Saturday, September 13th, 2008
The winds picked up during the night last night and we lost power about midnight. Because the windows were boarded up, the sound of the wind and rain was muffled and did not disturb our sleep. But there were many who spent a fearful night kept awake by the sounds of the wind and debris hitting their houses.
About 5 am, Dave got up and put his head lamp on. He wanted to see what was going on outside so went upstairs to look out the small bathroom windows above the tub/shower surrounds that didn’t get boarded up. I was curious, too, so followed him upstairs. But it was still too dark to see anything. We went back to bed and slept in til 8 am.
By then, the eye of the storm had passed over us and Ike was on its way north. Still, the winds were in the 50 to 60 mph range, by our estimations. Getting the generator hooked up to the house was quite the adventure. The DVD and one of our neighbors warned us all about the danger of opening doors and windows during the storm and creating sudden air pressure changes. So we ventured out a back garage door cautiously before opening the front garage doors.
Dave hit the button for the garage door opener only to realize – duh! – without power they don’t open. It was then we realized the mistake we made in placing the generator by the garage door and not leaving a pathway from the back of the garage to the front of the garage to open the door manually. We also did not think to leave a path to the electrical panel to flip the main circuit breaker. So, mental notes to self: Next time, make sure there is a clear pathway to the electrical panel and the generator is more accessible.
Since he knew he was going to get drenched, Dave wore his swim trunks, a wind breaker to soften the sting of pelting rain and his sandals. It looked like it should be cold outside but the temperature was quite pleasant. With the generator ready to go, Dave grabbed the handle and carted it down the driveway, up the sidewalk and over to the north side of the house. While he had been getting the generator set up, I took pictures of the storm but soon realized that there is really no way to capture the force of the winds or the amount of water coming down through still photos. About two minutes after Dave left with the generator, I saw him return – with the generator in tow.
When I asked him what was wrong, he said that the generator wouldn’t start and that it had done this before. He should have let the engine warm up a bit when he fired it up in the garage. He indicated it should start right up in a couple of minutes. So we waited. But when he pulled the cord again, it almost started and then died. After a few more failed attempts, he decided to quit wasting time and get a can of fuel starter to give it a boost. He pulled off the cap to the spark plug, sprayed in some starter and pulled the cord. The engine started and then died. He tried it again. Same result.
Next, Dave pulled off the cover to the air filter and sprayed the fuel starter more directly into the engine. He pulled the cord, the engine started and then died. He tried it again – same thing. Then he took the fuel starter in his left hand and sprayed continuously as he pulled the cord with his right hand. The engine started and sputtered along but it just would not stay on. As Dave started checking the engine for problems, he realized he had forgotten to turn the engine ignition switch to the on position. He turned to me and said, “Duh! I forgot to turn it on!” He flipped the switch to the on position, pulled the cord and the engine started right up and sounded strong. Dave raised both arms up in the air and shouted, “It’s a miracle!” It was hilarious and we were both laughing.
Back into the storm, Dave marched with the generator, got it hooked up to the house and started turning circuit breakers on. By then, it was about 10:30 and we were both more than ready for some breakfast. It was wonderful to be able to turn on our computers but soon discovered that we had no internet access.
The winds died down between noon and 1 pm. We were able to get satellite reception and turned on the news to get a recap of the storm situation. Galveston had been wiped out and millions were without power. Dave checked in with all of our neighbors and everyone seemed to be just fine, though without power. Young trees planted within the last year were lying flat on the ground around the neighborhood but none of the houses on our street had sustained any damage from flying debris or downed trees. Large trees had come down all around his Mom’s house on the next street over but had missed the house itself. Two doors down, though, the homeowner had tied a rope around the six huge pine trees in his back yard about 20 feet up. Every single tree had snapped right at the rope line and came down into his neighbor’s pool.
By mid-afternoon there were myriads of cars driving around to survey the local damage and we joined them to check in on friends. Lots of big trees had been uprooted or snapped in half but very few actually hit nearby houses and caused damage. An older housing development nearby (see photo above) had lots of big, old growth oaks and maples come down across fences and block street access but only a few houses sustained serious damage.
The man-made lakes in our development (above) were created to be part of the drainage system to control flooding. Flood gates can be opened or closed to release water into a nearby river system. The water level in the lakes was very high but had not flooded any homes or adjacent streets. We saw water bubbling out of some of the manhole covers and knew the system was full but the flooding control plan was working. That was a big relief.
The new housing development to the west of ours did not fare so well. When we heard that development was flooded we headed over there to check on friends. We had not gone far into the neighborhood when we found ourselves a foot deep in water. It was flooded everywhere. I thought it was pretty cool – I love driving through deep puddles and splashing the water up over the car. But when Dave saw a big truck stop up ahead and start backing up, he figured there was a reason and turned around, too.
The Estates have no sidewalks and no sewer system so they don’t pay the annual Montgomery Utility District taxes of almost a thousand dollars. But individual septic systems came close to failing and the drainage ditches that run along the streets got blocked with debris which caused the flooding (see photo above). So the annual taxes are, for us, well worth the flood controls from which we benefit.
By late afternoon the rains were but a drizzle and people were starting to clean up the debris. Ben took off to help a friend’s family that had trees come down on their house and Dave took off to check on older Church members. It was then we learned that there had been 7 confirmed tornadoes touch down in the housing development one mile west of us. Some friends of ours had two trees come down on their house that wiped out their chimney and created several holes in the roof for water to pour in.
When Dave returned in the evening, he figured we were not using all of the power the generator was generating and offered to run long extension cords over to our neighbors so they could keep their refrigerators running. Some were eager and grateful to supply an extension cord and gasoline to keep the generator running. A few were reluctant, thinking the power would be back on in a day or so.
