Little rant about my family and Hurricane IKE
 

Hi,

It will help me if I complain on here.
Thank you for letting me do this.

My sister and bil and my parents evacuated for the hurricane as they were ordered to do. My sister and bil went to his family and my parents went to the desert where they own some property to camp out.

My sis started checking the town web site as soon as the storm passed because she wanted to go home.
The city officials begged people to stay away:
the town has bad roads with downed trees and other debris, no electricty, no services, no hospitals, no police, no fire protection, no open gas stations, no open grocery stores,
and only limited sewage.
The town does have phone service and running water.

So my sis and parents decided to go home. DUH. And my parents did this as far as I know with out so much as checking a newspaper.
My dad did not have a cellphone or access to computer or tv so he did not get info about the damage -- he just got on the road and drove six hours home this afternoon.

Coming home before the evacuation order is lifted is just as stupid as never leaving in the first place.

I know that in the Florida hurricanes the aftermath can be a very dangerous time. More people get killed and injured in the aftermath than in the storms themselves because people get stupid and get hurt by the downed power lines once power starts to come back and by stupid things like generators (Carbon monoxide) or power tools or ladders.

I didn't realize how worried I was about them all weekend until I heard that they made it safely back home.

Now I am still worried.


I just sent out an email to the relatives to tell them that my folks are safe.

But I am annoyed. :mad:

Mari,

I would be annoyed also. It is good though they are home safe.

befuddled2

I would be annoyed too, and I'm glad they are safe.

Donna

I feel so bad for you Mari. It is out of your control. Maybe they will come to their senses and leave again once they realize first hand that there is no security in their coming back so soon. They can't be that stubborn can they?
It must be so traumatic to be displaced and I guess the natural instinct is to use denial and try to make things normal again.
The whole thing sounds horrific but your mental health comes first.
Bobby

mari, i am so sorry that that they aren't heeding the warnings. :( i'm glad they made it home.

i have a house full of family and others have been staying at our club since before the storm hit.

only 2 of the guys have gone back, because they were contacted to do so. they have lawn care business and have tree trimming and chipper/shredder equipment.

we loaded them up with water. batteres and other items they will need. lots of food.

they were warned about getting tetnus shots before they came back. sanitation is big problem.

lil'monkey and i have been volunteering at the convention center. i know how people feel about wanting to get home. it won't be as real until they see it for themselves. i will say most are staying. they know that gas stations between here and houston are low if not out of gas. plus who knows if they can even get to their homes.

it's hard mari, but they made the choice themselves. be annoyed, roll your eyes, shake your head and know that the stupid gene did NOT get passed to you. :D

Now I'm in trouble for sending email to my vast number of aunts and uncles last night to tell them that Dad and Mom are safe. (I guess Dad found a way to use dial up with his battery operated lap top to check his email this morning.)
According to sis, Dad thought my email was too folksy / cute.
Well sis narrated the whole thing to me and I typed what she wrote.

Well next time he sends out mass email he can learn how to "blind copy" every one instead of CCing everyone so I had their addresses.
So far I heard from two people thanking me for letting them know what was up
-- they last heard from him on Friday.


The city has announced that people can come back on Wednesday -- but even so, they have to be prepared for no available electricty, food, or gas and problems with the sewage system.

My sis has part of a tree on top of their house.
Bil's main goal today is to use his power tools to cut up the tree. :eek:
Sis has been dealing with the insurance company this morning over the phone.
Yesterday she was mad at me because I was not upset enough about her tree.

I said it was a hurricane. :Doh:
She was not heppy with me. :Oops:

This morning she is better.

I'm going to go to work and think about something else for a while.

mari,

i hope that work today brought distraction.

befuddled2

This sounds very frustrating....
It is a helpless feeling when you want to help them and all you can do is listen and help communicate with the rest of the family.
I can't imagine what they are dealing with....can't imagine a tree on my house...
I am sorry...
bizi

Mari


I am so glad that it was the tree that was hurt and not them.

I can totally relate to your feelings on that one. A couple of weeks
ago. We lost a branch to the tree that is the only hickory oak tree
in the area. I believe is what the science big wigs in our area have
been calling it for years.

Its been one that all the science kids had a chance to get a leaf from
it so they could get extra credit. If they could figure out which tree
the science teacher or the other teacher's knew it was.

The first year we lived here. I had no clue what it meant, I had a
load of high school academic geeks as they called themselves bringing
their younger siblings and friends to the house and asking permission
to get a leaf. I finally asked a teacher that stopped what was so
special about this tree.

He told me the signicicance of the tree, and why it was so important to
the kids. And he would always make sure that the kids that would maybe
flunk the class found our tree. Till the science teacher, figured out how
come all the kids knew how to find the tree.

My kids started taking the nuts in for show and tell later when they came
in and they had no clue what they were. They just wanted all the other
elementary kids to see these neat things in their yard.

It stopped the project dead. But still I have lots stop and want a hickory
every fall, but we think the whole tree will be coming down this next spring
if not sooner. Because its to much of a risk now.

Derrick just cries thinking of it. Its his show and tell for his friends each
year. I think he will have to find a way to make a permanent show and
tell to show why they were special to the family.

But Derrick summed it up best, No one passing in the street, to get killed
when the big branch went down. It didn't fall the other way and hit our
house. Or the swing set that my grandkids love. And we still have vehicles to drive thanks to the fact it wasn't closer to the frong.


Donna

trees
 

Donna,
That is such a beautiful tree story.

After our last hurricane, some property owners cut down their big trees and put in various types of palm trees. Palm trees can bend in the wind. And when they fall down, they don't cause as much damage because they don't grown big.


I like big trees, but if I had one in a yard, I would worry about it -- but then I am a worrier.


I listened to my sister for about an hour on the phone tonight and then told her I was tired.


Mari