not having power is the worst! i have lots and lots of experience w/ that and i live in an orlando burb. unfortunately the next couple yrs can get worse as power companies need to recoup their expenses, also pay for infrastructure improvements and extreme tree trimming. in 2004 we went 24 days straight and since then power bills went thru the roof from infrastructure upgrades etc... it cost 1 million $$ a mile to put above ground lines, underground :-0 which is a goal of my city. the power companies now trim any trees w/in 50-100' of lines and they don't make it a nicely trimmed tree either lol if it's your property too bad. i live in a live oak tree lined city and the necessary trimming has been extensive. i totally agree w/ the trimming, esp since our power has gone out 5 times this yr already averaging 8 hrs each time and it's solely due to trees falling on lines. but atleast since 2004 we have not gone for more than a week w/o power from hurricanes lol. it builds character and the $10K i spent in 2004 because of the power outage added to the economy lol! ~ liz

Thank goodness you got your power back. I cannot imagine how frightening it must have been to go through that horrendous storm. My prayers are still with all that were affected by Ike.

Linda

The destruction and misery Ike left is almost unbelieveable & I can only imagine how heartbreaking it must be for hard working everyday people so drastically affected and without the means to replace necessities out of pocket until insurance pays...if they have it and IF it will.

I know for sure what I'd do with the money if I won the lottery; head South and help my fellow Texans.

God bless all of them! May He give them strength & courage to try to put their lives back together!

Suzi

We got more than our share being 200 miles from the Gulf. It's the little things that would get me if I were in that situation, namely the snakes and mosquitoes.

I feel for anyone who is going through this. We have so many Friends and Family affected by the storm. We were very lucky here.

Gayle

Our DGD in law's parents live in Bridge City and lost everything..house, business, vehicles.....it is so sad.
We are farther north and had no damage and just a quick loss of electricity due to a limb breaking and landing on a power line. We do business with a number of people in Houston, and while they are safe, they have no electricity, phone or any hope of having any until next week. One fellow said block parties are in style right now...they contribute thawed items from their freezers and the guy with the biggest bar-b-q pit does the cooking. They all sit out in one yard or the other to spend the evenings. That's what I call making lemonade from lifes lemons.

Oh my goodness!! It had to have been HORRIBLE. I live in Ohio and there are whole towns all around me that still don't have power because of the winds that we had. And it came through here Sunday night.

WE Energies, a Wisconsin electric power company, has sent trucks and crews to Texas to help rebuild the power lines. They had to stretch their resources a bit because they alredy had crews in Louisana.

My good friend lives in Pearland TX,i think it's close to Galveston.Anyway i havn't been able to get thru to her yet.I've tried all week.So yesterday i went on line and looked up her town and see that they only had 30% of power restored.I'll keep trying though.
Kathi

I don't know why the Ike disaster isn't all over the news like Katrina in NO was. Maybe b/c not many people died? It's a DISASTER here in the 4th largest city in the US! There are still more than 1M HOUSEHOLDS w/o power! And Orange, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Gilchrist, etc. are devastated! (Almost every house in Port Arthur had flood damage.) The power outage is the worst part of it. 7 days into it. Please, prayers and donations to the Red Cross, our local food banks, etc. are GREATLY appreciated. A lot of people are still suffering. . .

My son left with Consumer Power from Mi on Sunday--they finished up in AK Thur nite & headed for Beaumont yesterday--Son said they will be working in Kirbyville (think thats what he said, connections were bad)--they were told they mite be working in TX for another 5 wks!

We still have peope in our area without power--

I feel for everyone that is going through this-

Prayers for them & the workers!

Donna (^_^)

drewsmaga
we are still getting 24/7 coverage on our Texas news station

I think the mass media isn't covering it because they can't find any kind of issue to exploit like the they did with Katrina.
Here in Texas most of the people are helping each other and the non-gvt places are doing most or almost all of the care as to food etc FEMA has and is sending in truckloads of water, ice and MRE's but it is the Red Cross Salvation Army and units from different local and out of town church groups who have been providing hot meals and comfort Local YMCA's are offering a free shower and internet connection to those who need it. There is a problem regarding those who need help ala food stamps etc Many are walking away with around $14 from them to help out.over 500 people have camped out overnight waiting so they would be first in line. They have spent most if not all their money evacuating and have nothing left.
while power is getting back on not all communities have it
We are all grateful for the out of town help ala power and utility companies who have sent in help
I also think this will be a test example in the long run as to how cities go about honing their disaster plan in case of an attack or some other disaster.

I can't get any info as to how my NE Texas city is prepared or what plans they have.