Uebelhart . Net

still no power - probably won’t today due to downed lines and cracked pole.
We have escaped major damage - lost part of our fence and a lot of tree limbs, will need to do some repainting.

We are out driving by our friends places to let them check them out.

Cell service at home is spotty.

Broadcasting from the hurricane winds!

Luckily the eye looks to pass us to the east. The ship channel, deer park, etal may get really screwed though.

The strong parts of Ike are over us now - very high winds, heavy rain & noises. We can hear stuff being blown about - wondering if we’ll have a fence left. No huge crash yet - so the garage is probably still up.
We are getting water in by the back door - winds are blowing it under and around edges - using a blanket to keep it contained.
Warm & humid.

Dogs & guests are ok. (well, 1 cat is a little freaked out)

Gonna go back to sleep now.

we (whole neighborhood) lost power around 9:45 pm, it’s now 12:30 am. Power company has stated on news - no work until storm has passed.

Updating this via iPhone and candlelight - gotta love technology.

Radar shows eye still offshore. We are receiving light rain and moderate winds with heavy gusts.

Figured I would make the title of this blog sound like all those talking heads on TV do.  Bunch of blowhard fear mongers.  “Look at me standing in the water with high power TV equipment.  Look at that guy filming the beach with his camcorder - you should not do that.”  Reporting from Galveston “Everyone should have left Galveston by now.  If not you are in real danger and there is no reason to stay!”  Putzes.

On a more realistic side: The house is boarded up, we have plenty of food and drink, a few friends are staying with us.  We’re cool.
I fully expect to lose power if the winds are bad - all of our electrical lines are above ground here, and the trees have not been trimmed in this area for a few years.  But we can survive that without a problem.  If worse comes to worse, we have plenty of friends we could go to that may have power, and several out of town locations to escape to.

So that’s the 4 PM update for today.

We are getting some scattered showers and the wind has picked up, but not bad yet.  Heck I mowed the lawn this morning and teh bgrass trimmings are still on the driveway.

More later.

Some Pics (click on image for bigger version)
Target, I guess they are ready to be one:

Braes Bayou - before the storm hit - about what it usually looks like this time of year with no rain for a week.  Let’s see how it changes in a few hours and days:

I Shoot Looters - yep this is on my house.  The flower pot I put on during Rita for a little beauty:

Boarding job to the front & side of the house:

Boarding job to the back - a little more slip shod with odd sized boards cobbled together.  The little square “open” are on the lower right of the main boarded thing is the doggie door in our sliding glass door.  Also you can kinda make out the peep holes I drilled in the center of the door panels:

8:30 AM - Today is prep day, since Ike is heading strait for us now.

As of 8 this morning, the eye is projected to pass wither over us (http://ibiseye.com/) or just a smidge to the west (http://www.stormpulse.com/).  This should happen early Saturday morning, but we should should start getting the high winds and rain around noon-2pm Friday.

We plan on staying here - we are out of the storm surge zone by a long shot, and this house has never flooded.  Neighbors say that during Allison (worse flood in Houston), the streets got deep, but the houses remained dry.  But last year we were rezoned into the 100 year flood plain, so we never know (but we do have flood insurance).

I’ll be getting the plywood/window covers ready and picking up the yard.  I’ll also do a grocery/water run shortly.  We have alot of water, but just incase.

Looks like we’ll also be taking some friends in for the event - 2 or 3 people and 2 cats. Hurricane Party!

Depending on if we keep power - I’ll post updates through the storm, and pics.

For those that want to see where we are in relation to the storm path: Google Map of the Track.  We are located about 1/2 way on a line between the SW corner of loop 610 & that little “tail” sticking up above the words Missouri City.  (exact map of our location here, but no storm track)

11:15 edit - latest path projections have moved the eye about 20 miles west - so the eye is out, but we are still in the strong wind path.  Heading out to do some minor shopping right now.

2:45 Pm Update: Path still pretty much the same - it’s gonna pass about 20 miles west, then turn and go about 20 miles north.  Oh Joy.
Did some grocery shopping - hotdogs, cereal, pop tarts, chips & salsa, chili, gatorade, sandwich meats, and canned pineapple.  I’m good for awhile.
Also hit the Wallyworld for small propane tanks for the camp stove - totally out.  Said everywhere was out, even Sams and Academy.  Bought a couple of Sterno cans and bags of charcoal instead.  If we do lose power, I’ll pop open the tent trailer and get the stash of propane tanks we have somewhere in there.
Got 2 sides of the house boarded, taking a cool down break before I hit the other 2.  We gotta look into getting nice shutters that are decorative and functional instead.  This sucks.

 8:30 PM Update: Whew, I am beat.  The windows are done except for one sheet on the back sliding door - got too dark to do it, so it’s on the list for the morning.  I am sweaty and stinky!  I’ll take some pics in the morning to post.  I put a few cameraphone shots on facebook.
The latest projection shifted the storm east now, so we are on the west side of the storm - much better for us.
Now I gotta go get a beer.