When I first heard that Hurricane Ike could be coming our way, I thought, like a lot of people, we would be missed. Unfortunately we weren’t. This is an account of what happened to us.
Joe kept texting me the Wednesday before it hit that he was having a bad feeling about Ike. No one was really sure where it was going, but Houston was definitely in the line of fire. After watching all day Wednesday, I decided I needed to listen to Joe. We got home from work, packed our bags, boarded up the house, and headed to Austin. Thankfully there was no traffic. We arrived in Austin at his sister Lauren’s house. We were tired but already our eyes were glued to the TV like macaroni on a child’s construction paper. The next morning we grabbed our things and the dogs and headed to Joe’s parent’s house in Lubbock. My parents live much closer to the water and their store is in Seabrook. I kept telling them to leave and finally at 4 or so they did. A mandatory evacuation was called by noon that day for our area and my parent’s area.
When we got to Lubbock, all we wanted to do was watch the pretty lights on the TV. We decided to go up to J’s (a restaurant his parents own in Lubbock) and get hurricanes for the hurricane. Bad idea. We both felt it the next day! That was fine with us though since all we wanted to do was watch the weather channel and see what Ike would bring. By Friday evening Ike was felt in Houston. It was a catch 22 because we wanted to see what would happen, but it was sad at the same time. The next day, Ike had passed and definitely left his mark. It’s quite surreal to see the places you know and love on national news torn to bits. We stayed in Lubbock until Wednesday and got back to Houston Thursday. The drive back was odd.
Driving into Houston you could tell something big had happened. All over town trees were down and roofs were covered in blue tarps. We were anxious to see our neighborhood and house. Thankfully all that was wrong were a few big tree limbs down. Mom and dad were not as lucky. Out of 12 trees, 10 of them up-rooted. One fell on the shed, one fell on the garage, and one on the front of the house. They also had a leak in their master bath. The clear lake area is definitely different.
There seems to be a depressed spirit over this area now. Neighborhoods are not the same. People lost houses, memories, and the life they had made. Boats still line the streets torn apart never to return to the sea. I never thought this would actually happen or that when it did it would effect me so much. It’s weird going to work and knowing your co-workers are staying in hotels and have no home to go to at night. It’s very sobering and strange. Ike’s wrath is evident and unfortunately will be for a while.
