Oh Sweet Cool Air!
Electricity has returned to my house. The lack of which made yesterday and last night seem very, very long.I feel safe now. Life is very quickly returning to normal. Here is a rundown of yesterday's adventures...
The day started smoothly enough. I left Houston around nine oclock in the morning. Traffic was very light - about normal for early Sunday morning.
Afew gas stations were open with moderate lines of five or six cars per pump. I went past an open Walmart. The parking lot was completely full. Christmas shopping full.
I drove down the main street in Bacliff. All was very quiet. Comvenience atores were open and selling gas.
I was hopeful that my power was on. A scrolling sign at a real estate agency flashed, "Buyers Waiting" "Need Sellers" "98 F" As if to emphasize the temperature it flashes again "98 F" Thanks for the reminder.
There was not much damage in my neighborhood. Branches and leaves are down all over the streets but not many big trees.
I went past the boat launch into Galveston Bay. The water was calm and flat as ice. The air was thick, hazy and motionless. I hope you get the picture that it was a stifling day aleady at 10 in the morning.
I was glad to be home but it was disenchanting to find no power. When I first went into the house it was not too bad. It was shaded and only 85 degrees.
Robert was very happy to be home. I uncaged him inside, he sniffed around then went out into the yard. As I was carrying stuff into the house I saw him galloping across the back yard like a horse. He Looked like a kitten again hopping around in the grass.
I talked to a neighbor. He and his girlfriend stayed through he storm. It was not by choice, he told me. They wanted to leave but he had no gas. He is an odd-job carpenter. He had just gotten paid but couldn't find anywhere to cash the check so he could not afford to buy gas. He said he still did not have any cash. I told him I understand what he is going through because I needed to find an ATM myself. Maybe a small lie, but I wanted to end the discussion quickly. He still owes me twenty dollars from a month ago. I think it was the same story last time except his girlfriend was late for work.
Anyway, he continued, he felt like he should stay to protect the house from looters. Had he heard of any looting in the neighborhood? "No, but with the power off..."
By this time the outside thermometer was reading 102 degrees F, 40 C. Inside the house it was 96 degrees.
I had to find someplace with air conditioning.
posted by Prospector @ 10:58 AM
2 Comments:
So no real severe damage? Did it look like the water had come up real high? That neighbor with the twenty bucks cracks me up. Was it scary for him staying there? If that guy REALLY had no choice that's one thing, but staying in your area?...Isn't Bacliff in the zone that evacuates for cat 1 storms? For a while it was looking like your side of the bay was really gonna get it too. As Hank Hill would say, "That boy ain't right."
No severe damage.
The water in the bay was actually blown out during the storm. The wind came from the north. It is back high now but people told me the bay was eerily low during the storm.
This was a mandatory evacuation zone. Very few people stayed behind.
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