(no subject)

The rain has just arrived.

I still cannot believe the power is still on.

I want to sleep so very badly, but can't quite relax enough to drop off. Attempting it again...

(Oh- and Ch. 11 has declared landfall- leading edge of the eye wall has just touched Galveston.)

(no subject)

The rain has just arrived.

I still cannot believe the power is still on.

I want to sleep so very badly, but can't quite relax enough to drop off. Attempting it again...

(Oh- and Ch. 11 has declared landfall- leading edge of the eye wall has just touched Galveston.)

(no subject)

At about 2 AM- about an hour and a half ago- the power finally went out here.

It's blowing and raining like a sonofabitch outside, but so far so good.

I'm making a walkaround of the interior of the house, then back to sleep- oh blessed sleep- for a couple of hours. Travel-alarm reset.

(Note to self: MUST get laptop mouse.)

(no subject)

At about 2 AM- about an hour and a half ago- the power finally went out here.

It's blowing and raining like a sonofabitch outside, but so far so good.

I'm making a walkaround of the interior of the house, then back to sleep- oh blessed sleep- for a couple of hours. Travel-alarm reset.

(Note to self: MUST get laptop mouse.)

Since my last wake-up, a tree has fallen...

... exactly parallel to the house, but right dead next to it.

And I slept through it falling.

Still no broken windows, no obvious sight of leaking roof, but I can't see much out of those windows I couldn't board up.

I'm not even going to try to guess the wind speed, but it's high, gusty, and damn frightening to tell the truth.

For the moment, though, still here...

Since my last wake-up, a tree has fallen...

... exactly parallel to the house, but right dead next to it.

And I slept through it falling.

Still no broken windows, no obvious sight of leaking roof, but I can't see much out of those windows I couldn't board up.

I'm not even going to try to guess the wind speed, but it's high, gusty, and damn frightening to tell the truth.

For the moment, though, still here...

Daylight has come.

Now that I can see, I can definitely say hurricane force winds here at present. The limbs of the trees here are blowing dead sideways just like all that footage the TV news folks wouldn't stop showing of Galveston... except there's a lot more trees here.

The highway is acting like a huge wind tunnel, channeling the wind while giving it a free unobstructed path. Thankfully the hedges and the trees around the house provide a bit of shelter, so I'm not getting the absolute full force of it on the house itself. Mostly. Occasional gusts do shake the house, and I do mean shake in the literal sense.

All in all, got about four to five hours of sleep last night, mostly broken into two shifts- couldn't get to sleep since my previous post.

Just checked weather.com's radar; the worst of the storm is still yet to hit here. The eyewall (what's left of it) is going to miss me about twenty miles to the west, which means that the wind is going to pick up even more shortly. In three hours, though, the worst should be past...

... I really ought not to say such things...

Daylight has come.

Now that I can see, I can definitely say hurricane force winds here at present. The limbs of the trees here are blowing dead sideways just like all that footage the TV news folks wouldn't stop showing of Galveston... except there's a lot more trees here.

The highway is acting like a huge wind tunnel, channeling the wind while giving it a free unobstructed path. Thankfully the hedges and the trees around the house provide a bit of shelter, so I'm not getting the absolute full force of it on the house itself. Mostly. Occasional gusts do shake the house, and I do mean shake in the literal sense.

All in all, got about four to five hours of sleep last night, mostly broken into two shifts- couldn't get to sleep since my previous post.

Just checked weather.com's radar; the worst of the storm is still yet to hit here. The eyewall (what's left of it) is going to miss me about twenty miles to the west, which means that the wind is going to pick up even more shortly. In three hours, though, the worst should be past...

... I really ought not to say such things...

All (Almost) Clear.

It's still blowing and raining a bit, but the winds have died down so that the gusts are only gusts and not really gales anymore. The only addition to the damage log thus far is a small leak in the roof of the den- almost certainly leaves and stuff forcing water to pool up there. A rake will fix.

I'm going to say that the worst is over now. Those of you I asked to keep an eye out for me, stand down. Now comes cleanup, the fight to get my grandmother somewhere with electricity and air conditioning, and then the very long wait for power to be restored.

In another hour or so I'm going to start up the generator. (It's in a separate building which, despite the weather, is still standing too.) That'll run the deep freeze for a while and recharge the laptop, but that's about it. I won't be posting look-I'm-alive posts here from now on, but expect responses to email and comments to be slow and sporadic at best.

Oh: and WLP supporters, my shirt printer took an oak tree to the roof of his house right above the main computer room. Shirt printing is going to be badly delayed, and I'm considering trying to do something to help get him on his feet. As it is, he's likely to lose two conventions, plus a lot of wholesale orders, and thus about a month's worth of income while arranging a pretty damn expensive repair...

All (Almost) Clear.

It's still blowing and raining a bit, but the winds have died down so that the gusts are only gusts and not really gales anymore. The only addition to the damage log thus far is a small leak in the roof of the den- almost certainly leaves and stuff forcing water to pool up there. A rake will fix.

I'm going to say that the worst is over now. Those of you I asked to keep an eye out for me, stand down. Now comes cleanup, the fight to get my grandmother somewhere with electricity and air conditioning, and then the very long wait for power to be restored.

In another hour or so I'm going to start up the generator. (It's in a separate building which, despite the weather, is still standing too.) That'll run the deep freeze for a while and recharge the laptop, but that's about it. I won't be posting look-I'm-alive posts here from now on, but expect responses to email and comments to be slow and sporadic at best.

Oh: and WLP supporters, my shirt printer took an oak tree to the roof of his house right above the main computer room. Shirt printing is going to be badly delayed, and I'm considering trying to do something to help get him on his feet. As it is, he's likely to lose two conventions, plus a lot of wholesale orders, and thus about a month's worth of income while arranging a pretty damn expensive repair...

Oh- attn: doctorpinkerton:

The lack of electricity and the long-term care of my grandmother has my attendance at Friday night's centennial symposium up in the air, but for now I'm not cancelling my hotel reservation.

I do need to know, though, how the fringes of Ike have left downtown NOLA, specifically by the convention center (where my hotel is). I'd heard there was some levee overtopping due to storm surge, and I'm curious about your situation in general- which, by your last post, wasn't at all bad, but I want to be sure, as always.

Oh- attn: doctorpinkerton:

The lack of electricity and the long-term care of my grandmother has my attendance at Friday night's centennial symposium up in the air, but for now I'm not cancelling my hotel reservation.

I do need to know, though, how the fringes of Ike have left downtown NOLA, specifically by the convention center (where my hotel is). I'd heard there was some levee overtopping due to storm surge, and I'm curious about your situation in general- which, by your last post, wasn't at all bad, but I want to be sure, as always.