Tally, I read your posts on the Texas forum immediately after Ike and feel for you. Rita and Ike did damage to us in southwest Louisiana also. Along the southwest LA coast just east of the Texas border lie small rural communities that flooded for both. Along the ridges are thousands of oak trees. The salt water defoliated them both times but they have come back so those oaks might not be dead. The oleanders come back if they weren't in standing water for an extended period of time. And the naturalized bananas are probably Orinoco. They are everywhere along the Gulf Coast. My property in Grand Chenier, LA was completely destroyed by Rita. I rebuilt higher afterwards and didn't get any water for Ike but it came close. Good luck to you. Steve

I just got my power back last night (Friday night) since Ike arrived last Sunday. No fun living in the dark for 6 days. Those ice cold showers were something else. Many folks still without power and my heart goes out to them. With a million people without power, progress is being made now with help from power company workers from N and S Carolina, New York, and other states. Local stores, lacking power, have been closed or selling only non-perishables. Traffic lights started working Thursday. Interesting driving with no traffic lights- kind of like playing bumper cars. Gasoline has also been in short supply, long lines forming whenever someplace got a truck load. The has supply does seem to be improving now. So does ice supply. That was almost impossible to find. We built a bonfire in our driveway last night and had a party last night to celebrate. Lots of neighbors were here. I had a lot of roof damage too, as well as siding damage. I have gotten one roofer here to look at it who recommended replacing the whole thing because damage is so extensive. I have siding damage, too. Some just blown loose and flapping in the wind, some crimped, some mangled and blown away. Most roofers and siding companies unable to keep up with calls, or say they can't even look at it for a month or more. I also lost every bit of food in my fridge and freezer, hundreds of dollars worth. Philmont's description of Cinti is pretty good. So many huge old trees were blown out of the ground. Street and traffic signs are gone with the wind. There are still power lines on the ground all around my neighborhood. Three power poles in a row are laying on the ground a block from my house, lots of wires attached to them. I heard that winds were indeed 75 mph, and this storm was classified as a subtropical hurricaine. They're saying a storm of this intensity occurs in this part of the country about once every hundred years. We spent today trying to return to normal life. Picked up a few groceries, took long, hot showers, did mountains of laundry, cleaned up the clutter inside the house (candles, flashlights, scraps of paper with emergency phone numbers. Clutter was amazing. I might never eat another piece of peanut butter bread. It was the mainstay of my diet all week. Karen

Thanks all No power here means no gas...so please don't come here and get stranded, that is a very kind thing to offer. Curfews are in effect and being enforced so looting has been minor I have plenty of fuel...to run the generator. They are restoring power but the closer to the coast will get power last...debris, tree's and downed power poles have to be moved first...they are repairing the power north of us so fuel can be brought closer and closer to us. The storm in 1983 was far worst in strength. It was a long 18 hrs but not as bad as it sounds...We have to boil any tap water until the water goes down and that has happend in almost 80% of the area's...they have got many water stations powered up with back up generators so the contaminated water is isolated now I bunkered many broms..but not all were lost I am just so glad there was no panic evacuation like during Rita. Loss of life would have been in the tens of thousands. We stayed put so the surge area's could get out and all will be normal in a couple months. Pictures later Hugs to all HDD

Most of the residents are just rebuilding. We aren't waiting on the city, FEMA, the insurance companies or anyone else. There are a bunch of faith based groups down here and they have been amazing! The Mormons were just going door to door, they carried out furniture, drug out sheetrock, hauled away trees, took out appliances...there are other groups cutting trees, fixing fences, putting up sheetrock. They are giving out food, supplies, clothing, cooking meals. The RedCross and Salvation Army have left. The Baptist mens group is here with hot showers and laundry facilities. They are set up in one of the churches that had a lot of damage. Things are getting better but so much is getting worse. And I am amazed at what survived. The bouganvillas are blooming like crazy, though of course some are dead. The oleanders which are pretty tolerant are in pitiful shape, a lot of dead ones. Palms if they didn't fall down did fine. Trees-uugghh! The mulberry has leafed back out and so has the pecan. All the crape myrtles around town look dead. Avocadoes are all dead. Oaks are in trouble and so are the magnolias. Tally HO!