Yes --Please check in if you can !!--the pictures on TV look terrible.

Many people are without power-----

Florence

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There are a lot of pictures of the damage to Houston, Bolivar, and Galveston on the Houston Chronicle website. I was able to check my old neighborhoods.
The number of folks down there who still lack electricity is well over a million. It may have dropped below two million without power yesterday.
Bad flooding extended over to south of New Orleans (Jean Lafitte area).
(And I hope Cindi in east TX didn't get flooded this time. She had only a few trees left after Rita.)

Here is a link that might be useful: The Chronicle home page

I will post what I know because I have parents on the Texas coast next to Galveston (San Leon near Kemah) and family in Houston:
San Leon is devastated. My parents lost their whole downstairs and garden with newly planted roses along with fruit trees and more. They planted about 20 roses in August.

Their house isn't liveable until a piling is replaced, sheathing repaired so rain can't come in, plumbing is reconnected (piping broke) and electricity is back on. Their house is still there though unlike 80% of their neighbors who lost their homes entirely.
Their downstairs was a workroom and garage.

They evacuated 2 days before Ike to my brothers house in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. Minor damage to that house, major trees down blocking roads.
Sister-in-law (nurse) transferred to a diff hospital in downtown Houston because hers too damaged to work at.
Although the media reports mostly on Galveston there are many many small towns totally devastated because of the size of this storm.
I haven't even heard anything about Louisiana and I know there was a lot of flooding there.

We were headed there in Oct to visit but have to put it off.

I'll add in what my mom said yesterday from Lake Conroe (they're about 80± miles from the coast).

Phones went out Sunday & Monday, electricity went out everywhere up there, they're having to drive to college station to buy fuel (about 40 miles away) to run their generators. They have no water or electricity or sewer. Most roads were impassable at first, but gradually gotten them where they're drivable. She said she's pretty sure the damage from this hurricane is worse than what happened with Alicia in 1983. They were told electricity would be restored in 4 to 6 weeks, but that sounds to me like they're saying that so when it comes on in 2 weeks people won't complain. They're still under curfew (7 p.m. to 5 a.m.).

I hate to think of all the people who are living paycheck to paycheck and how they'll get by down there with so many businesses closed due to lack of electricity, etc.

--Ron