of you in my thoughts and prayers.
Stay safe!!
Laura

Will be praying for all of you Cathy, Linda and Val. Stay safe.

That's why I can't believe that N.M. is actually getting any weather from this storm because we're supposed to get bad weather here and we're not seeing anything from it yet. I think that person is full of hot-air, really. It might be weather that is being indirectly affected by Ike...like a cold front that is moving across the area or something that Ike pushed south, but for N.M. to be getting rain from Ike right now, it's impossible.

Ok, I'm replying to myself here...but I just saw a satellite image of Ike, and that person in New Mexico who is saying that they're getting rain from Ike is delusional...there are no rain bands from Ike anywhere in New Mexico! Even the outer bands don't reach that far west.

Stay safe everyone! We have people pre-positioned to help, but like with New Orleans, no one can enter a flooded dangerous area until it's deemed safe enough. Glad you evacuated Cathy, I know where you live and have been thinking about you. I'm not in Texas yet, but think I will be soon, I'm already on standby even though I'm deployed in Iowa.

Linda you are probably safe enough in the hospital, I hope your home stays safe too.

Valerie, stay away from flying garbage cans, hunker down in a room without windows

The news media hunkered down on Seawall Blvd. in Galveston at the San Luis Hotel - - - - and the storm just took part of that hotel!!!! PRAY for those media personnel just trying to do their job. GOD be with them!

Cathy,

Is UTMB where you used to work? I was just watching a news video on the Houston news website and there was a warehouse fire at a yacht storage facility across the street from the UTMB building.

I found the video of the reporter getting soaked by the waves hitting the seawall kind of funny.

Yes, Val. UTMB is where I worked. If you see the video again during the daylight hours, the white building with the curled up looking smokestacks on it was the building in which I worked. The yacht basin is across the street, and I know where that warehouse 'was'. A transformer blew and started a fire.

Now, in an area of Galveston, there are houses on fire that the responders can't get to. Homes are burning!

PAM: Bet we see each other before the end of next week! What you think? I hope it's to take YOU to dinner, and not YOU taking care of MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I can't believe we still have power!

Just watched the video again and I did see the white building with smokestacks...it was in the background where the reporter was first standing. Guess that yacht basin will be history when you get back, since the firefighters were just letting it burn.

I saw on one of the sites about at least one house fire...on CNN's website, the picture on the first page is of police helping people evacuate and there's a fire in the background.

Hi ladies,
I just popped in to make sure that you are all safe. Cathy, I'm glad you are at your daughter's. Stay there and stay safe. Linda, I'm hoping that you are safe at the hospital. I do hope that your homes will withstand this wicked weather. Val, hope you got your garbage can in and are hunkered down in preparation of the high winds.

I just wanted you all to know that my thoughts and prayers are with you all. Please stay safe and let us know how things go out there.

I'm watching the news and it's just so frightening. My heart goes out to all of you in the path of this thing.

Take care and God Bless,

Thanks, Becky. Yes, I did get my garbage can in and anything else that the wind could pick up...but that was about all I could do to prepare. I really don't think it'll be that bad here, since we'll be on the west side of the eye.

I haven't been able to actually see any news reports since Nightline, but someone who is watching the Weather Channel said that there's 6 ft. of water in downtown Galveston! I have been checking out the website that Cathy posted to see what they're reporting.

I have been watching most of the night. I pray you all will be safe . I can't imagine how horrible something like this would be .


and the train crash in California.

I am so sorry you all have to go through this.....it is terrible!!! My thoughts and prayers will be with you all!! Keep us posted as you soon as you can!! Take care of yourselves!!!
Krissie

Here in Central TX, we're just getting gusty winds and rain, but otherwise that's it....and believe me, we need the rain. A friend who has family in Lufkin has said that they're without power, so that means that Linda is probably without power, and mostl of the Houston area is without power, so we probably won't hear from Cathy until sometime next week at the earliest. A CNN reporter said that her hotel in downtown Houston is one of the few that still has power, but most of the area is out.

My local ABC station is having a weather update, and they said that we're almost out of the weather...wind is gusting to 37mph.

UTMB, the hospital where Cathy used to work is reported to have at least 2 ft. of water in their first floor and they are evacuating some patients from the hospital.

Cathy
I am praying for you and your family to make it through this thing with everyone safe and sound! What a horrible thing to go through.
Linda
Hope you are well and you are certainly doing a service to the people by staying at your job and helping those in need. Take care and stay safe.
Val
Hope you guys are doing well and that it is not so bad for you where you are but these things are so unpredictable and scary. Take care and be safe.

Just returned from camping and came a day early cause our trailer was leaking and we are in Michigan. We are having just rains here and wanted to get on here and tell all of you in Texas to stay safe and my prayers and thoughts are with you.
Will keep checking in here to see how everyone is doing. Again, all stay safe.

Lona

Glad you came thru unscathed, Val. Hope to hear something about Cathy and Linda soon. The news shows such devastation along the coastline. I pray everyone is safe.

Good luck to all of you.

We came thru fine here in Temple...we had rain and some heavy winds, but it's died down now. It wasn't anything severe here at all...my father even went over to McDonalds for lunch...I talked to him earlier. No flooding of any kind.

As for Cathy and Linda, it could be awhile before we see any posts from either one of them...they're reporting that it could take up to 4 weeks for everyone in the affected areas to get their electric back. In the Houston area, 2.1 of the 2.2 million customers are without electric. My mom owns a house in Magnolia, which is 35 miles north of Houston, and she called me earlier this afternoon to tell me that she tried to call her renters and she couldn't get them or their answering machine, so that means the power would have to be out, since the answering machine didn't pick up. She called me because she wanted to find out if there was any way to find out if there was any major damage to the house...I e-mailed her Google Maps website address, and from there we played a game of 'find her house' because the address was showing up on the map as either non-existant or in the wrong place...or both! *L* She finally found it, as did I, and there was no major damage that we could see (like trees on the house). She said there could be shingles off, which would mean replacing the roof, but that type of damage isn't seen on a Satellite image.

hey vg fans we are getting alot of rain from hurricane ike to all the way up to monday they says that we needed the rain we have not had rain for almost 2 months now. it was horrible today even our streets was flooded it got humid muggy hear after it stops. yuck. hope you all are doing okay. you take care from carrie ann

I was just at KHOU's website where they have several videos posted of the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, they have some aerial tours of different areas in and around Galveston, including Santa Fe, the city that Cathy lives in, and from what I could see from the aerial view, it didn't look like there was too much major damage in the area...I couldn't see any water flooding the area, and most of the homes that they showed looked like they didn't have much, if any damage. For anyone interested, here's the
link: http://www.khou.com/video/topstories-index.html?nvid=282530
Look for the video that says Aerial Tour of Santa Fe. And if anyone does watch the video, let me know what you think...if you see anything that looks like it could be water or major damage. I did see a pile of what looked like wood on a lot in a housing development, but I don't know what it was...if it was a house demolished by the storm or what...it was the only lot in the whole video that I saw, that if it was a house hit by Ike, that had been demolished like that. Of course it might have been something completely different...it was just really out of place considering the rest of the area looked like it came out practically unscathed...could see some shingles off some houses, but that would be considered minor damage.

I was going to post about Google Satellite maps, but I was just reading that the satellite map is 1-3 years old...guess I'll have to call my mom tomorrow afternoon and let her know, since she was trying to find out about her house in Magnolia this afternoon...

In the midst of all the disaster and rescuing of people, most of the time the welfare of the wildlife gets lost in all the chaos...here's a nice story about some baby squirrels that were rescued: http://www.khou.com/video/topstories-index...82698&shu=1

HEY GUYS - - - -

We made it through it. OH MY GOD - I'm just too tired to even talk about it right now. I now know what HELL looks like and feels like. OH MY - IT WAS HORRIBLE! Our beautiful Galveston Island and all of it's 100 year old treasures - GONE!!!!!!! Not 'literally', but close enough!!! Bolivar Peninsula is now three separate islands. Crystal Beach - destroyed, and Gilchrist - is no longer~! My town of Santa Fe - okay for the most part. OUR SPIRIT has not been broken, but our nerves are shot!!!!!!!!

LINDA - WHERE ARE YOU? We just got our power back about 2 hours ago. I'm sure Linda is still without.

THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS! I asked for them a few hours before Ike hit, and during that horrible storm - I could honestly feel that 'prayer presence'. IT WAS HORRIBLE, YA'LL! JUST HORRIBLE!

I'm still in shock, actually. I can't believe what it did to our coastline! I pray we NEVER see anything like this again!

Glad you're finally back, Cathy! And you know that I know *exactly* what it's like to be in a storm like that! I've been watching the videos posted on KHOU's website since the storm hit and saw what it did to the islands and even the Boardwalk! One of the first aerial view videos that I went and watched was the flyover of Santa Fe to see how you're area came out. I also went and watched the aerial video of The Woodlands/Conroe area...my mom has a house in Magnolia and she hasn't been able to get ahold of the renters to find out if there was any damage...I haven't been able to find any footage of the Magnolia area, the closest I've gotten is The Woodlands area, but it looks like that area came thru pretty good, so I'm assuming that her house is fine...only thing is that her house is surrounded by trees....that could be a problem if any of the trees fell over onto the house, but I didn't even see that many trees over in The Woodlands video.

Cathy,Happy to hear from you.

My power is back on and with minimal damage to my house. I have shingles missing from the roof, only one tree down but it missed my house by 200 feet. Others in my area did not do so well. There are porbably 5000 in my area still without power. I stayed at the hospital for 2 days but came home late in the afternoon on Saturday to check on my house and dog. For the most part both were fine. My yard is now cleaned up except for the downed tree and they will get that up next week. The tree removal people are getting trees off the houses first. I have never seen anything like this storm. We probably had 10X as much damage as Rita 3 years ago. And we were not hit as bad as the counties south of us. I feel for the people on the coast who have lost everything. Galveston will probably never be the same and Bolivar is just almost wiped clean. We rent a beach house there every year or 2 and they are no longer there. It could have been worse but I thank God that it was not.

Cathy, I am so glad you and your family are safe. I was thinking about you and kept ya'll in my prayers.

Hey Linda .Good to hear from you.

Linda:

I worried about you all night during the storm! The eye crossed right over us in Spring where I was, and it was headed your way, and I knew you were 'next'! Glad you made it with minimal damage. We had minimal damage, and I can deal with that! During Alicia in 1983, our house was totaled, so I feel 'blessed' this time around! My friends in Galveston - - - - well, they didn't do as well. I'm so upset for them! I am so sad for the people of Bolivar Peninsula and Crystal Beach, and Gilchrist - oh my - - - - Gilchrist just doesn't exist! So sad! I know many lives had to have been lost - - - officials just aren't saying! They will never find those people! I'm sure they were swept out to sea. Tears roll every time I think of that!!!!!!!!!

Glad you made it, Linda!

The news was talking about the people who were possiblely sweep out to sea. This is very said because they will never be found. I can't imagine the total destruction that is on the coast. Some will never be able to rebuild because the coast line has changed and they will not be allowed by the state. I'm glad hurricane season is soon to be over for this year. I always though I live far enough inland to never be effected but not this year or when Rita hit. I think I need to move even farther inland!!

Linda,

With this storm I think you'd have to go as far inland as Nebraska or Iowa to have not gotten any impact from it in one way or another! I heard that they got hurricane force winds as far inland as Kentucky and Ohio when the storm moved their way! We had Tropical Storm force winds over here but what they were originally predicting was that if the storm had come in further to the south, we would have gotten what you got, and my mom said that by the time the storms get up to this area there's not much left of them...but that definately wasn't the case with Ike!

Glad you all made it through the hurricane without to many problems!

I was in Iowa when it hit, and they did get one day of hurricane rain, not to bad, just an inch or so, but that shows how far that storm reached out.

I left Iowa a couple days ago and was able to visit my daughter at ASU. We had a blast, I'm so glad I was able to get there to celebrate her birthday even though we celebrated a little early. Last night I made it back to California, and this morning Fema called and I've been redeployed. I'll be heading to Austin Texas on Tuesday (our joint field office is there). Not sure where I'll be heading after I check in, or what I'll be doing, but I'll let you know if I'll be in the area of Cathy or Valerie.

Val-if you are still looking for work, I know we will be hiring local hires, just a thought, it's good money for temporary work...keep an eye out on the tv and newspapers, probably not for a month or so though.

Pam:

I have a feeling you will be heading for Galveston, or even Houston. Houston was hit hard. There were so many Counties hit extremely hard, you could be sent almost to any of those places. One thing I know - - - it won't be Gilchrist. It just doesn't exist any more.

Keep us informed where you will be, Pam. AND ~~~GOD bless you for all you do! I've admired you for your service before, but now that OUR community needs you - I admire you even more! THANK YOU!

Pam,

Don't think you'll be deployed here to Bell Co. Just heard that they're closing the shelters here. I'll definately keep an eye out on the TV for ads for FEMA workers, especially if it's something that's local. I have applications in to Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Staples and Hollywood video...just found out today that Office Max is hiring, so tomorrow after my mom leaves I'm going to go to their website and fill out an application. I also have applications for Michaels and Hobby Lobby that I need to finish filling out. Biggest problem is going to be that I won't have a car for a week...taking it in tomorrow to have it fixed. I got the check from the insurance company last week, and actually took it in last week, but they couldn't get to it until tomorrow, so back I go tomorrow.

I NEED A VINCE FIX BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!

I am so tired of all the depressing news around this area! Oh My Goodness, I am so tired!!!!! The clean up around here is horrible! I am 17 miles from Galveston, and everywhere you turn is debris - STILL! You can barely make it to the local grocery store for all the trees piled on the sides of the road.

My sister went into her office in Galveston yesterday, and she said the smell was horrible! She got her desk cleaned out (which was full of nasty water!), and she left that Island! She was nearly crying when she was telling me of all the things that were destroyed! Our beautiful little Island will not be the same!!!!! There were hundred-year-old and older historical landmarks - GONE!

Val- you know the beautiful white Catholic Church across from Bishop's Palace? - - - - - it had water all in it and the stained glass windows were being found all over the Island! So Sad!

Things will get back to normal one of these days I guess!

Keep your prayers going for those who are 'missing'. I hurt so badly for those families. I hurt for those already 'found'. Still no names released!

THANKS FOR LISTENING! I feel better now!

Oh, the house we 'lost' during Alicia and rebuilt with insurance $$$$ and SOLD - - - - it is GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The remains of the house can't even be found!!!! The guy that bought that house was out in the street crying! I hurt for him!! Been there, done that! Not fun!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am thankful that I no longer lived there! Losing it once was enough, a second time would have done me in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like I said - - - - I NEED A VINCE FIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess I wasn't paying too much attention to the Catholic Church across from Bishops Palace...that's ashame about the water and the windows being found all over the island! It's going to take quite awhile to get everything cleaned up after the storm. I heard that UTMB students have been transferred here for their studies because UTMB is closed and they're not sure when they'll re-open.

Sooner or later things *will* get back to normal...although it could take years. One thing that Miami did after Andrew was strengthen the building codes...S. FL now has the strictest building code in the country...Galveston would probably benefit from a stricter building code, although there's probably nothing that would keep a storm surge from washing away homes, no matter how well their built...but it would help if they discover that the homes destroyed were destroyed due to the wind. After Andrew they found that the homes down there the vast majority of homes that were destroyed or had very severe damage had the damage because wind got into the houses and the wind compromised the roofs, in some cases taking the roofs completely off the houses. Of course a lot of those homes were not built to even the building codes they had at the time of their construction....inspectors were taking bribes from construction companies to 'look the other way' with shoddy construction to the homes.

They are allowing residents behind the Seawall to return to Galveston tomorrow. I am shocked! There's not much electricity, no traffic lights, no water, no sewage, and residents are told to not turn on any gas. So, I can't see why they are letting them go back. There's not a hospital in case of severe injury of illness. Oh, I feel for them. MANY of them are my friends of years of working with them!

Oh I would be going crazy if I had not retired! I was the Program Coordinator for the Masters of Medical Science course at UTMB. It would be horrible trying to help coordinate that program with everything so crazy! I also worked on NIH Grants, which are in limbo right now, not to mention the research scientists' experiments in progress in the research lab!!!!!!!! Oh MY! What a mess! I'm sure their experiments have been lost, and some were 20 years in the making!

I am going to Baytown tomorrow. I think at this point I'm glad I'm not one of the few heading to Galveston, I've been in that type of destruction, and it's not fun. I hurt for those people that lost everything too!

We will be working 12-15hour days 7 days a week. The closest hotel we could find was 2 1/2 hours each way, so we couldn't take it. Now we located 2 unfurnished one bedroom apartments that 9 of us will be sharing. Should be an experience, maybe not one I like, but that is the way the job goes sometimes...

Cathy, Linda and Val, I'm glad you are safe. It sounds like such a devastation experience. Cathy, I'm sure seeing where you used to live looking like that would be heartbreaking. It doesn't seem like they are giving it much news coverage, but the financial crisis is their big news now. Still, it's a shame people are forgotten too soon after something like that.

Pam, God bless you for the work you do. Stay safe.

Mary Lou,

You're right...they're not giving it much coverage on the news now...Ike didn't get near as much after-coverage as either Katrina or Rita, even though the devastation in the aftermath of Ike was worse than what New Orleans received. What irks me is that in the aftermath of Katrina, the most devastated areas were along the Mississippi coast, but all the focus was on New Orleans and you didn't hear about anyone else's suffering except the poor people of N.O. who were stranded on their roofs or in the Superdome due to their own stubborness (or maybe I should say stupidity) to not leave when they were told to evacuate. Now if the Mississippi coast and the Galveston area had the demographics of N.O. I bet those areas would have received *much* more aftermath coverage than they did, but because the 'perception' of the population on the coast is a middle to upper class population, where people can afford to have beach front houses, the press figures that the aftermath isn't as important because those people 'can afford' to take a chance of living in a high risk disaster area...of course that's not always the truth, but does seem to be a bias of the news reporting.