Quite a Summer, indeed. We kicked it off with the kid having a seizure, enjoyed a little vacation, wrapped up an old gig and started a new one, had our home broken into (with laptop stolen) on the day a harmless storm came through, dodged a couple much more harmful storms, and then took Grandaddy Ike right up the gut. Yeah, I haven't been around much over the last few months, and those are some of the reasons why.
I really do not know what has been going around the national news, but Ike was a real doozy. No, it is not the worst that has ever come through, but it was a doozy. The Houston area is hurting, but recovering. Really, I am amazed at how quickly things are coming back around after less than a week. People around here are very resilient. We tend to start fixing things, rather than waiting around for someone to come fix them and complaining when no one shows. Do not get me wrong, though, we have received a LOT of help and we are grateful for EVERY BIT of it! We also understand that, right now, we are benefitting greatly from lessons HARD LEARNED a few years ago when Katrina and Rita made a much larger mess.
Still, more than half of the Houston area has no power. Very many folks around here are without clean water, and many more only got it back within the last couple days. However, a lot businesses are back up and running in some capacity, if not full capacity, and that brings a lot of hope to those who have more than a few shingles missing.
Of course, Galveston is in very bad shape, and I know the media has covered a lot of that. What people forget about Galveston is that it is not very large. The resident population only is around 60,000, and the land area is fairly small. There is not a lot of room for infrastructure, so when something comes through like this, it really messes them up. Of course, they also are an island, and that makes for some special issues, on its own.
As bad as things are or have been around here and Galveston, we really were spared the worst of the storm. To the east of Galveston and Houston lie the Bolivar Peninsula and lower Chambers County. They took it worse than anyone else. We just had to deal with category 1 and 2 winds, but they had to deal with categoy 4 storm surge, and photos looks like some tornados went through there, too. I don't know know how familiar y'all are with those areas, but I grew up nearby and spent a lot of time in them (especially Bolivar). These aren't communities with a lot of money and infrastructure. These aren't people who can just pick up at a moment's notice and leave town for a week. Many folks around there get by on very little, and now, they have nothing. They are the story that we have not seen on CNN. They are the photos we have not seen on the websites. And, I fear they are the bodies that have not yet been counted.
When you see that photo of a Galveston block that is well trashed or you hear about how a million or so people in Houston still have no power, think about those stories that are yet to be told. This one was a doozy.
TL
Well, It's Been Quite a Summer
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