Hurricane Ike Aftermath and Recovery

[gator]

woke up refreshed this morning though i would do a few chores i been putting off pruned a few trees in the yard what do you think?
were in the back half now hope all is well with you all prayers to you and yours.anything that don't break us makes us stronger. and if God has to bend us to teach us, "Hes in control," then maybe we need to learn that.

[agdave112]

glad you are ok.....working in college station right now havent been home since thurs and wont get home til monday. hopefully all is ok other than no power and water that came in(heard from my neighbor)

[gator]

well the rabbit cages did not make it there history the well had a limb hit the top rolled right and took out discharge pipe if it would rolled left would have taken motor out. and the strangest thing of all. the vertical tree is broke off just above the picture top and the other tree fell from right to left but look it some how landed below squirrel feeder against tree. i don't know how but it did it?

[mhx]

Almost had a direct hit on my boat...Im out in Atascosita in Eagle Springs...Trees were down everywhere....My wall got smashed but its neighboorhood property so I guess they get to fix it for me.

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Boat/boatike1.JPG
http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Boat/ike1.JPG

[gator gar]

Sitting here in the early morning hour, listining to the generator hummm. kind of sticky and wet, but my wonderful family is safe and sound, as are all our animals. The house on the other hand is a different story.

We lost siding on both ends of the house, shingles and a front door, along with the under pinning panels. Everything that can be replaced with relative ease and a little work.

The chicken coop has a big tree top in it and so does the shelter the horses get under.

One thing is for sure, our family remained a close nit group through-out it all.We held tight together and hudled up together and survived this amazing storm, that has made me re-think any future storm.. We will deffinately have a different plan next time. As a matter of fact, I have taken many mental notes and will be taking the next approach of a hurricane alot more seriously

The worst of the storm has passed, but it has left a mess behind it. Now is the time for the real work to begin. A bunch of clean-up is on the horizon. Time for the tarps and the chain saws to come out.

Everyone, Our families prayers are with you all. Please be careful in your clean-up efforts and if possible, lend your neighbors and the elderly a helping hand if you can. I can't imagine what conditions some people are left with this morning, If I can help any of you out there, please call me at 936 563 3472. Once I get my tarp up, the rest can wait awhile. If I can get to you I will.

I was in kind of a shock when I looked my place over yeasterday and almost went into a "Man, what am I going to do now" mode. Almost to the point of being depressed some, with a "throw in the towel, before I even started mentality". If possible try to stay away from that way of thinking. That is nothing but the devil trying to drag you down. Keep your head up and maintain a positive attitude.

We can all make it through this and come out stronger. Ya'll be safe in your clean-up effort, think positive and thank God we are alive. Before you know it, we'll all be fishing at the muster, sharing stories like we should be..

There are many sources for asssistance out there for those less fortunate. If you have anything you can share, maybe we can post a new thread, called hurricane assistance or something, that will get the info out to all our friends and family on here, that might help. Feel free to help in anyway possible.

I know that I have insurance, but FEMA can be an extra source of help in a disater situation. I wouldn't count on them, but I would look in to it and see if they can help with any options. Their web site is WWW.FEMA.GOV

Ya'll stay safe and be positive and may God blesss you all through-out your clean-up efforts.

[nautic2200]

Good post Gator. Many people injure themselves or others during a clean up effort. Take your time and pay attention when a chain saw is running. And be sure you know where all of your power lines are. Do not want to run into one of those. They bite! HARD!! Be safe.

[reb]

GG Sorry about the house,main thing is the family is ok.God is in control, he will provide.Keep safe and God bless.
Hope to meet all at the muster
Rod

[Gentleben]

God reachly Blessed us and protected us during the storm, to which I was a witness, many people around me were not so lucky. We lost power in the 1st half of the storm and have not recovered ,I had to come out to work today and is why I can even get o nline . I will be stuck here for a while so won't be able to to help wayne; his parents house caught a tree so tracker is on his way over there now to help him if you have a chain saw and can help them call TRacker at 713 560 36 91 ,, waynes's phone is not working!!
my son lost 6 trees whiel he crusied across the gulf to Cozzemel, not did any house damage but the fenced suffered greatly..

[gator gar]

I drove almost a 100 miles today looking for gas. Never did get any. Now the generator is off and we are roughing it, like alot of the rest of the folks. Oh well, it'll make us stronger, I'm sure. Pictures are all taken for insurance purposes and clean-up starts tomorrow. Thank God the weather is going to cooporate. Supposed to be cool at night and nice during the day. Livable any way. Ya'll hang in there. We'll be at the muster before you know it.:applause:

[gator gar]

What a beautiful fall day to wake up to. It is Monday morning and time to start the big clean-up around here. Maybe I will be able to find some gas somewhere today too. Talk to ya'll later.....

[Big B]

I pray we all made it safe from this thing. Houses can be fixed and things replaced....

[gator gar]

My wife found gas finally, in Zavalla, Texas. Also ran into MRE's, Ice and water. So as I type I am finally back in front of a fan, enjoying the luxury of ice in my soft drink.The place is cleaned up around the house and I have a few trees to cut in the pasture. Things are returning to normal, one day at a time.:applause:

[gator]

okay i talked to a friend he owns a 65' shrimp boat. was moored at rv park at smiths point. i talked to him today the have looked for 2 days and found it a few minutes ago its half way from smiths point and i-10 about 20 miles from the water. it appears okay but land locked????????????? he also confermed that in winnie there is a barge 30 miles from high island. this is unreal. prayers to all

[Big B]

At least the weather cooperated! (after the storm)

[Ms Pawpop]

Guys and Gals, I was truly blessed to read that you are all safe. Am truly sorry for your losses. We did not have damage to the house, but the boat has damage. Couldn't get it back home before the storm hit. But there are more boats out there if I decide to get one if this one is unfixable. Take care and hope to see you all at the muster. Is it still set for Oct?

[Catzilla]

Well, me and the bride survived! So did all the youngins and grandkids. I have not had a chance to make it up to the Livingston place. I had some one check it for me and he said I need to get up there and rake them leaves! We lost power Friday at 9:00 pm and it came back on last night at 7:00 pm. The daughter and one son are still without and probably will be for another week. I sure am glad I work for a state agency so I will not lose any paydays.I feel sorry for the folks who lost everything and can't even get back to work. Let's hope our government helps all the hard working, hard hit Texans as much as they did those lazy New Orleans folks.

[BassingtxLady]

My power went off late Friday night (early Saturday morning) about 3:30 am. We live in Humble, so flooding and storm surge were not an issue.

Fortunately, we did a little planning ahead and loaded every plastic container we had with water and stuck them in the garage freezer. After two days, we begqn adding them to the refrigerator in the house.

Since I cook used to do a lot of camping and cook outside a lot, I have several propane and white gas cookstoves. Plus a propane grill that does a great job of turning into an oven.

We ate eggs, sausage and bisquits from Saturday AM to Tuesday AM. Then we ran out of eggs.

For lunch, we had seafood gumbo and cornbread for two days, then steaks for Monday and Pizza for Tuesday. Today we warmed up some ribs and part of a brisket, plus some black eyed peas and butter beans. That ended everything we trusted from the freezer.

My power came back on at 9:45 PM tonight (Wednesday)

We were lucky. no trees down, no limbs broken off. nearly all the stuff in our yard came from the neighbors who wern't so lucky.

The worst part is that everyone seems to have a generator but us. The noise made it hard to sleep with all the windows open.

Obviously, someone was looking out for us.

[Gentleben]

Morning the eye of the storm came right over my house:icon_eek: with very serious damage to alot of homes and cars ,:chop: Good Lord blessed and protected me and my family..:) My son lost 6 trees, none on his house, my daughters car got a tree on top while it sat " Protected " in a friends garage ....rest is all clean up still no power, phish on!!
Funny, kind of sick humour but I saw and heard of people running out of gas, out looking for gas, while if they had just saved their gas for the generators. Yesterday there was gas all over no lines :icon_eek:

[gator]

quick update i have been reporting in shoutboox
i have talked to layton family okay no power he has talked to john and hes okay
talked to scott and hes okay out helping with getting people water and basics
talked to bigboy there okay ole bill okay no power went by jigheads house here in dayton down fence but house appeared okay.
we got power yesterday (wed) so were good my kids and grandson left last night for home they got power also and my grandson grabbed his most valuable thing and headed to the car. as his grandpa he could have made me no prouder.

[gator]

heres a few pictures of dayton damage

[medulla762]

Ben please tell where gas is "all over no lines."

[T-111-5]

hello everyone. Dorothy &myself are ok and staying with my daughter & son-in-law in Round Rock,TX.We road it out no damage to the house but like all of you got limes & fence down.Talk to NCFL yesterday And her and the family are ok also.No mager dameage to her house. Some to her roof. She is staying in the woodlands at a hotel. Still no power in my area. They are saying maybe by next tuesday.I do hope sooner.GLAD TO READ THAT NO ONE GOT HEART. Thank the LORD.Good luck to you all.Will keep in touch.GOD BLESS.

[mj1956]

Well we all made it through with just minor fence damage. Power is back on and I went back to work Sunday. Glad to here so many here are came through OK also. God Bless.

[Gentleben]

Shell gas at corner of I-10 & Sheldon rd , Racetrack corner of FM2100 & HWY 90 shell sta corner shedlon rd and Hwy 90 just look around you bound to be one clsoe by

[medulla762]

Thanks

[GILBERT G]

well I`m glad to hear that no one got hurt and we made it thru man this was alot wrost than I thought it would be were still without power
( well my neighbores ) I have a generator so I been hosting the partys every night and feeding my neighbors sat. we had hamburgers, sunday, we had fish fry, monday , smoked wild hog, tuesday carne guisada , yesturday shrimp burgers, today will have chicken, seafood gumbo. I`v been having 25-30 people coming over every night and I love it one of my friends said the reason they don`t turn the lights on is because when they flew buy to see the damage they saw we were having a good time, well we have to make the best out of it . THANK GOD WERE FINE

[gator]

now thats what im talking bout gilbert i don t live in your neighborhood but i got a bowl and a spoon and can travel.
okay folks made a ride to a buddys house 3 blocks from bay he got water in his house but only a foot hes in good spirits has flood and home owner ins. so just cleaning up.when i left i drove south through some neigborhoods between his house and kemah bridge. seems ever house had water in it everyone i saw was out bring wet items onto there yards some house just had the studs and roof decking no walls left. was going to take pictures but i couldn't i felt taking pictures of there tradgeity was no better than some of these reporters shoving a microphone in there face saying "you just lost your house and job , how do you feel?" if there was ever a time for physical violance. i dont know why im telling you guys this other than no matter how bad we have been hit there are others that have it so much worse. i know me and the good Lord are going to talk tonight long and hard.
remmeber those that need our prayers theres alot of them.

[Bill Barrick]

Atta boy Gator and Gilbert and everybody else. We left, went to Waurika an went striper fishing, only caught one 12 inch gaspergoo. Came home Sunday with two generators in the back seat and 11 gallons of gas. Found we had only one 7 inch tree leaning against my chicken pen and the plastic blew off the small greenhouse. Expect to get power in 2 or three weeks. Keeping the two small freezers going running the generator about 12 hours a day. God Bless us all

[Jeff Gordon63]

I went up to Lake Livingston yesteray to check on my house at Cape Royale and the house made it fine. My sailboat was still tied up to the floating dock but the dock was not were it was supposed to be. All of the boat docks had broken loose and were piled up at the back of the marina. Lots of damage - what a mess!

[greyloon]

All's well in Kingwood. No power, but nice weather. Borrowed i-net, the pits.

[irfishyir2]

No power here in Plantersville, either. Darn that Entergy.........they sure are slow about getting the power back on. Too bad they are the only company in town.

[gator]

i hear you irfishyir2 but you know they go to the big towns first then work out and down to single house wire. prayers to you and yours and may the power fairys visit your town tonight.

[gator gar]

Well, here it is.....Thursday, and we just got our power restored this morning. Man, it sure feels good.Glad to hear everyone is doing good. Looks like we are just about back to normal around here.

I even found a beef heart at HEB today and after I do a little more work around here, I am going to go do a little bit of fishing. Where is Dbullard when you need him..

I have no idea, when I will be going back to work. The island park facility got swamped. That is what it gets, being surrounded on three sides by water. Oh well, I guess there is a little cash to be made sawing peoples trees up for them around houston..A brother has to do what he has to do to survive.

[GILBERT G]

well while we were having our gumbo the lights came on wow everybody was happy it seems like the NEW YEARS PARTYS we have people were riding up & down the streets honking thier horns it`s crazy it`s been a long 7 days without power we forget how easy we have it till something like this comes along

[NewCaneyFishingLady]

I was out yesterday driving around Conroe looking for a kennel that was open, since they were starting to get power. My path took me west on Hwy 105 to Lake Conroe.

The only damage that I could see of Inland Marina was a section of peeled metal roofing over the wet slips nearest the bank and the boat ramp.

April Plaza had some severe damage and they had their driveway blocked. I took these pics from the bank from across the creek. I sure hope none of you had your boat docked there.

Also, I read that the dam is damaged again and they have dropped the lake a foot to start with. I witnessed this drop with the amount of water of flowing as I passed the river on FM242. If there is more damage, they will drop it further.

[CAT KILLER EAST TEXAS]

Our Prayers Are With You Guys From East Texas Area!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CAT KILLER EAST TEXAS]

We just got power back on Thursday night at the house. Thankfully, work had electricity so I was able to get the freezer up there to save all my bream, fish fillets, and catalpa worms............woohoo! I can buy more pork, steak, etc. We are praying for you guys down there!

[Scotta]

Still without power at my house and my sisters. My poor mom is over there and I might have to go get her and take her to Shawns with this heat coming. All in all, Life is good minor inconvience considering.

[Seawings]

I am sure glad to hear everyone survived...we can rebuild, but we can't restore life. We weathered the storm down in Kingwood, just a lot of limb and leaves damage, got that cleaned up and the refrigerators / freezers cleaned out (cooked everything we could for several days...ate really well!!) The power is still out in KW (will be until Monday). Our power up on the lake came back on Tuesday night, so as soon as we'd cleaned up we came here (Thursday night). It's great to get back on the INTERNET (email) and see how everyone had survived. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of you that had damage. See you on the lake soon.

[DBullard]

Everything is good GG,We are trying to catch up at work.We had people wanting tarps,water coolers ,batteries and stuff.
We are running the warehouse on generator power.I will take some pics of the generator tomorrow.This thing has a 16 cylinder cummins and burns 20-30 gallons of fuel a hour.

[gator gar]

Don't forget about my 36 grit sanding disc and that medium rubber backing for them. Just PM me a price if you can. I sure wish you could skip work and go fishing Dbullard. Gator is holed up and won't budge til time for the muster. I'm all alone in this great big fishing world. Wait a minute, Kim just said she wants to go. She'll hang out with me and do a little fishing.

[kingwoodcatfisherman]

We got our power today at 4:43 pm ! My parents had their power restored on Saturday afternoon but the tranformer blew Monday afternoon so it is still off as of now. Since they live a couple of streets over, we got to enoy their electricity for a couple of days while ours was off. His nice neighbors next door had a large generator so they ran a couple of lines over to his house. I put my large catfish freezer on my lift truck and drove it over to their house so that I could plugged it in at my Dad's house so I didn't loose all of meat like most folks did. We gave several of the neighbors catfish that was in the other freezer in our kitchen . My wife liked coming home tonight and seeing that the kitchen freezer and refridgerator was nice, clean ,and empty. No worms, bait, or stinky catfish in it.

I had a hard time sleeping because of the neighbor's generators so I set up lights in my garage and made about 50 new jugs with the white foam at night time. I also worked on my boat trailer installing the new tongue and new lights and wiring.

We got to spend alot of time at my folks place this week. I helped my parents clean up their place and we had to replace their fence that got blown down. There were alot of trees blown down but we didn't have to worry about the flooding like many other communities had to deal with. I think things should be getting back to normal here soon. I hope that school will start soon next week.

[Blast&Cast]

I rode out the storm at work, spent 6 days at the plant (around the clock).. I don't think that this ole' boy is ever going to ride out a hurricane at a power plant ever again. My wife and kids rode out the storm in new york. We still don't have power in Huffman....Lakewood heights took a pretty bad hit. I almost felt guilty, in that my house was one of the few that did not receive any damage. I pray for those that were not as fortunate.

Just wanted to say thanks to KWCF for the catfish that he passed on to me a while back.....all of the guys at work said "thanks". We had gumbo one night, red beans and rice another night, basically we just ate alot of food.

If anyone out there is an electrician.....please drop me a line. I bought a
20 kv whole house generator, and want to get it hooked up. Let me re-phrase that, " I NEED TO GET IT HOOKED UP " My neighbor said they talked to Centerpoint, and they are saying that we won't have power restored until October 18.

[GILBERT G]

wow APRIL PLAZA sure took a hard hit my buddy that lives on the lake called me yesterday and said he`s not going to get his power back for another 3-4 weeks

[PawPaw]

Just got the 'net' back late last nite. Every body in my family made it thru with no damage to homes . We all have power back on as of last nite. Thank the Lord for his blessings. Prayers for all with Loss or other problems.

[Ole Bill]

well i survived ike me an my wife stayed in the RV which is a 30 ft. fifth wheel trailer until power went off then it became to stuffy for me with the slide outs pulled in so we went up to the pool cabanna and watched the storm. it blowed pretty good here and then the eye came over and amazed my wife with its calmness but i told her to hang on to her posterior cause the real blow was about to begin.

the whole park survived quite nicely and the only damage was one canopy on a motor home blew off and i lost the water barrier on the bottom of the big slide out...the right front of the storm here wasnt really as bad as the back half was... it hardly rocked the trailer at all actually no more than a good thunderstorm. but the back half was a wholloper doozer and did all the damage.... we lost power in the first half of the storm and just regained it yesterday evening about 5:30 pm. that was real nice but what is funny is when power went out the RV park was on a well so there went the water.

we didnt think much of it because they had city water hook up. come to find out splendora had disconnected the meter and said they wouldnt hook us back up because the previous owner hadnt paid the final bill. they said the new owner had to pay that bill before they would rehook the park.. we did with out water for 6 days while the new owner tried to get a generator to run the well. the well was to big and the generator was to small with nothing available that would run it. so i got mad and called water dept and they as much as told me as I wasnt the owner they didnt want to talk to me so I said fine but I will bet you will talk to femma after I call them. they snubbed me and said go ahead so I called femma ....

they ask me a few questions and one of them was how many people was in the park that was permanently or partially disabled and i told them me and four other people....femma sent an agent or called splendora water that very day and the water company installed the meter back that very same day. so we got water back on the evening of the 18th and power on the evening of the 19th when i called femma they also registered me and my wife and said we would be entitled to some compensation because we were without water and power for more then 5 days

so yall need to call femma. 1-800-621-3362 or go to http://www.fema.gov they told us anyone who was effected by Ike and either out of power or water for five days or more and those who had damage to their homes with in the federal declared disaster area were intitled to help according to the federal disaster laws ..

the way i look at all of this is that God was on our side and placed his hand over us to protect us from harm. I am finally able to see and read these posts and feel how blessed we are that the damage we have sustained is no worse than it is and each of us in our own way have been blessed with a new beginning and a new knowlege of our abilities to survive.

now I would like to send a special thank you to a very good friend and fishing pal and that is gator. he called after the storm was over to see that i was alright and he called regularly to keep me informed as much as he could. gator was the only touch i had with any of my friends and fishing family and as each of you checked in i knew things would be alright.

gator you and ben are the ones responsible for helping me to recoup some of the money this storm has cost me and I wont mention a name but i will take time to send a very special thankyou to the person who was able to find me some work to earn that... gator you and ben know who but I would like to be able to send him a special fishingtx thank you. he appeared just when i thought all was was ended and put me financially back on trac with my new home. so ben once again fishingtx has come through for one of its family members thank you so very much

[Scotta]

Glad to hear everyone is alright. Took mom to the airport and flew her to her brothers in baton rouge. My sisters house as well as mine will be without power untill at least next thursday. ugh.

[Scotta]

Up on Walden everyone has power

[gator]

Up on Walden everyone has power

who say money people don't have power?

[gator gar]

who say money people don't have power?

Hey Gator, we have power around here. What does that mean??? Oh,wait a minute, you have power too. :applause:

[Scotta]

That was a good one gator.

[booger red]

anyone need help around porter im available tomorrow, sunday. have a small chainsaw and a one man wrecking crew. family is cleaned up as much as we are capable so i am more than willing to help out those in need. 18 volt skill saw, saws all. send me a message if in need. im only HELP no insurance or license. by the way i work for cold water. if you cant afford that ill give you some to pay me with.

[gator]

okay heres a couple better pictures of my backyard look close at the first two 1 is the way 1 tree laid down and took the other one out on the way down the 2nd is a close up this is really amazing the squirel feed was there the whole time how did the tree falling not smash it on the way down. im not sure but i want a house built out of material the squirel feeder its tough

[Scotta]

That is very nice booger red.

[booger red]

as of now looks like ill be in new caney tomorrow. any assistance is nice. i only have one small homelite chainsaw that is older than i am. still cranks on the first pull after sitting for 3 plus years! once again i am available for HELP. i am not a contractor and not insured but more than willing to help those in need. if yall need any other help let me know. the company i work for is great. the owner encourages employees to volunteer. we can do laundry supply water ice and man power. we plan on working full time monday but emergencies to the needed are priority.

[Ole Bill]

way ta go booger red thats a great offer.

[kingwoodcatfisherman]

Well, our power went off yesterday afternoon and it is still off (:(:(:(:

[Ole Bill]

i can tell ya how it fell gator it fell very carefully so as not to bust the squirrel feeder ike didnt want the lil ole squirrels ta be hungry

[greyloon]

KWCF, guess they decided to let others share the power. We got ours back last night, maybe it was yours we got.

[fishin widower]

NCFL and I wish to express our appreciation to Booger Red for giving us some valuable assistance in our recovery from Ike. I spent one week mostly involved in emergency mangement for Houston and NCFL was safely tucked in a no electricity Hotel. This schedule did not allow for us to make our home livable again until this weekend and "Jeff" came to our rescue and assisted us even though he had family members in need also. Many thanks to you for helping us and all of FishingTx should be very proud to have members like you.

[booger red]

my pleasure, it was great to meet yall. it was an added bonus to help someone whos job entails helping others. lets all keep in mind that as long as it takes to get back to "normal", those who are working on it are busting their humps. fishin widower was working, taking care of houstonians such as my folks before taking care of his own recovery.
THANK YOU

[NewCaneyFishingLady]

On 9-15-08, while staying at the LaQuinta in The Woodlands, my neighbors (from Galveston) and I witnessed some utility men and trucks rolling into our area to help out. There must have been at least 50 trucks, at that time, and I saw more of the same trucks the next day. We were jubilant and I went back to my room for my camera so I could take these shots. They came from North Carolina and when we heard their horns and voices on their loud speakers, we went to the street to welcome them. It was a very joyful site.

The next day, I saw police, fire and emergency rescue, from Dallas, at the local Walmart. Quite a few of the utility workers stayed at the hotel where I was, I met some of them that are from Alabama. It is wonderful the way that neighbors take care of neighbors.

I want to thank all of the people that worked around the clock and those that left their homes to come to this area to help us get our life styles back quickly, from as far away as Canada.

God Bless the USA.

[greyloon]

The crews working the area North of the river off 59 for Centerpoint staged at Kingwood High, must of been 75 trucks in the lot Wednesday. They guys working the line along the greenbelt where I live were from Florida Power and Light. They said they had plenty of pines, but none as tall as ours. I saw them when riding my bike on the greenbelt. 5 or 6 hours later, they had our power back.

Gotta give thanks to all those who came from elsewhere to our aid. Even if they do get paid for it, its a real inconvenience to be away from family, friends, and local fishing. And, their acomadations weren't exactly the Ritz either. Most were sleeping in tents in parking lots.

[booger red]

right on greyloon. my pops caught a few taking a break on the greenbelt around 1, and dragged a tv out (generator power) to the yard with a cooler and they seemed to enjoy the football update. sorry he slowed them down with a bit of a longer break, but its sunday right?
although these folks are getting paid, lets keep in mind that they are still making a huge sacrifice in helping us out. lets be thankful and give a little to receive a lot.

[irfishyir2]

In case anyone hasnt heard about the State Parks closing, here is a link that shows which parks are closed.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/parkinfo/hurricane/

[greyloon]

Looks like Sea Rim may be closed permanently and things don't look that good for Galveston State Park either. Though, I've got to believe that the Galveston folk aren't going to let that park die or go over to being a wildlife refuge. To me, it should have been a no brain decision to build the visitors center on the bay side of the park, but they didn't ask for my advice.

[gator]

wiener roast at gators house burn ban is lifted :applause::applause::applause:

"got a match bud?"

[greyloon]

Power went out for two hours, went to the store to get ice and, wouldn't you know it, the power was back on. Oh well, at least the freezer part of my bait fridge was empty and I could get the three bags in it.

[Ole Bill]

i bet ya want me ta bring the relish and mustard huh

[Thin Water Tracker]

It is bad here in south La Porte I'm lucky but a lot of others weren't. This was a 5000sf house surge took it

[john]

I still don't have power..

[Scotta]

John I feel you, Im still with no power and they are tlaking sunday at the earliest. That seems like a long time but it could be worse.

[kingwoodcatfisherman]

I drove though Gentleben's neighborhood today. Every single yard had a pile of cut trees and limbs covering the entire front of each yard from each of their driveways all the way to the next neighbor's driveway. They lost some serious amounts of trees !

I noticed most of the houses around Lake Houston and around the Kingwood area close to the West Fork bridge still were without power. Wyattsdaddy told me today that their power on kingwood dr is still off. I forgot to mention it to you WD , but I would think that your landlord would forgo about two or three weeks of your rent do for next month since the power was off and you guys were not able to live in it. You might want to check into it because I think that I am correct and you have that as a legal right.

I am amazed how fast that the power company has been able to restore power considering all of the trees that were blown down from the storm. If I see some of those guys around the Lake , I may have to invite them for some catfish. I sure appreciate having my power on . My wife and kids were about to drive me crazy last week.

[greyloon]

KWCF, did you check out the River Grove ramp? As of yesterday, it was still closed.

[kingwoodcatfisherman]

I haven't checked it out yet. I talked to Steven H this morning . I am trying to remember what he told me . I think it is still closed because of a tree across the road but he walked down and checked it out and the water level is about even with the dock. A bunch of trash in the river and a couple of new stumps in the river sticking up. .

I need to take a jet ski ride soon ! I have a full tank of gas left over from last week.

[greyloon]

They are releasing water from Conroe, so the W. Fork is up. It had gone down to almost normal levels, but the damage to the Conroe dam forced the release so they could examine and probably begin repairs. Normal during this summer was around 11 ft. Its at 17.09 tonight at the Porter Heights gage. That's another 6" since last night.

[willie]

well everything is good with me. just been to busy cleaning up the house and been working everyday getting the plant back up.

[kingwoodcatfisherman]

KWCF, did you check out the River Grove ramp? As of yesterday, it was still closed.


I went down there yesterday (Thursday night) . It is open and everything looks back to normal . River level is even with the dock.

***Something real important though**** is that there is a big sand bar now in the middle of the river channel about a 100 yards long. It is down toward those Froest Cove apartments . If I remember , that was 7-8 feet of water before. This is going to be an unfortunate surprise for those big fancy wake boats. My jet ski buddy Eddie Mancuso stuck sticks in it but it isn't marked very well especially if you are flying down the river at night like I like to do.

[greyloon]

Jeff, did more sand wash into the bar that runs close to the ramp? That one has been getting longer each storm.

[kingwoodcatfisherman]

Jeff, did more sand wash into the bar that runs close to the ramp? That one has been getting longer each storm.

I couldn't tell. I didn't have my graph . I may go back out today or tomorrow. I will let you know. I have never seen sand piled up like that in the middle of the river before. I wonder were all of it came from ?

[greyloon]

I couldn't tell. I didn't have my graph . I may go back out today or tomorrow. I will let you know. I have never seen sand piled up like that in the middle of the river before. I wonder were all of it came from ?

The sand came from the sand mining up river. The river overflowed the pits most likely and washed it down. Some probably came from Spring creek, it has a lot of sand banks...neat ones good for camping or just hanging out.

[NewCaneyFishingLady]

This article was in the Houston Chronicle Sunday. Ironically, I have been waiting 3 years for Sea Rim Park to open, since Hurricane Rita tore it up, so I could do some fishing there. Looks like the wait will be much longer now, if they even decide to rebuild it. I sure hope the state rebuilds it.

Also, rumor has it that all of the piers along Port Arthur's Pleasure Island and coast were washed away.

Wildlife refuges, state parks slammed by Ike

By CINDY HORSWELL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Oct. 12, 2008, 11:19PM

KAREN WARREN CHRONICLE

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It may take several years and more than $150 million to undo the damage Hurricane Ike did to the state parks and national wildlife refuges along the Gulf Coast that once attracted more than half a million tourists a year.
The storm eroded beaches, washed away structures and destroyed wildlife habitats in the three refuges and at two state parks between SabinePass and Galveston, officials said.
SeaRimState Park and GalvestonState Park, which by itself attracted 250,000 tourists a year, suffered $80 million in damage. Ironically, Sea Rim had been on the verge of reopening after being closed for three years to make $700,000 in repairs needed after Hurricane Rita.
Now, TexasParks and Wildlife's regional director Justin Rhodes expects it to take at least three to five years to reopen the parks.
``After Rita, we still had a park left at Sea Rim to come back to. This time we don't. Ike has destroyed everything,'' said Rhodes, acknowledging the state has not decided exactly what should be rebuilt in such a hurricane-vulnerable area.
During Ike, a 14- to 20-foot surge flattened the dunes that protected the marsh at Sea Rim. The bay also carved a river underneath Sea Rim's newly built headquarters and visitor center.
The new center, no longer 75 yards from the shore, was itself ravaged and turned into a stick skeleton. Other structures also were damaged beyond repair in the 4,400-acre park. Utilities were ripped out and portions of an asphalt parking lot sank 4 feet.
Similarly, the 2,000-acre Galveston state park lost 75 yards of beach from the surge, as well as its new visitor center. New bathrooms, shelters and utilities that served RV campers were destroyed.
"Water from the bay now flows into the park," said Rhodes.
It's expected to cost about another $72 million to make repairs at three refuges that span 109,000 acres — McFaddin, Anahuac and Texas Point. No date is set for when these facilities might reopen, said Tim Cooper, U.S. Fish and Wildlife's project leader over the refuges.
"It will be gradual, probably done in phases," said Cooper, in answer to when people may return to hunt, swim or view wildlife.
Ike also washed holes in the asphalt of Texas 73 that leads to Sea Rim and the 66,000-acre McFaddin refuge. Five buildings, including the new visitor center perched atop 15-foot pilings, were turned to rubble there, said Cooper.
"We know the surge got very high there, because we found floating material on top of the telephone poles," he said.

Hot tubs and refrigerators

Tons of debris have been hauled away from all these sites, but still more remains. At the 34,000-acre Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, for example, a refrigerator full of food lies in the middle of a butterfly garden and a purple hot tub crowns a pile of debris at a bird-watching overlook.
Anahuac, like the other refuges, is internationally known as a destination for bird watchers. More than 300,000 ducks and geese winter in Anahuac's grassy marsh, while migrating songbirds blanket the area in the spring. Small stands of trees in the refuges provide some of the first rest stops for the migrant birds making a 600-mile pilgrimage across the open water from Mexico.
Alligators also are usually plentiful along with other reptiles and small mammals.
But the green vegetation in these marshlands has since turned muddy brown after being drowned in saltwater, said Cooper. The brown marsh stretches 10 miles inland then stops like a dirty ring around a bathtub. Numerous dead alligators and small mammals, who like most wildlife need fresh water to survive, have been hauled away.
This past week the only alligator seen during a tour of the Anahuac refuge was a small one who sought refuge in a puddle of fresh rainwater on a road there. A hundred Roseate Spoonbills and white egrets were the only flocks seen, and they were clustered on a small pond just off the refuge, which had been pumped with fresh water.
"Those birds were huddled there like it was a Red Cross shelter. It's heartbreaking to see their home destroyed," said Gary Clark, a lifelong birder and naturalist.
Cooper agreed: "We need some good rains to flush out as much salt as we can."

High saline level

If the marsh stays as salty as it is now, he predicts most of the vegetation and trees could die. The butterfly garden's dead stems, for instance, have no flowers to supply nectar for the Monarch butterfly that will soon arrive there.
Tubers and roots that waterfowl usually feed upon also are dead; and a stand of willow trees where songbirds like to rest are mostly bare although a few limbs are valiantly trying to resprout.
The saline level in the coastal marsh there has risen as much as five times above normal, said Steve Wilburn. He manages a nearby hunting lodge, the Cajun Outback, located on 2,200 acres reachable only by boat on TrinityBay.
While a survivor of Hurricane Carla in 1961, the Cajun Outback proved no match for Ike, Wilburn said.
The rustic lodge, visited by such notables as Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and Nashville singer Billy Dean, and a half dozen other lodges in Chambers County were demolished.
It's critical to rebuild the refuges, parks and lodges, officials said. Visitors to the three refuges pump an estimated $8.8 million a year into the local economies, Cooper said.
"Nature tourism is one of the main industries in our rural county," Chambers County Judge Jimmy Sylvia said.

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hurricane/ike/6054908.html