ninanevermore | Sunday – A Post-Ike Tour of My Neighborhood

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So we got a little damage in the storm; it's no big deal in the large scheme of things, I guess. The generator helps with the power, but I'm a little irate that the water is still out. Jeff and I drove into to town to see what was opened (one grocery store running on auxiliary power, but we decided there was nothing we needed bad enough to stand in the 2 hour checkout line), and noticed a sign from our utility district saying to boil our water.

"Give me something to boil, and I'd be happy to do it," I said.

I haven't had a shower since Friday morning. You would be surprised at how well deodorant works when you keep putting it on for several days straight. At this point, by the time I do get to take a shower, I will need a putty knife to scrape off the layers of deodorant from beneath my arms. To avoid injury at a time when emergency services in my area are strained, I will use a plastic and not a metal putty knife.

Yesterday I took a drive though my little subdivision of about 200 households, to see how the neighbors faired. Some were better off than me, and some were worse. One house also had its front door blocked off by a tree, just like mine is.

We'll start with my house, because home is as good a place to start as any. When I woke up yesterday morning and was gazing out at the branches and debris out through the glass back door, Jeff said, "Don't look out the front door, what ever you do."

Of course, that make me want to look out the front door very badly.

"Oh, my God," I said.

"I told you not to look," Jeff said. Like I wouldn't have noticed a pine tree blocking my front entryway at some point.

My son was equally impressed when he saw it a couple hours later.

Once we determined that water was leaking into the house, Jeff took some pictures to show the insurance adjuster.

The he spend the next four hours with a chainsaw up on the roof (in the pouring rain, because as outer band of the hurricane had parked itself over our house)

Keep in mind, that was only half a pine tree that snapped in two. In corner of the front yard, we had a whole one blow over.

Here, it can be viewed in perspective with my size 6.5 shoe:

Here, it can be viewed in perspective with the 4 year old boy whose room it would have crashed into, had it been a foot taller:

If this tree was destined to fall over, I'm glad it did it now. In another year or two, if would have damaged the house. As it is, the upper braches ended up kissing the window to my son's room:

When the winds stopped and I finally got a chance to explore the neighborhood (due to a flooded roadway, I was stranded here), I got a chance see how everyone else did. Most of the roadways had been cleared by people with chainsaws, but a few roads still looked like this:

Fences were a big casualty of the storm:

A couple of people lost their cars:

At this house, four vehicles were parked out front. The three that weren't damaged were trapped behind the one that was:

Quite a few trees were snapped like twigs, like this oak:

Even more were blown over with their roots in the air. I can't even count how many I saw like this:

Remember, we are 125 miles inland from Galveston, and we by no means got the worst of the storm. My family and the people living in the homes you see in the pictures above got off relatively light. As far as I know, no one in my imediate area was hurt, despite all the property damage. In a few weeks, life should be back to normal, and I may even feel up to company.

For anyone planning to visit, though, it might be best if you come around to the back of the house.

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Current Mood: dirty
Current Music: Saber Dance by Khachaturian