There was on the ground reporting today in Crystal Beach and newer homes, built to higher standards, were still standing. I think it very well could be rebuilt... we forget how old many of the homes in that area were, and how it is in sort of an unincorporated area that doesn't have the building standards of, say, Galveston's west end. If they up the standards, etc., then they wouldn't be any different than homes anywhere on any coast in hurricane land... and that's a lot of miles of coastline!! We get a devestating hurricane about every 25-30 years. If they can justify rebuilding New Orleans, they can justify rebuilding a small community of beach homes. JMO, Robin

Okay, guys... thanks so much for the respones! I'll just tape it - I guess I was just a little alarmed at how far up the foot the bruising/swelling has reached (about a third of the way up the foot or more). The toe looks okay/aligned properly, so I'll just leave it alone for now. Might be worth a trip to get pain meds, though!! LOL Thakns again! Robin

It really hurts, and large area is black and blue... hard to walk, etc., but I've been told they don't do anything but tape two toes together for it to heal. That's fine, but I'm wondering if I should at least make sure that it isn't misaliged so it won't heal improperly. Unfortunately, though, the dr.s offices and urgent care centers in the immediate area were not open today. Don't know if I can find one open tomorrow or not. What says the hive? Tape it to the other toe and be done with it, or try to get an xray just to make sure? Thanks

The population of Galveston is only about 56,000. I'm not sure how many evacuated... I've heard 45,000 and I've heard 15,000. Not sure why the numbers aren't more certain. The weather service doesn't issue alarms like "certain death" because the news media got it started. They issued that alarm because it was anticipated that Galveston would be completely under water, the storm surge would be so huge. As it turns out, it wasn't quite that bad because the storm tracked a little east and Galveston got a direct hit by the eye instead of the dirty side of the eyewall. But the initial "certain death" alarm was for anyone in the path of the storm surge, including areas on the mainland which lie on Galveston Bay. There is a hotel at the seawall, the San Luis Resort, which is a fortified bunker where the mayor and all the emergency response personnel and news media stayed during the storm. There was a man who, when the eye passed and his house was chest high in water and rising, threw his family in his *boat* and drove his boat to the San Luis Resort... driving up *streets*... trying to dodge the submerged cars, etc. The sad problem with the people who rode the storm out in Crystal Beach/Bolivar is that a large number of them had intended to leave Friday morning. Leaving 18 hours in advance of th estorm is usually plenty of time, and they were told that conditions would BEGIN to deteriorate sometime Friday morning or early afternoon. Friday morning was low tide, so everyone thought they had that working for them, too. The only reason they couldn't leave Friday morning was they woke up and the roads were already flooded. I think everyone thought they were safe waiting till Friday, and it was not anticipated by ANYONE that Friday mroning wold be too late, therefore no one (media, weather service) advised them to be out by Thursday night. Caught everyone off guard, to be honest. Tragic. If you were going to ride the storm out, your safest place was definitely behind the seawall... but the western half of the island isn't protected by the seawall and Bolivar Peninsula (where Crystal Beach is) has no seawall. The peninsula is just that...a peninsula jutting out from the mainland that is very, very narrow, and there is a ferry that connects it to Galveston Island. It is the route to Galveston Island if you are coming from the Louisiana (east) side of the island. Lots and LOTS of beach homes (but not anymore - total devestation!). That is exactly what the west end of Galveston would look like (the west end of the island which is not protected by seawall) if th estorm had landed just west of the island instead of the island taking a direct hit.

Lana, be looking for a pm.

Amen sister! I am so sick of Maya whatever-her-last-name-is hounding FEMA, and Wayne Dolcefino hounding for air space!!!! I even wrote ABC and told them how embarrassed I was for the city to have them behaving that way. Yep... 72 hours. And we know that there are serious, serious search and rescue efforts by air happening on the west end and Crystal Beach. How dare Wayne think they should have to compromise a single moment of their efforts to make way for his helicopter???? Glad you're okay. I did hear on the news that Katy got heavy damage, and I thought of you and Rich with Kids.

What's the caution button?

Okay, I had to chuckle at this. First you made the observation that certain types of posters are banned/reprimanded while others are not. When asked for specific examples of offensive posters who are NOT banned/reprimanded, the two examples you gave were of people who, by your own witness, have been banned or given "cease" orders from admin!! Just wondering if you realize this... :)

I just asked about you earlier in another thread! So glad you made it okay... I heard about a couple of areas in Katy that were hit pretty hrad. I'm just sick about the folks in Crystal Beach/Boliver. I hope it's not as bad as suggested. Mom42terrificgirls has a huge tree in her den right now :(. When the tree uprooted, it destroyed her A/C units, too. She lives in Pinehurst, down the street from the little boy who was killed by a tree Friday morning. We lost a few shingles and a small pine tree. Power out for 36 hours. I am feeling very blessed right now. So glad you're okay!! Robin

There has been no coverage of that area yet (coastline directly east of landfall). The word is that it is complete destruction. News media have been denied access to the air space for now.

Hey all, we got our power back today (Sunday), and we had no damage - just one small pine tree and a few shingles. I'm pretty far northwest so we weren't in the path of the eyewall. When I the destruction in the area, I almost want to cry for these people... it almost makes me feel guilty for coming out so unscathed. Mom42terrific girls is unforunately one of the sad stories. (she is the one who owned the brick and mortar homeschool story in Tomball that recently went out of business - many of you know her irl). A couple of large trees landed on her house, and one went through the roof and ceiling of her den. Also, the root ball was so huge that when the tree uprooted, it ripped the outside A/C units away and damaged them. I feel so awful for them... they are struggling to recover from the financial loss of the business as it is. Have we heard from mamagistra? Myrtle? Richwithkids? Wasn't there someone from Laporte? I sure hope we hear from everyone soon, and that everyone is fine... Counting my blessings here, Robin

The idiots I was talking about are the ones who did things like sneak out onto a fishing pier and try to ride out the storm on a fishing pier. Or the ones who stayed on beachfront property because they thought it would be cool. Yes, sometimes the need to evacuate certain areas is so clear, so evident (even the national hurricane center said that to stay was certain death), that only an idiot would stay behind and do what some of these folks did. That's not the same as those who were behind a seawall and who have ridden out cat 3 storms in their home before, who have carefully weighed the risks and have made an informed, reasonable decision. That's what I meant when I said that there are some idiots out there who wouldn't evacuate no matter what. I doubt you fall in that category :).

Yeah, but here, at times like this, listening to authorities about evacuation is exactly what people are supposed to do. If there wasn't reliable information and an orderly plan of evacuation, it would be total chaos. Rita taught us that. Over a hundred people died during the evacuation. Having reliable guidance from authorities on these issues is paramount. Following the recommendation of authorities when they make calls about things like evacuations is very important. Many who didn't evacuate are low income. They probably don't have the resources you and I have. And they do have a mayor saying things like, "my home survived a category 3 hurricane and this is only category 2." One news station said all yesterday evening and last night that they expected the storm to decrease in intensity to a cat 1 by landfall. If you don't have cable, internet, etc., and the basic 3 channels is where you get your info, then this is the stuff you're being told. The word did get out to evacuate yesterday, but I'm telling you because I live here and I'm watching it first hand and my sister evacuated from Galveston Island yesterday... there has been complacency with this storm becuase it's only a cat 2, and people like my sister who is careful to follow information the way you are and who made the decision to evacuate the night before the mayor ordered it, are shaking their head in amazement that she didn't act sooner and that she offered to open shelters. Galveston never opens shelters for a hurricane! If you open shelters, it encourages people to stay. I think even she is underestimating the power of this storm because it is only cat 2... she outright revealed that herself during an interview tonight.

Some people are just idiots and will stay no matter what. But I think most of the people staying are doing so because they think it's just a cat 2 storm so what's the big deal. Their homes have withstood cat 3 storms and more. There is a lot of local talk about updating the current cat system because it takes only wind speed into consideration, and storms like this who have other, more deadly factors (huge size, huge storm surge the equivalent of a cat 4/5 storm) are not being taken as seriously as they should be because a cat 2 designation just doesn't conjur up the concern the storm deserves.

Now I just saw the mayor of Galveston talking about such and such building/house survived cat 3 and higher storms... and this is just a cat 2... Everyone knows that the issue with this storm is the water and the size of the wind field, not the actual wind speed. All the forecasters are saying that this has the storm surge of a cat 4/5 storm. Unbelievable. No wonder everyone down there is so complacent. They're all relating to the SS scale of cat 2... which measures wind speed only. One local CBS station was saying last night that he expected it to be a cat 1 at landfall. That did NOT help with motivating people to take the evacuation order seriously,.

Some of them won't need life insurancne after today, probably. There will always be people who flat out will not go... of course, the mayor of Galveston has now opened up Ball High as a shelter. If the mayor thinks it's okay to shelter in place, why shouldn't they? When the storm comes in later, they'll either go home or to the shelter. It's not due for almost 12 hours. But there are still fools... I'm not denying their existance!

The mayor said all week, and as late as Wednesday night, that shelters would be open and that an evacuation was not necessary. Just because you have the SUPPLIES ready to prepare for a storm and/or evacuate, that doesn't mean you can actually get it together and implement your plan in a few short hours. You betcha she put lives at risk. And she is getting a lot of flack for it, too. If she had ordered the evacuation on Wednesday, the same day that other counties were ordering their evacuation, businesses would have been closed on Thursday, and folks could have stayed home that day and gotten their affairs and gotten off the island by Thursday night. There will always be people who stay, and you can't do anything about them, but most of the rescues today were of people who honestly thought that they had till around noon today to evacuate, especially since it's low tide this morning. Still, we are focusing too much on whether or not the people are trying to ride out the storm... the big story here is how rapidly and how far in advance the surge is coming in, preventing people from evacuating in what would otherwise be a reasonable timeframe. P.S. You and I live so far away from the major impact area that we can't even begin to compare what we have to do when a storm is coming to what they have to do... it's apples and oranges, really. My sister lives on the first floor of the Victorian Condos, in a one bedroom efficiency. It took her hours to get stuff packed into the car and to grab her pictures, etc., (things she didn't want to lose)... and she was pretty well prepared for hurricane season. It sounds like what people are suggesting in this thread is that people should ignore their elected official's recommendations and pay attention to what other people are saying instead, and that the elected officials shouldn't feel some weight of resopnsibility for their citizens' well being because everyone who has half a brain knows to ignore them. That's insane!!

I did not blame TWC - where are you getting that? I threw blame at the mayor of Galveston. Galveston's own mayor said on Wednesday night... that is not a typo - WEDNESDAY night - that it was not necessary to call for an evacuation and that they were planning to open shelters in the city. When residents hear that from their mayor, they tend to ignore other media who have been known to hype storms in the past. She didn't switch plans until yesterday. None of the evacuation orders said be out by Thursday night. Some even said be out by noon Friday. Well, we all know now that noon Friday was too late for many.

They can't GET to them! Over an hour ago, the coast guard had received over 150 calls requesting rescues! They've only been able to fly in and get less than 20. Even Geraldo Rivera was caught off guard when he was standing in an area that suddenly a SURGE came in and knocked him off his feet and sent him rolling. People are underestimating how FAST and FURIOUS the surge is coming in. This is history in the making. Never a storm quite like this before. Evacuating 16-18 hours before the arrival of the storm is NORMALLY soon enough. Many of the people being rescued are people who got caught on the flooded roads *trying* to evacuate.

There was at least one couple who stayed behind because they operate a wrecker service and wanted to be one of the last to leave in case someone could use their help. Now they are stuck. They will not receive rooftop rescue. They are in a beachhouse that very likely will not be there tomorrow... it was very eery listening to his voice on the t.v., talking to the news report over cell phone. I know of at least one guy who thought there was enough time to another another run for stuff, and 12 inches of water came over the road in less than an hour. One of the evacuations of Galveston called for everyone to be out by noon today. A lot of businesses were open yesterday and people had only overnight to prepare for evacuation. A lot of people thought they still had a little time this morning, since the storm isn't supposed to hit till tomorrow. Everyone underestimated how rapidly the surge would come in this morning. The mayor is a complete idiot for not calling a mandatory evacuation on WEDNESDAY to be completed by THURSDAY... and a lot of weather professional were very, very frustrated with her for that. She waited until the last minute and it is going to cost a lot of people their lives. It is very, very, hard for thousands of people to respond to an evacuation order in 12 hours.

Northwest Houston here. Staying. Stayed for Alicia which went right over my house and I didn't lose a shingle. Stayed for Carla. Out of power one week both times. When you're not in the surge zone, the threat is mainly wind damage and flooding *if* you are in a prone area. The inconvenience is the power outages. That's the biggest pain. Take care and stay safe! FYI, more deaths occur after the storm... when kids play in water that they didn't realize was rushing towards a culvert, when people come in contact with downed power lines, accidents during clean up (clearing large trees, handling chain saws, etc.). Stay inside. Don't let the kids play in the water or go walking down the street if lines are down. Just use common sense. Then go find a hotel room somewhere if power is still out on the third day! LOL And can I add that it doesn't matter exactly how much the eye shifts in the next 36 hours? Don't get extra worried or let your guard down if it shifts your way or away from you somewhat. Have y'all noticed how HUGE that storm is? Sustained hurricane force winds for 100 miles out from the center. It's almost as big as the state itself! If you're within a hundred miles of the eye of this storm, you're going to get serious weather. Good luck, Robin

Joanne, do you have a closet underneath your staircase? Or an interior room with no windows? That's the best place for your valuables - just put them in a ziploc and up off the floor and they should be fine. That's where y'all should go, too, if tornados break out. We have never lost water in a hurricane before. You won't either unless you flood. But to be on the safe side, what I do is get containers (pitchers, tupperware) and fill them with tap water and freeze them. Also, freezer bags filled with water. They serve as ice and water. Also, fill your bathtubs up with water so you have water to put into the toilets for flushing, and for washing hands. Stores will still be open in the morning and restocked. You should be able to get anything you need then. Our weather shouldn't begin to deteriorate until later in the afternoon. I plan to spend the day tomorrow baking. Then we'll have all sorts of goodies to eat while we're waiting for the power to come back on! Take care, Robin

This will be the third "biggie" for me. Never much fun... Mamagistra, make sure and fill your bathtubs up with water so you can bail it out to flush the toilets. If you are on a well, this will make life a lot easier :). The good news is that there's a cold front coming in and our temps won't be hot and steamy next week (highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s I heard)... will be a lot easier on those without power!! Take care everyone! Robin

Aubrey, Ike isn't going to "stay" around due to the front... actually, the front is going to cause him to move rapidly to the northeast (he'll get caught up in the frontal boundary and take off). San Antonio is looking pretty good right now. On the cleaner side of the storm with the storm moving away. San Antonio is where a lot of folks are evacuating *to*. Hope this helps you rest a little better... Robin

Well, for one, the Pathway readers won't have pictures of any people/children to go with the stories (part of the religious belief re: not allowing pictures, etc.). Rod and Staff has pictures of the children (drawings, not photos). This made a difference to us, because (for example) there would be a R&S story about children doing farm work and you'd see a picture of the children doing the farm work. Almost the same story in Pathway would show the farm and the animals and the equipment but the children were never in the picture, and to my daughter it had an "abandoned" look to it... it really kind of creeped her out (like they had been beamed up or something). She's very visual and pictures were what engaged her in the story and held her interest. I like R&S better for other reasons, and we used it for grade 1 and 2, but did so after completing Phonics Pathways (then we began with unit 2 of grade one). HTH, Robin