Ike Leftovers

The blog has been silent for the past few days, which is nothing unusual, the difference this time is the reason behind the silence.

The remnants of hurricane Ike slammed into our area hard, leaving 170,000 people without power as I type . Boygenius and I were lucky - we managed to keep our power, but most of the folks we know have not fared as well. They have damage to their homes, automobiles, and lost quite a few old trees. Folks were literally getting into fist fights in the parking lots at local gas stations. Not the best side of human nature, especially in a time of challenges. The good news is that they seem to be a minority. For the most part, people have been assisting their neighbors and trying to pull together as a community.

The school where I work is also without power, and our facilities department has been working hard to make sure that the campus has been cleared of debris an that folks are safe and as comfortable as can be expected. Good work by a bunch of great guys. For my part, I typed some informational bulletins for students by gas powered generator and we got out as much info as we had. I also kept the generator powered coffee pots a' brewing to keep folks going :)

Power is on in some areas in the community, (perhaps 30 percent) and some stores and restaurants are back in business. This greatly helps out the power-less and keeps things from being a lot more hectic than they would be otherwise...I think it would be a whole different situation if this were not the case.

After seeing what we received here, I can only imagine what the pour folks in Galveston have been facing. My thoughts are prayers are with them with hopes for safe and speedy reconstruction efforts. Godspeed.

I want to take a moment to make a heartfelt request to anybody who might happen to read this. If you don't already have a kit put together for an emergency situation, please do so. You never know what is going to happen and it always pays to be prepared. This storm took many by surprise, and they were without many of the items that they need to make it even a few days without power. Don't let it happen to you.


Also: make sure you throw a spare ball of yarn or two in there as well. I keep yarn in my emergency kit right under the flashlights and emergency radio. Nothing helps keep your mind off trouble like a good 'ole ball of fluff! I'm just saying.

Stay safe y'all.