My niece in Houston and her husband are ok. They evacuated to Austin and just arrived home. Fence down, some shingles missing, and all the palms my brother planted 3 weeks ago are down. No power, but otherwise ok. They live on the south side of the city. Some neighbors fared worse.
It is good to hear so many reports of safety - we’ll have to keep those in mind while we listen to reports that aren’t so happy.
Clearly the damage to this area is historical for Houston/ Galveston area. Deaths probably aren’t historic levels, but I believe I just heard something about more than 100.
Refineries probably OK, as was discussed on threads several days ago would be expected as long as winds inland weren’t substantially greater than 100mph. However, we’ve got one FReeper in a position to know who is concerned that may not be the case.
Ike is weakening, though dominating US weather, as it will for a couple days more.
One thing I loved to hear from one of the Houston reporters, “You folks watching us nationally, don’t worry. You’re going to be surprised how quickly Texas gets back up and on its feet again” ... I cheered, “Hooray. GO TEXAS”
Glad to hear this good report!