Isn’t Life Strange?

Now that I’ve been away from home for a couple of days, it seems strange checking the websites and learning all about how things are progressing in Houston.
It appears that the two power companies in the area have finished their initial assessment of the damages throughout the area. My zip code was […]

I left the Houston area at about 3 PM and am currently in an undisclosed secret location.
For the last two days, I have been listening to KTRH AM, one of Houston’s most powerful AM radio stations. They have done an outstanding job covering all aspects of the storm and its aftermath, and should […]

Well what do you know! I actually CAN sleep through a hurricane!
At about 1 AM I decided to turn off all the lights and head for bed to see what TiVo had waiting for me. I ended up falling asleep and awoke to discover that we lost power - I’m guessing at sometime […]

It’s just after midnight and Hurricane Ike is getting closer. It is expected to affect us here in the Houston area for several hours. We’ll be dealing with some gnarly winds and several inches of rain….dude…. Currently in my area, things are not as volatile as they are south of here. […]

About 30 minutes ago, the mayor of Galveston held a news conference from her bunker she shares with her staff and emergency personnel during hurricanes. It was announced in that press conference that forty percent of Galveston’s residents decided to stay at home and weather the storm. God help them.
There is […]

Click here to embiggen.
Ike is flooding the west side of Galveston Island while waves are crashing against the seawall at the tourist area of Galveston.
I did a reconnaissance mission this morning in my local area to get a feel for what people were doing today. Last minute preparation activity was still going […]

I’ve been thinking about a few things related to Ike and of storms in the past.
It seems to me that if we need a reminder of the potential damage and deadly force a hurricane brings with it, we need only look a few years into the past to Hurricane Katrina. We all know […]

Though Ike has a large wind field, it is not a particularly well-organized storm. It will still bring hurricane-force winds and rain. Some are now saying Ike may only be a Category 2 storm when it reaches land.
The eye of the storm is expected to travel north on I-45, which means […]

Click here to embiggen
Now that storm effects (tropical force winds and rain) are only about twenty-four hours away and the forecast models are zeroing in on Freeport, it is somewhat safe to say that Houston is in the path of Hurricane Ike, which is expected to be a Category 3 storm when it reaches […]

I don’t know if anyone noticed, but recently I had changed a setting here requiring those wishing to make comments to register and log in for posting privileges. I had hoped it would eliminate the growing number of spam messages in my inbox. I’ve now removed that restriction so visitors can feel free […]

I noticed yesterday as I was leaving the Houston area petrochemical facility where I was working, that the company had boarded every window of one of the permanent buildings on site. It was a very strange sight to me, and a sign that perhaps they knew something I didn’t know.
The conversation we […]

This thing is looking like it could be a mess for us. But as I said with the last one, it’s too early to tell at this time.

Click here to embiggen
The image will update automatically.
***** UPDATE 09-08 6:00 PM *****
The September 9th 2:00 PM CDT storm track update began to […]

Click to embiggen…

At least one local Houston television station has been engaged in non-stop hurricane coverage today, showing video of the storm as it happens, and talking with community leaders and citizens about their experiences.
I just watched video of water spilling over canal flood walls. The walls appeared to be holding but of course […]

As all the news outlets have been reporting and as the forecast models have predicted, it appears that Gustav will strike Louisiana sometime tomorrow. I’m not certain what it will do here but given the local weather forecasts and the general path of the storm, we might get some rain out of the deal. […]