Here's Ike

[MARTHA63]

My fellow Texans who may be in the path of Ike, as my family is, I wish you safety and well being. Please take care and be sensible. If this is your first hurricane, pay close attention to news reports, but do not panic, it is a good news story for the media. Listen to the city/county officials. For those who have been through it many times before, you know what to do. Let us meet here as long as the electricity holds and update one another, giving a glimpse of the storm from the inside to our Moon Family. Be safe!

[flamingo57]

Hope it doesn't get too bad for you all.
I will keep you & your family in my prayers hon!
mkissesfor

[ivan137]

Take Care!
Godspeed!!!

[mininessie pearl draconis]

ohh!
take care MARTHA63
sorry about.
hope all be right for you alls.
hughs!!

[Antun]

Be careful martha63.

[MARTHA63]

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We have used plywood to boaerd up our business and the south side of our home. I went to the store and purchased our supplies. We are lucky because we have a generator which will keep our fridge, fan and some light going during the storm, but also have candles for other rooms. We also have an RV we can stay in after the storm if the electricity is out so we will have all the comforts, albeit on a smaller scale. Galveston Island is already flooding with mandatory evac for the entire Island and surrounding lowlying areas. Seas up 5ft already. Gas is running low or out all over and lumber moving fast. Foodstuffs getting low as well. School today, but not tomorrow.

[flamingo57]

Let us know you are safe when you can dear.
Have been watching the news & weather...
and praying for all my Texan friends!

[AlliraKarinya]

Be safe Martha saying a prayer from all here in Australia xoxoxo

[Lady Amethyst]

Be safe and take care.Sending my prayers to you and yours.Hugs~

[Lady Magical]

Martha & all fellow Texans,
Take good care of each other, your all in my thoughts & prayers.

[kittyvibe]

wishing for the best to all in the path of Ike.

[flamingo57]

well, here in Illinois we even felt the effects of Ike...
lots of little category 1 funnels spawned.
We have hits & misses of crops down, wind took out
my satellite dish & my flower bed looks like a small bomb
went off in the middle of it lol...
I can't even imagine the devastation some of you in the path
suffered down south.
My prayers are still with you.
Am posting before & after pics of my flower bed,
not to make light of the real damage down south,
but mostly to keep this thread updated.
And hoping to hear from Martha soon.

[mininessie pearl draconis]

ohhh!
i hope all of you are fine!
all my love for you and take care my friends!

[MARTHA63]

My friends, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.Here is an update.My family and I survived intact, we are lucky! So many lost so much! Our beloved summer playgrounds are destroyed. Galveston is a mess, but they will rebuild. Boliver is gone, Crystal Beach and Gilchrest are wiped off the face of the earth. These are the places which brought life to My Summer Place entry. They are JUST GONE!! People GONE!! High Island was 30 ft above sea level, they had no flooding just wind damage and noe utilities. They are on wells, but the state officials will NOT send them aid, and if they leave to get food or fuel for generators, they are not allowed to return, OH how UNFAIR and UNJUST! Rural areas on the bad east side of the storm are not getting aid! I have no malice towards New Orleans and their suffering, but there are no FEMA centers set up on the hard hit East side, no PODs with ice/water/MRE's. The easier hit and upperclass West side has these things. We are still without electric, but I am not complaining for us, we have generators, the RV, and money to put gas in the gennies. There are many who dont, pray for them and the forgotten on High Island and Crystal Beach/Gilchrest/Boliver, who they say are being punished for staying. Here are some pics of my neighborhood. I am on gennie and wireless card, which is unreliable at times. Again, thank you all, so much, I feel your prayers really helped us.

[flamingo57]

mkissesfor
Very glad to hear you weathered the storm!
I have seen photos of some of the devastation
and my heart goes out to those people.
I do wish more had heeded warnings & left the areas,
but I can't blame them. Not sure what I would do
if I were asked to leave/evacuate my home,
that would be hard.

[MARTHA63]

Most people did leave who were told to. Some did not. You have to understand the background here. The Gulf coast is all but refineries and chemical plants which can spread airborne death for miles should an explosion or release occur. Drilled into our heads in case of an accident is shelter in place with windows closed/ac off until further notice. Then came Katrina and her devastation. It scared the officials and the people, so that when Rita came a few weeks later everyone was under mandatory evac for every coastal county and inland as well. It was a nightmare. There was a SOLID (I am not exagerating) line of cars on the freeways for 200 miles just stopped. Cars out of gas and pushed to the side, overheating, people without water and food. All the stores along the way closed, the police wouldnt let you turn around, the exits blocked! My husband took our kids to east Texas to my sister. Normally a 2-3 hour trip, it took 16 HOURS round trip (yes he made it back, he found every little logging road there ever was to get back to me) I stayed to protect our home and business til his return. It became the freeway of death, Elderly people died of heat stroke and dehydration, a bus full of nursing home patients burned. It traumatized every person who evacuated, and they said never again. Now, there are not enough buses or shelters for everyone they want to leave. How do you go if you dont have the money for gas? the money for a motel? the money for food? Its very hard!
Everyone, for a moment think of the disasters that your area faces, then pretend the after affects last for weeks and weeks. No home, if you have it, no job and income. But you still have to eat, pay bills, etc... And if you dont have insurance? Believe it or not, Fema does not help everyone, only some people. So leave? Stay? Hard to say. And that is my last dismal rant on the subject, the last disgusting, depressing tirade on the social effects of Ike!
Comment if you want to, think about it please, but we will let the rest die out here. Goodbye Ike......

[Heyokah]

I understand all you are saying Martha. I live 2 miles from the Kemah Boardwalk. Our home survived our yard did not (half of my maple tree is on the neighbors roof). Unfortunatly many of our friends homes did not. I am using a cell card to be online. My power comes and goes. We are voluntering to help do what needs to be done. Things do seem to be getting better. My best friends uncle was on the Island, we still have not heard from him. I hope everything works out for you and your family. My prayers are with you. I wonder if this is how Tina Turner felt.

[mininessie pearl draconis]

i have a knot in my heart !!
is terrible !
i´m happy you are fine ..but sad for all the other people.
i hope things can become better for them!

[MARTHA63]

Heyokah, thank you. So glad you came through. Many prayers from my heart and all those here on the Moon. May all our loved ones come through this, and may comfort come for those whose families have not. A special prayer for your friend's uncle and thank you for your volunteer spirit. On a lighter note, those cell cards are both great and frustrating, gets you on but so slow..... used one myself after the storm.