We survived Hurricane Ike ... something that I hopefully won't have to say again. Since the last "big one" was in 1900, the chances that I'll endure another one are slim. I'm thankful.
I will admit, however, that it was a tad exciting - all the leading up to it. I love weather so I was a little anxious to see what it would be like. All of my work friends have made fun of me because I've known the exact track of the storm since before it hit Cuba.
Our home was not in a mandatory or even voluntary evacuation zone. No matter how curious I was, if I was in one of those zones, we would have left. Even as astute as I am with the weather, I still believe that there are people wiser than I... and had I seen "77494" scroll across the bottom of the TV, we'd have been to the car before you could blink!
The church shut down at 2PM on Thursday, Pro-Mark just before that ... which allowed us amble time to prepare. Don and I divided up duties for the way home. He stopped to get batteries. I stopped to get ice (dry and bagged). School didn't dismiss early, but I was able to meet Avery as he got off the bus at daycare and grab Piper to head home. Avery asked why I was there early and I told him that a hurricane was coming. He said, "Mom, hurricanes kill people." Good grief - who told him that? I told him about all the fun stuff we would get to do with this hurricane, like possibly sleep in the closet and eat fun food that we don't get to eat normally. That pacified him.
Piper's teacher had, evidentially, talked to them about the hurricane. Her teacher told them that there was "time to prepare and time to ask questions." That sounds good in theory. Heed my warning ... never tell a three year old girl that there is "time to ask questions" or if you do, please specify that it only applies to questions about the hurricane!!! Piper nearly drove us crazy with questions about everything in life. When we would ask her to please give us a little break Avery would respond "But it's hurricane day, she's allowed to ask questions."
We were told by all weather outlets that the rains would begin at noon on Friday and that the eye would make landfall in Galveston around midnight. Some of that was true. We spent Thursday evening and Friday morning preparing. We cleaned out a closet that leads under our staircase for our "safe closet" ... we dug out all the candles, matches, flashlights and batteries, we took baths and naps in case we were up all night, we moved patio furniture into the garage and tied the grill to a post on the back patio. We did, really, all we could think to do.
Both kids were totally put out that the hurricane took so long to get to us. They were ready by dinner on Thursday night. We were told, as I mentioned before, that we would begin receiving rain by noon on Friday. We got our first drop at about 1 AM. Granted, that helped with us not getting the flooding other places received, but I know two kids that thought this hurricane business was all hype!
One of the oddest things about the storm occurred at sunset. Our family room and kitchen windows face the back of our house. We had the shades open so that we could keep an eye on the weather from the two rooms that we are in the most. All of a sudden around 6:30, I looked outside to the brightest sky I have ever seen. No picture that we took has done justice to the pink that was in the sky. There was a line of the brightest fuchsia right at the horizon. Above it were rolling black clouds. It looked like something out of a movie. Words can't even describe how beautiful and scary it was all at the same time. I've never seen anything like it.
We finally put the kids down around 10 PM, they were so wired up and excited. We didn't have them sleep in the safe closet because there isn't an air vent in there. I'm sure it would have been stuffy even with the door open. Instead, they slept on the floor. Each wore a glow bracelet to (1) help us find them if the power went out and (2) help them be able to see something cool if the power went out.
Don and I had pillow and blanket and each grabbed a couch for the long haul. Here's my two-cents: If a hurricane is heading your way, don't rent the movie "The Perfect Storm" because it's nothing like that! There was no thunder, there was no lightning - just rain and the most stunning wind you've ever imagined. And, it wasn't like the wind just kicked up every now and then ... it roared continuously. Then, when you thought there was no possible way it could blow any harder - there was a gust 30 mph more than that. It was one of those things that you wanted to stand at the window and watch, but you were afraid of what might come blowing through it at any moment.
Around 2:45 AM, our cable went out. This was the biggest scare of the whole thing. It's one thing to know that a hurricane is right over your house, it's another to suddenly not be able to see what's next on a map. We knew that tornadoes were a possibility so that was an issue and with it being the middle of the night and pitch black - we were totally dependent upon seeing that weather map to know what was going on. We also lost all means to tell what was coming next - were we in a break, was the next band of wind 5 miles out from us, was it over??? The radio stations were only talking about Galveston. Hello! We know about Galveston ... total devastation, now on to the people sitting in their homes. Us, the non-evacuation zone people. The people you said didn't have to flee!!!
All in all, once morning broke and the sun began the rise, the worst of the storm was over. We have damage in our neighborhood, but nothing like the other areas of our little town. We are very lucky and very blessed that we were safe and sound through the night.
We have decided that Category 2 is our limit on hurricanes. (Actually, Ike lacked 1 mph being a Category 3. Ike had winds of 111 mph, and at 112 mph it would have up'd the class.) So, should a Category 3 or higher be headed our way - we are headed to Disney World. We almost went this time, but hated to leave the house not knowing how it would hold up.
We took a lot of video footage beginning Friday, so I'll post that soon! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers and messages! It meant a lot to us.
