Hurricane Ike relief

[holden]

hey folks,

i'm sure this made the US news, not sure about national. But hurricane Ike came through SE Texas and up the midwest last Saturday morning, leaving Houston and surrounding areas without power, while basically drowning/sestroying the coastal island of Galveston. Many coastal cities are uninhabitable at present, because of lack of water, sewage, power and basic shelter.

i live in NW Houston, and have not had power for a week (writing this at work) and just had some tree/fence damage, but that's really a small inconvenience when one considers what happened and what life is like for the folks in Galveston:

Some before-n-after pix:
http://weatherblog.abc13.com/2008/09...-and-afte.html
http://geology.rockbandit.net/2008/0...-after-photos/

So, please consider helping out relief efforts for the victims. A sinple google search of hurricane Ike relief donation will point you in the right direction, e.g.:
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.nourishamerica.org/
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/hurricanes.html
http://www.mccormickfoundation.org/N...e.aspx?pid=319

Thanks for taking the time and maybe helping out!

[Deckard]

Good God, I never knew it was as bad as that. Guess the financial going-on took it out the headlines.

Thanks for posting the links.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/26/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

Imagine if it had been the Category 4 that was predicited.

Gustav tambien.

[den]

I kept heckling all of my friends in Houston, asking them how the games of charades were going.

"So, Saturday night! What are you doing?"
"Sitting in the dark with flashlights."
"Well, I'm going to crank up the AC, take a hot shower, and watch college football all night!"

He had some choice words for me.

But then on Sunday, with the 10 inches of rain we got in Chicago, my roof started to leak.

Yeah, I totally deserved that.

[negative1]

Originally Posted by holden

hey folks,

i live in NW Houston, and have not had power for a week (writing this at work) and just had some tree/fence damage, but that's really a small inconvenience when one considers what happened and what life is like for the folks in Galveston:

glad you made it through ok..

i have a brother in the alief area, and our house there
hasn't had power since the storm.

my folks moved to another house out in richmond, and they
haven't had a single power loss or anything, so he's staying
with them..

i only thought galveston was hit hard, and had no idea
about houston, until they called me a few days and told me,
since i don't watch/read the news...

wow, i thought it was bad when rita came through,
but it looks like this is much worse...

hope you guys come out ok.... i was planning a trip
down there later this month, but i'll have to cancel
it...

later
-1

[cacophony]

Originally Posted by holden

i live in NW Houston, and have not had power for a week

my in-laws are all in houston and they've been struggling without power. fortunately most of them sustained no more damage than losing their fences, but it's been really tough to go this long without electricity. my mother-in-law is in the westchase area and she just got power back yesterday. my father-in-law is in missouri city and got his power back today, i believe. i know a girl who lives up in the woodlands, up NW of the city, and she was told they probably won't have power back until the 25th. i can't imagine going that long.

it's really terrible the way the media has totally glossed over this and not shown the damage and the ways in which people are struggling to get by while basic utilities are out. i guess without a higher death toll it just wasn't sexy enough for the major media outlets to care.

[den]

I was glued to the tv/internet when Ike (and Gustav) came through, making sure everyone was ok. My GF is from southern Louisiana and Google Earth showed the eye of Gustav going 4 miles away from her home. It also showed Ike's eye going literally down the block from my friend's parent's house in League City. Luckily everyone I knew made through just fine, maybe with a damaged car, a hangover, and boredom at the worst. But since then, there hasn't been much attention paid to the recovery. That's a good point about the low death toll and the media. Even right now, the Houston Chronicle (www.chron.com) says that 800,000 people are still without power. That's nearly a quarter of population.

[cacophony]

Originally Posted by cacophony

my father-in-law is in missouri city and got his power back today, i believe.

i was mistaken. he had a generator and that's why he was able to get some power working. the city didn't actually get to his neighborhood for a full restoration of power until MONDAY. yes, that's how long people have been waiting for power in some parts of the city. but for some reason it's just not sexy enough for the media to care.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Hello America.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26874623/

AND I admit I haven't yet either. Have to wait for the welfare check next month.