Friday, September 12, 2008

Ike Takes Aim

Here in Houston we have Hurricane Ike bearing down on us and it looks like Friday night could be a pretty wild ride. When I was younger I used to secretly hope each year that a hurricane would hit us just for the excitement. Now that I’m a sober, settled, middle-aged father and home owner I’m just praying the whole thing fizzles. At this point it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I’ll try to give you a report this weekend if the power comes back on quickly.

[Update Sept 12, 10:45 am]
It's still 16-18 hours before landfall. It's just a breezy day so far here in our neighborhood on the west side of Houston, about 60 miles inland. Our preparations are complete and we're glued to the tube watching the continuous local coverage. The storm has hardly strengthened overnight, which is good news, but the size of this thing makes it really scary. The storm surge began in the early morning hours and many coastal neighborhoods are already flooded. Long time residents are amazed that the flooding is already so bad this long before landfall, before even a drop of rain has fallen. The houses we are seeing right now on TV as the helicopters fly overhead will probably not even be there tomorrow if Ike hits where it is predicted.

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