Back Online!

[roscoedoh]

Hi all! I'm back and proud to be online!

 

As many of you know, I live down around the itty bitty town of Nacogdoches, Texas which is now in a federally declared disaster area. I don't want to steal Houston's thunder because those guys got hit real bad down there. However, Hurricane Ike more or less followed US 59 up from the Gulf and wrecked everything in its path, including my lil' slice of heaven. We've a pretty good mess on our hands 140 miles north of the Gulf. My lights have been off for the six days and I am just happy as all hell to finally have them back on. I've been living by kerosene lantern light and eating lots of canned food. I have a gas water heater and stove so I've been able to take hot showers and eat, but man...its funny how you take little things like electric lighting for granted until you to with out it for a while.

 

To give a brief synopsis of this week's adventure:

 

Hurricane Ike rolled in early Saturday morning after tearing up Houston and sinking Galveston Island. After making it through Rita three years ago, I wasn't all that anxious to do it all over again, but whatcha gonna do? A buddy of mine from down around Lake Jackson came up Wednesday night to get away from the worst of the hurricane and was here when Ike got to town.

 

I was not conscious before 9:00AM Saturday morning so I can't speak to what happened before then. I will say that nothing was happening when I'd gone to bed the night before and I was shocked to find my power still on when I awoke at 9:00. When I got up the storm was already pretty intense and was still building. I lost power at 10:05 when one of the six trees that fell on my street took out the powerline that supplies power to my home. From 10:05 Saturday morning to till about 3:00PM Thursday afternoon, there was no electricity on this end of the county road.

 

Based on previous experience, I had somewhat of an idea of what to expect so I'd laid on a goodly supply of bottled water, batteries, lamp oil, canned goods, ice, and beer. Not knowing what else to do when the power failed, my buddy Jeff and I spent most of the storm playing poker, drinking beer, and watching massive trees rock violently. Fortunately for the 15 or so people that called to check on me while I was dealing cards, the cell towers remained in service the entire time so we had constant contact with the outside world. Finally, the storm subsided a bit after 4:00PM so I stepped outside to take a look around and inspect any damage. I was very pleased and real relieved to find none! We'd watched some real big trees doin' the hula all day long and I was real, real happy to see that none of the ones in my yard came down or landed on my house.

 

I will say though, that many I know were not as fortunate. My boss's house took a hit, as did his boat when a neighbor's tree landed on it. My former stepfather had half a red oak land on the corner of his house and had another red oak fall across his driveway. Most of the county roads around here were littered with downed trees. When I finally got out of the house later Saturday night, Nacogdoches looked bombed out. Literally. Most importantly though, no one was killed that I am aware of so I guess everyone came through ok.

 

Although my house and yard came through the storm just fine, my county road did not. I have three possible access points to US 59 and all three had trees laying across them. I also realized right then that I owned neither an axe nor a chainsaw! I called around and finally got the former stepdad to come over and cut tree off the bridge next to the house. I'd tried to drag it off with my truck but didn't make it very far. I later realized what a huge mess John left to come get the tree out of the way...needless to say, he's got some big favors he can call in when he needs my help! (I spent all day Sunday cleaning up his yard too.)

 

Anyway, so we all made it through Hurricane Ike safe and relatively sound. Here are some pictures I snapped with my phone. They aren't even the tip of the ice berg.

 

Here's the tree that kept me at house all day Saturday (note all the tree limbs and trash in the road - it was like that or worse everywhere else):

I apologize for the crappy quality, but my LG phone doesn't have the best camera built into it.

 

Once I finally got to town, I'd heard that a prominent local restuarant was now offering fine dining under the stars. Here's Clear Springs with the roof peeled back:

The 60+ mph winds rolled the steel roof back like a sardine can.

 

Here's the stepdad's yard on Sunday. I mentioned a red oak that fell across the driveway...here it is from both sides of it.

First from the house looking out:

 

Then from my truck (little red one in the upper right corner of the above picture) looking toward the house:

This tree took out four to six other trees when it fell as well as the electrical service to his house. We cut the service in the clear and hung it up on the pole across from the house. However, for the triplex to get from the transformer to the pole by the house, its got to go straight through that big mess of downed trees. I suggested that we lay an underground service once all the trees are cut down to prevent this in the future.

 

And in the mean time, I think stepdad is still several days away from getting electrical service again. The utility will have start at the bottom of the hill and rebuild the line up his street. Hopefully Deep East Texas will get to his neighborhood sooner than later!

 

How to sum things up? Well, as I said, we're all alive and still kicking. My lights are back on finally (woo hoo!) and the only causality I personally took is a misaligned satellite dish. I am glad I left the mobile home to move into this house and I am thankful for how lucky I am to get off so lightly. I feel I was properly prepared, although you can bet that I'll have an axe and a chainsaw close by if this ever happens again! Here's hoping this NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!

 

 

And ah! If you appreciate your electricity, thank a lineman. Their's is truly a thankless, dangerous job.

 

[Doble Troble]

Thanks for the reports, guys.

 

Glad no lives and only tree limbs lost.