After the Storm: Not Exactly Calm Yet

Hubby and I are among the most fortunate in the area to have power back to their homes. About one-half of city residents still are without. Some people have had their power come on only to go off again. In the surrounding area, the percentage of homes and business without power is much higher. Of course, other areas, including just one-half hour away will need complete rebuilding. Houston will be several days getting everyone up and running and of course, Galveston is really in bad shape. 

For Astro fans, we took an extra hit in that they went to Milwaukee to play their home games and lost. Now, if they had just called, I think they could have played during the day in Toronto and you know how at home they would have felt! 

We will tell you a little more about what we feel about this experience at http://grey-approach.blogspot.com when we post our story there. 

Utility and Law Enforcement vehicles have been going up and down in front of our home and we can hear the “outside voices” of children still home from school. (Some schools and churches are being used as Evacuee Centers.) 

Because evacuees have not been authorized to go back to the Texas Coast, or even worse, perhaps because they have nothing to go back to, we have about 4,000 extra people in town. Our population is about 33,000 so that is about 12% more people. That makes for a lot more traffic than we are used to and puts a bigger burden on our supermarkets and restaurants than usual. 

Water and ice has been offered at various locations but there were long lines and National Guard was on duty to keep things orderly. 

With tragedy like Hurricane Ike also comes crime. It is very important for all residents to keep their guards up. So, it is not exactly business as usual yet.