Sunday, September 21, 2008
Ike did a Number on Us
Marion and I were in France doing the Midi Canal Cruise when Hurricane Ike came ashore in Texas.
We had been following Ike for the previous two days when It was forecast to hit way down the Coast at Port Mansfield. That would have been fine. One of our travelling companions had a Blackberry. He got skimpy little web pages but they showed the danger.
On Saturday morning we turned in the canal boat and went to a Hotel in Castelnaudry. They had a CNN Europe Channel which gave some coverage and they also had a Free Internet terminal. I camped out to use it in the Lobby. It was still early Saturday morning ( about 7 hours time difference) in Texas. Ike was coming ashore over Bolivar roads.
By late afternoon in France Ike was up to about I10. There were some Daylight photos on CNN.
On Sunday we took the train to Toulouse and made our way to a Hotel near the Airport. we had a Monday morning flight to Amsterdam and Transfer to Houston. The Houston KLM flight was cancelled and we were put on Air France out of Paris.. We were Very impressed with the Service from Air France in picking up the cancellation and sending us on our way.
The Plane was not Full so we had the comfort of a spare seat between us. I highly recommend Air France!
We arrived in Houston and Picked up the Mountaineer and with less than 1/4 tank we searched for Gasoline. We found a Line and got in it for about a half Hour until the Station ran out of Gas.
Decided to risk it and drove on to Randy and Paula's Place. They Informed us that Out Complex was intact and we were greatly relieved. We headed on home. No Electricity at our place but across the street the Valero Station suddenly came on line and started selling Gas. I headed over and got in Line but when 7PM came along they shut down all sales due to the Curfew.
Monday night the weather was cool and we slept well in our own bed.
Tuesday we got Gas and picked up the Miata. The rest of the day was working on our complex Cleanup. The cleanup crew did a great job over the next three days. Large Dumpsters and a front loader were used to cart off the wreckage.
Five of the ten Boats in our marina were Sunk(4) or Ashore(1).
Bill Berg and Mark Stuart prepared Remedy for the storm and moved it across the marina to a double wide slip. This move saved Remedy from certain destruction. In her usual slip she would have been impaled on a piling and/or taken out both Sea Cruise and Le Damn Bateaux. As it was Remedy suffered only a blown out head sail and surface scratches on the aft starboard quarter.
Before we got home looters visited Seagate and took everything of value.. My Outboard Motor was taken from the storage locker below our unit.
Tuesday night Mely's Restaurant next door opened for dinner. We did not get electricity until Wednesday around 2 PM.
As of today Sunday, Sept 21, 8 days after the storm, most of Seabrook is still without power.
We count our blessings and have been trying to help our neighbors and friends in need. Yesterday we joined a dozen other TMCA members to remove rubbish from Jerry Giallanza's place on Dickenson Bay. We filled a 1,280 Cu Ft Dumpster. We also had an MRE feast.
We had been following Ike for the previous two days when It was forecast to hit way down the Coast at Port Mansfield. That would have been fine. One of our travelling companions had a Blackberry. He got skimpy little web pages but they showed the danger.
On Saturday morning we turned in the canal boat and went to a Hotel in Castelnaudry. They had a CNN Europe Channel which gave some coverage and they also had a Free Internet terminal. I camped out to use it in the Lobby. It was still early Saturday morning ( about 7 hours time difference) in Texas. Ike was coming ashore over Bolivar roads.
By late afternoon in France Ike was up to about I10. There were some Daylight photos on CNN.
On Sunday we took the train to Toulouse and made our way to a Hotel near the Airport. we had a Monday morning flight to Amsterdam and Transfer to Houston. The Houston KLM flight was cancelled and we were put on Air France out of Paris.. We were Very impressed with the Service from Air France in picking up the cancellation and sending us on our way.
The Plane was not Full so we had the comfort of a spare seat between us. I highly recommend Air France!
We arrived in Houston and Picked up the Mountaineer and with less than 1/4 tank we searched for Gasoline. We found a Line and got in it for about a half Hour until the Station ran out of Gas.
Decided to risk it and drove on to Randy and Paula's Place. They Informed us that Out Complex was intact and we were greatly relieved. We headed on home. No Electricity at our place but across the street the Valero Station suddenly came on line and started selling Gas. I headed over and got in Line but when 7PM came along they shut down all sales due to the Curfew.
Monday night the weather was cool and we slept well in our own bed.
Tuesday we got Gas and picked up the Miata. The rest of the day was working on our complex Cleanup. The cleanup crew did a great job over the next three days. Large Dumpsters and a front loader were used to cart off the wreckage.
Five of the ten Boats in our marina were Sunk(4) or Ashore(1).
Bill Berg and Mark Stuart prepared Remedy for the storm and moved it across the marina to a double wide slip. This move saved Remedy from certain destruction. In her usual slip she would have been impaled on a piling and/or taken out both Sea Cruise and Le Damn Bateaux. As it was Remedy suffered only a blown out head sail and surface scratches on the aft starboard quarter.
Before we got home looters visited Seagate and took everything of value.. My Outboard Motor was taken from the storage locker below our unit.
Tuesday night Mely's Restaurant next door opened for dinner. We did not get electricity until Wednesday around 2 PM.
As of today Sunday, Sept 21, 8 days after the storm, most of Seabrook is still without power.
We count our blessings and have been trying to help our neighbors and friends in need. Yesterday we joined a dozen other TMCA members to remove rubbish from Jerry Giallanza's place on Dickenson Bay. We filled a 1,280 Cu Ft Dumpster. We also had an MRE feast.
