We don't like Ike!
Click here to view a Power Point slide show (PPS file) sent in by
Glynnene LePhiew Snyder. It contains many glimpses of Hurricane Ike
that are more impressive than most of the ones you've seen on TV.
Hurricane Ike devastated parts of the Gulf Coast,
and many people suffered extreme losses. From what we can gather,
our class of '60 friends have fared pretty well. We know that at
least 27 classmates live in Houston, with several others in coastal
areas affected by the storm.
We welcome your additions to this page. In a
recent newsletter, our Alumni Representative, Carrol Payne Nokes,
asked classmates to keep us posted, and here's what we've learned so
far:
 From
Sue Fitts: My sister and I went back to my apartment in Clute
yesterday. It was okay. There were shingles everywhere, and the
pampas grass was flattened. The big willow had damage to it also. We
saw a lot of trees down along the way and of course plenty of limbs
also. I haven't taken many pictures because my Kodak camera has not
been very good lately, as in downloading and whatnot. Hope to get a
new one sooner or later, but not a Kodak. I do have a one-time
camera that is almost finished. I hope to get more of those kind.
There was power at my apt. but no TV cable or
Internet service, and our cell phones were not working right, we put
out the plants
on the balcony , threw away the food in the freezer which had thawed
and froze again,and came home. Saw a line at Krogers where they were
handing out ice and water, we did not stop as we had stocked up
before the storm and had electricity. Sunday we went to Wharton, a
town near to my sister's house to the west. At the Super
Walmart my sister, Jilll, bought groceries and supplies. They had
shelves full except for bread and bananas, so we got some tortillas
and frozen bread (to bake)and frozen garlic breadsticks. I just had
a slice of toasted bread from the baked frozen bread. It was pretty
good.
I have had my cats in their carriers since I left.
I take them into the bathroom, lock the door,(so no one will open it
and they escape) their litter box is in there, along with food and
water, they get some exercise, eat, drink, use the box and go back
into the carriers. They have been very good considering they like
freedom. The dog has been free to go outside without a leash, and
have some freedom also. She has 3 other dogs to play with.
There is 24 hour TV coverage of Ike. A lot of the
towns on the coast have been literally wiped off the face of the
earth. It is sad to see this, and I am sure most of it will be
rebuilt. Houston and a wide swath on each side and to the north
where Ike traveled thru after have received a lot of damage. It was
a huge hurricane.
Okay, just thought I would let you know the
latest. I and my family are okay and getting back to normal. Hope
you are doing well!
Second message from Sue: This may be old
news to all of you now, but it is still very real to me. During
Ike's attack of the Texas coast and land further in, it was not easy
to sleep, listening to the wind howling outside, and praying that
there wouild not be too much damage, and everyone would be okay. The
house, fairly new, would creak and groan, it sounded like the window
in my room would break or blow out of the frame. And we were in the
Richmond-Rosenberg area, west of Houston. At one time during the
storm, I heard a bird squawk twice outside my window. It sounded
like a heron or egret, that may have been blown around by the storm
and landed on our roof. Two birds had fallen into the yard earlier,
one was dead, the other one flew off after a while. Probably stunned
by the intense wind.
I have been in Tropical storms, and other storms
but not in a hurricane as enormous as this one.
There were humorous incidents on TV: At one time a
man dressed in a teddy bear costume appeared behind the reporter
standing on the the sea wall in Galveston, he waved at the camera,
it was so unexpected and funny, we all got a laugh out of that one.
Another time during the storm, a reporter in a grocery store parking
lot, showed the carts in the rack on the parking lot. They were
sailing across the lot, the wind pushing the whole rack full of
carts, the signs on top acting as sails. That also brought a big
laugh!
We watched the news on TV before it hit, and
during the onslaught the power went off. We were able to listen to
the TV broadcast on the radio after that. We were fortunate to have
a generater. It worked fine until we tried to use the toaster to
toast our bread! That caused it to stop! Someone came along and got
it going afterwards. Do not use a toaster on a generater unless you
you turn off everything else! Toasters use a lot of juice!!!!
In all, we were blessed not to have any damage or
water or great amounts of rain. I give all the Glory for that to
God, and I thank Him very much!
Have a wonderful day!
HURRICANE PICTURES forwarded by Sue Fitts:
http://www.tpicks.com/pictures%20people%20have%20sent%20me.htm
 From
Glynnene Lephiew Snyder: I just came over to my daughter
Cynthia's house. They just got power on, but we still do not, even
though we both live in Missouri City, Southwest of Houston, and only
3 miles from each other!!!! Anyway, we are okay, just tired from
cleaning up the yard from debris and some fitful nights. We were
lucky compared to a lot of areas. If it had not turned a little to
the east at the last minute, we, too, would have probably had more
destruction. It was bad enough as it was. I was in college here
during Carla in '61, and that was a Cat 5, but the destruction with
this seems just as bad if not worse at a strong Cat 2!We've been out
of school since last Friday, and school will be out until next
Monday. It is hard to realize that that there are other happenings
in the world. My cousin Diana lives in Galveston, so she has her
work cut out for her.
Thanks for your concern. I am sure others in the
Houston area will have much more traumatic stories than mine.
Update from Glynnene 9-24-08: We feel very
fortunate to only have had the inconvenience of no power for over 4
1/2 days. My daughter and husband have to deal with having their
roof fixed, but they are okay. The wind tore off the boards covering
both grandchildren's windows, so, in retrospect, that is rather
scary to think about. My cousin who lives in Galveston has a lot to
deal with, though.
The school at which I taught for 8 years when it
was brand new is damaged so badly that the students have had to move
to the high school next door to it. The school at which I taught in
HISD still wasn't open as of last night. The dance studio where my
granddaughter takes dancing and where my daughter took and teaches
once a week is in bad shape, too. They were hoping to go to a
temporary site by tomorrow, but Cynthia hadn't heard anything as of
last night.
Also from Glynnene:
You know you're from the Gulf Coast when...
 From
Pat George: Just a note to let you all know that we survived the
storm. Only very minor property damage. No injuries. Utilities are
out and may not be restored for weeks. Nancy and I have evacuated
with our dogs and parakeets to Plano where my youngest brother Glenn
lives. May return soon to Conroe if we can find a generator. Schools
are closed this week. (I am doing some substitute teaching.)
All please pray for those who have had greater
loss of life, health and property. May God lead them in the way of
peace.
Update from Pat 9-20-08: Just a short note. We are home!
We arrived about 8:30 PM Saturday after evacuating to Plano on
Monday due to utility outage that were predicted to last up to 4
weeks. Utilities, including electricity and water, are on. Damage to
the house is minor. Yard and other cleanup will get done as we have
time.
Our sister-in-law Rita was great during our stay at their house in
Plano for the week. (Glenn was on a business trip.) Don't know what
we'd have done without her. Thanks to all for your support and
prayers.
Pat and Nancy
 From
Gerry BusDosh: Carrol, I live on the northwest side of Houston.
My house & I are fine. I lost about 150 feet of fence & one 22 foot
tall palm tree. I gained a yard covered by my neighbors’ tree limbs
& my pool had 2 feet of debris. No power, but I drove to Dallas
Saturday to borrow a small generator for the refrigerator & freezer.
It’s saving the frozen stuff.
Regards,
Gerry
 From
Phillip Covault: Happy to report that I survived the storm;
actually in Fort Worth but many others were not so fortunate. The
company that I work for received a great deal of damage with about
2’ of water running through the office. The warehouse was not
affected as it is much higher than the offices. Now it is a program
of sheetrock removal, drying out and extensive renovation. My boat
survived without a scratch but others were not so fortunate. I have
included some photos of some yachts that are at a yacht club just
behind our business. These boats are valued from ½ million to over 8
million. Some are not total losses but will require thousands of
dollars to repair but obviously others have only salvage value.
 From
Diana Francis Prescott: ...we have Katie and family here for
their second evacuation. Gustav was a non-event for them in
Orange, but they knew Ike was going to be huge, and it
was. Mostly flooding from that huge surge that pushed water so
far inland. Their house was ok but their church where Todd is on
staff and where Katie is MDO director did flood…all the downtown
flooded. Orange County…the Golden Triangle was hit really hard
this time. With Hurricane Rita it was tornadic wind damage to
trees, homes, roofs, etc, but no flooding. This time they got
the rising water. Todd went back today despite no electricity or
water to see if he could help some of the older church members
with their houses, and to see what they can salvage from the
church.
We have no
kitchen…it was ripped out down to the plaster lathe on July 31st…so…you
can imagine what it is like with a 3 month old, a 3 year old, a
large dog (we farmed out the cat!) and 4 adults…now 3 adults…J
We are truly “camping out” with air conditioning. I’m grateful
for takeout!
 The
impact of the hurricane
wasn't confined to Texas. From Arkansas, here's a note from
Marlanna "Marti" Fairchild-Gardner Turner:
I live
about 5 minutes from Cabot, AR. We had high winds, one tornado
in Cabot. Lots of rain & flooding. No one was hurt in
tornado. Lots of property damage but no one died or were hurt,
thank God. It's cool & sunny today. Feels like Fall.
|
From
Steve Schwartz: 9-29-08 Just got power back last night after
15 days of flashlights and candles. Fortunately, we had only
minor damage to our yard with the loss of a few trees and our
fences. With all of the tragedy of the storm came a renewed
relationship with our neighbors. Everyone was cooking everything
in their freezers so we had gourmet meals outside by candle
light. We finally gave up after 10 days without power and went
to our farm near Brenham and waited out the return of power in
Houston.
From
Judy Stow Blackstone: 9-30-08 I survived Ike in the bunkers of
the San Luis Hotel with my other half--Tommy--- who is employed
there and all of the other employees of the hotel and the Cnn/news
men and others as well as the MAYOR and city officials as well as
fire/police dept personnel! They LOCKED the doors at 9 pm and
unlocked at 6 am. Was the scariest thing that I have been thru. Saw
my beach home on Monday the 15th of September and it did survive
intact even with my 2 kitties in it upstairs. Bottom is a shambles
and I have been on the move since Tuesday that week--to Fort Worth
and now in Little Rock, Arkansas w/niece and of course --Jake my
schnauzer all the way who has been sleeping in back of SUV a lot.
When my electricity is turned on--very soon I will return but not
til then. The town is a total wreck but restaurants and hotels open
now. I do not know why they let all of those people in 2 weeks after
the storm--crazy as no power or water yet. Tommy took his 1st hot
bath in 2 weeks this am and has power/water at the hotel. Looking
forward to return and the clean-up!! Thanx for all your prayers for
all us in the path of IKE--- for me it worked!! What a way to spend
my 66TH B'DAY!! Tommy's sailboat is standing up straight in a
parking lot on the keel!! He was blessed too!! STILL a curfew of 6
to 8 pm daily--Walmart and stores and gas all open now. Love to all
my friends from PHS!! Had 1000 e-mails when I got on here--- as
haven't been on in 3 weeks.
From
Robin Combest Cridland: 10-5-08 Late update on us, but we are
okay. We evacuated on the 11th. El Lago came through the storm quite
well. Lots of tree damage and many people had trees fall into their
homes.....3 of our immediate neighbors. A tree demolished our AC
unit and took a chunk out of the roof, but no leaks! The old growth
trees in our area and all over Houston are devastated. Seabrook
which is just east of us got a lot of water from the surge and bad
flooding. El Lago marina on Clear Lake was destroyed. There are
still boats tossed all around.
