We are preparing for Hurricane Ike 
… it is expected to only get to be a Category 3 now but it is not traveling very fast yet … the tropical storm winds & possibly isolated tornadoes are expected to start here tomorrow [Friday] morning …. they think anywhere from 60 mph and up Friday and hurricane wind speeds on Saturday and probably Sunday too. I live in Katy – I’m NOT in the storm surge area – that means I am not in a coastal area – so I do not need to evacuate. We expect lots of wind, maybe isolated tornadoes … we may get some flooding depending on the rain and how fast it comes down … it’s been dry so the bayous are expected to be able to handle the water coming down.
People along the coast … Galveston Island, Texas City, Freeport and all the other coastal cities are in the process of mandatory evacuations. Could be up to about 22 foot storm surge along the coast … the idea is to run from the [storm surge] water and hide from the wind [stay in place].
When the storm is over, many areas could well be without electricity … up to 3 weeks in some areas as a worst case scenario. For anyone who wants to watch local news or check it once in awhile …. http://www.khou.com … this is the CBS local channel’s website that I am watching on my TV right now. The news is also warning us that cell phones may not work either if their towers are blown around or down … I only have a cell phone.
Hurricane food supplies at my house: crackers … 2 different kinds of crackers [4 wheat saltine boxes and 2 multigrain round] … peanut butter and strawberry preserves … 3 cans of canned chicken, 2 vacuum packaged packs of salmon and 1 can of minced ham … 1 bag of taco chips with a jar of mild Pace picante sauce …. lots of water …. 1 12 pk ea of cherry coke and A&W root beer … and 12 each plastic packs of no refrigeration needed pudding, Mandarin oranges, cinnamon applesauce and mixed fruit.
I’m cooking the pork chops out of the freezer right now while doing laundry. I’ve got the battery operated emergency weather radio/flashlight charging and so is the PSP [gotta have video games if the lights go off!]. Everything has been moved into the garage or the house including the landscape LED lights and the extra batteries are in the closet which is the no-window shelter in the middle of the house.
The track keeps changing a bit … now it is nearly headed right up into downtown Houston … we’ll all still get wind, rain and wind damage … but the storm surge may be in places we wouldn’t want it to be … time will tell .
We may have no electricity for days after the storm … THAT will not be any fun … this heat … no a/c … nope … we are not looking forward to that at all 
Posted under Texas
This post was written by Barbara Burns on September 11, 2008
