Hang in there Chuck S.

[billz]

Hey Chuck -

Just a note of good wishes as you and our other Texas friends face a tough night of Ike. Hang in there ... thoughts are with you.

Bill

[Wendy]

Chuck ..

Do hope that things are OK with you and that you stay safe and well :)

Wendy

[Aussie Nan]

It has just hit the news here in Australia. Good luck, am sincerely hoping all Texas people stay safe and don't have too much property damage.

[Not4wood]

From New York our thoughts and prayers are with you. Last night we had heard that Galveston had already lost power and the Eye wasn't even close yet.

Hope you all stay safe and take pictures for everybody else.... If you can maybe these can get published...

[vawitt]

Keep safe!!

[christellf]

Chuck, Been watching news all morning. Looks like some of Houston may have got hit pretty hard. We are still getting wind gusts & tornado warnings from the outer bands still now in SW Louisiana. Also some flooding in lower areas of Louisiana. I was really scared last night not knowing how bad it was going to be. My prayers are with every one in its path.
Christell

[Aussie Nan]

Has anybody heard from our fellow forumer's in the Ike regions?

The news here in Australia is not good, and I am hoping it is a case of Media Hype, rather than reality. Unfortunately a few pics were also shown, and I know they are real, so I am very concerned about so many people suffering through this.

Please post any information you may have.

[Not4wood]

I think that if they had lost power they wouldn't or aren't going to contact anybody thru the net for a while. The only news we're hearing is from the broadcast news on either the net or Broadcast TV since they had hookups there before the storm.

Doesnt look good, but truthfully no news is good news and I particularly dont trust or like the Broadcast News like CNN. They run around using scare tactics to make people panic at every excuse, The Sky Is Falling Routine and when its done and they were wrong they turn around and say "so it missed us, wait till next time". True Fools, getting paid an awful lot of money to be wrong 3/4 or more of the time.

Story Link Here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ike

[msbrad]

Wishing you all the best through this storm Chuck, and to all who have had to deal with it.
m

[Inspeqtor]

Chuck,

I do hope you and your family are safe. We are thinking of you during this rough time.

Yesterday and today we are getting hit from Ike but all we are getting is lots of rain from it.

[NMarti]

Chuck
Hope you and your family are safe. We are getting Ike here today. We have had 5 inches of rain and 35 mph winds which they say are still tropical force . There is a lot of local flooding. Who'd have ever thought we would have a tropical storm in Illinois? :eek:

[vawitt]

Nancy, we're getting it way up here in northern IL, too (though not so much wind...mostly rain)...

Chuck - hope you and yours are high and dry!

~Val in rainy IL

[smiles]

Just checking in to see if anyone had heard from Chuck S.?

[Wendy]

I donlt think that we have yet ...

Wendy

[msbrad]

I was wondering the same too.
Get back to us as soon as you can Chuck.
m

[christellf]

I PM'd Chuck & got this reply from him today; Wanted all concerned to know he is ok.

Christell

"Thanks for your concern! My house apparently came through relatively unscathed; I say 'apparently' because I evacuated to Dallas and haven't been back. We may return this weekend if the gasoline and food supplies in the area stabilize. The storm surge was headed our way but turned a little to the east at the last minute, regrettably wreaking havoc along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines.

Hope to be back online again soon!

Best regards,

Chuck

[Inspeqtor]

Christell,

Thank you for contacting Chuck for all of us. It is certainly good to know he and his family are well, and he believes his house is OK. That is GREAT news!

[vawitt]

Thanks for the good news update, Christell!

~Val

[Sepiana]

Christell, thanks for the update on Chuck. It's a relief to know he and his family are OK. Have you heard from him since then?

[Chuck S.]

Hi, Sepiana and all:

I'm back in Houston after nearly two weeks of "exile". Remarkably, the damage to our house was absolutely minimal (a few roof shingles) even though the eye apparently passed right over the house. It was a one-two punch: winds from the east took off the shingles, while winds from the west pushed two crape myrtle trees over on about a 30 degree angle. But....it was much, much worse only a few miles from here. If anyone wants to see the extent of the damage, here's a link to a photo site:

Hurricane Ike Photos (http://www.tpicks.com/pictures people have sent me.html)

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers; there are a lot of folks in this area that still that concern.

[mljrbg]

Welcome back. I'm glad that your damage was minimal. My heart goes out to all of the hurricaine victims.

Mary Lou

[Sepiana]

Hi, Chuck,
Welcome back! I'm so glad you and your family are doing well and that your property damage was minimal. I've been looking at the images of Ike. Thanks for sharing them. It's such a surreal experience.

[Wendy]

Hi Chuck ...

I'm so glad to hear that you are OK :)

Wendy

[GaryK]

Chuck

Glad you got through unscathed.
My heart goes out to your neighbours and friends who may not have been so lucky.

[Aussie Nan]

So happy you are okay Chuck. It is probably hard seeing so many people with so much destruction in their lives, I'm sure it's not an easy time for you.

[Inspeqtor]

Chuck,

I am so very thankful, as I know you are also that your damage was minimal. Looking at just the first page from the link you provided is unreal. There are many hurting people out there that still need our prayers.
Thank you for providing the link for us.

[christellf]

So glad to hear your place was ok. I had a hard time to finish looking at all the photos of the destruction Ike has caused. It is just unbelievable in photos. I can't imagine being there & actually seeing it myself. Even though the eye came in around Galveston, SW Louisiana was hit with a storm surge that flooded more than Hurricane Rita 3 years ago. The maps now are showing that the water surge came in 25 to 30 miles inland. Natures wrath is just unbelievable. People need to evacuate along the coast when they are asked to & not stay behind like they decided to do this time. I can't imagine being in my home & the water is rising while you are in there & then have to wait to be rescued when they can get to you. Some of these communities were completely under water. My prayers are with everyone in their long recovery.
Christell

[ljameso1]

So glad to hear you have returned from "exile" to good news.