Sorry I dropped off the radar for a while. The phone line was working all through the storm, including the after party cool front storm. It stopped working the next night, and came on this morning although I could not get my browser to go anywhere.

The storm the next morning put about 2 1/2 inches of water in the house. It was freaky!~ One second it was fine, then it started coming in all three doors and under the baseboards all at once. It receded within two hours, and the whole house is tile after Allison anyway. It's already mostly dry, and no wet funky smell to speak of. I could have done without the floating (and very ticked off) ants biting my ankles though, lol.

I have the RX-7 acting as a gas can, and riding the gold 83 Le Tour to work. We bit the bullet and bought a 5000 watt generator, and we should have enough gas to last until more stations light up. So, we have a lamp or two, a generator, refrigerator, and a TV. We're pretty much good as long as the cooler weather holds out.

As for the neighborhood, it looks like a bomb went off. Trees and powerlines (including transformer poles) are down all over. Awnings ripped off of buildings, piles of furniture everywhere. I believe in a few weeks we may be alot better though....,,,,BD

I also got a free bike today! I was riding to my brothers house after work, and spotted an old canti brake Diamondback
Sorrento on top of some tree limbs. I pulled it out to look it over... The rims are straight and the paint is in pretty good shape. I grabbed the right handlebar and rolled to my brothers house. Once things return to normal I will refurbish and flip it...

Rode out the storm in Friendswood Texas. My daughter has a new home rated for 110 mph winds.
It was tested for 8 hours.
Returning to my home saw this:



Had this hole above my bedroom. NO Water Damage At All?
I don't know why?



Spent two days cleaning up. Received some Meals, Ready , To eat today.
Electrical Power came back on at 8:27 PM today .

Good to hear from you 10 Wheels.

Glad you came through not too much worse for the wear.

The Woodlands:

Still no power in our area. We see more and more locations obtaining power so we hope it is soon. We sent out boys on a mission yesterday and we are very proud of them. The rode their bikes 5 miles each way to stand in line at a local grocery store for food. We sent them off with their backpacks, a list of things to get and cash. The got all of it and still saved money. My wife and I both have to report for work and leave before seven and get home around 6-7. I was very proud of them when I pulled in last night, they were cleaning our neighbor’s yard up from the storm. They left to stay with family in LA before Ike and have not returned at this time. I asked them what was up and they explained they were just helping them out by cleaning up so they would not have so much to do when they came back. I was proud of them for doing this.

They have not complained once and have been a huge help. Since they are just 14, 12 and 9 it makes me believe we may be doing something right since they are acting so mature in the face of all this.

Gas is still an issue but more stations are coming on line everyday.

Not complain just an update.

FYI West End bikes has no power but was doing repairs, I know this may not seem important to others but car free people like myself this could be important info.

The Woodlands, near Shadowbend & Lake Woodlands - our lights and cel phones (AT&T) came back yesterday afternoon. Our landline & DSL (AT&T) were on when we got up this morning. We had gas and water throughout the storm. No gasoline available at the stations that I passed this afternoon in Cochran's Crossing or Indian Springs. No complaints in our neighborhood, and the weather is unbelievable. We are very, very fortunate. The folks bringing the utilities back on line have done a masterful job; same for the employees at the Kroger and HEB in my neck of the woods. I'll be out for a ride early AM tomorrow.

Checking in from the Heights...

Power and cable out, I bike commuted to work in the med center this morning - the weather is awesome! House is fine (wish I could say the same for everyone in my neighborhood). I got to go mudding with the Cross Check on Sunday afternoon when I went to check on the flooding on White Oak bayou.

Just got power back in my part of Kingwood. Glad to not be camping out anymore. The best thing about Ike, I saw more people, adults and kids, out riding bikes starting Sunday than at any other time. People were actually using bikes for grocery trips, visit friends, etc. Sure would be nice if the kids would keep it up after things return to normal, but doubt it will happen.

Thanks for the updates folks.

Glad to hear some utilities are getting back to normal and you guys are soldering on.

Take care.

Ike's Eye Path:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwMiExUKXg&NR=1

Got to laugh at this

Well I rode the storm out in Station 2 at South Houston FD, we were dead Thursday night, but things picked up Friday afternoon and didn't stop until Wednesday. All and all, I spent 10 days at the department, but got a few hours off to go home with my girlfriend who lives in Clear Lake. My house in Katy lost only the fence, gutters, a few trees, and one window is cracked.

One day Mireille and I rode to HEB in Clear Lake to get some beer, loaded an 18 pack in the Timuk2 bag and rode home. HEB let us even take the bicycles inside the store. Walking in cycling shoes with a bicycle on wet floors and didn't even slip!

We even rode our bikes back to work so we could save what gas we had, it was kind of nice seeing everyone waiting in those long gas lines and knowing we didn't need any. The power came back on here in Clear Lake five days after it went out, my house had power 12 hours after the storm.

We are still busy at South Houston, but power is being restored back there. We got really lucky that the storm surge wasn't nearly as big as they expected (considering the path it took).

-Nate

Power still out in my neck of the woods. (#@!%ing Center Point ) Lots of power trucks in the neighborhood yesterday. None today and still no electricity. I'm starting to get worried for my dogs, if the weather gets hot soon. May be paying for some kennel-time.

Rode out the storm with no significant damage. Lost a little flashing on the edge of the garage roof, probably due to the idiots my neighbor hired to cut up a couple trees that fell in his back yard. Not to worry. It's very minor and won't leak. Ten minutes and about a half dozen nails and I'm back pretty much where I started. Can't say the same for the neighborhood. It got hit pretty hard in places. Still, we're all alive and as healthy as before. I hope we don't have another of these any time soon. There's just not enough beer in the world....

Hurricane Bear still makes me laugh, even after seeing him on Ch 11 live.

i got power back 42 hours after the storm passed through, my parents in Richmond only lost power for 2.5 hours

Well, starting our 13th day without it, so consider yourself very lucky!,,,,BD

So Sorry to hear that. That is Tuff.

Not to mention you cannot find a single D battery within 40 miles, gas stations still running out of gas, 4 to 5 lane intersections with no traffic lights, etc. It's definitely not fun. The final blow is my RX7 alternator blew up again, so I couldn't drive anywhere if I needed to. 4th one since January, I'm starting to wonder if one is still made that can handle the heat and 7,000 rpm. It seems to be the magic number when they all died. Redline on the car is 8,000.,,,,BD

Are you installing new or rebuilt alternators? I've gone thru 7 alternators on one car in a year using rebuilt. You may have a problem with how the voltage is regulated causing spikes and the alternators burning out.

Well, the last time this alternator was spec'd in a car was probably 1985, a new one might mean a lengthy search. There's a guy in CA who will build a race ready high RPM model for these cars, but the $700 is a bit out of my price range. I have been thinking of trying a later model, and have been reading up on the RX7 site about retrofits. There's also a few professional custom build shops close by.

You'd think they would be rated for the applications when they rebuild them? They shouldn't blow until over the possible redline of the engine it's going on. I work for an auto parts store, and went through two Bosch rebuilts in 3 months, the second boiled the battery over before it died. A rebuilt in our brand was simply not available. I had the best luck with a Worldwide from another chain, but now it's dead too. It's an internal regulator.,,,,BD

Boiling over of the battery is, from my experience, a voltage problem. Had that with an old Ford van, of course, it was the old style generator and the regulator was an external job. I used to get my alternators and generators from a local rebuilder over near the ship channel bridge, but don't know if they are still there. They would either take yours and rebuild or, if they had that model, rebuild it for you. There may be some of those kind of places around Houston.

Well, it happened fast. From boil to dead alternator was during a 10 minute drive. It spiked, boiled the battery, and showed low on the volt meter within that amount of time.,,,,BD

Got an e-mail from my sister in Highlands, they got their power back up yesterday.

My power came back on Tuesday, but on Thursday morning it went dead again! I had to head out to my parents' place again for Internet access (working from home for the time being).

Now, its the mosquito storm. Normally, they don't bite me. But, out working in the yard, the damn things were swarming. Even with spray, the still tried to bite. One found the tip of a finger to light on. Never had that happen. The school sent home a notice about the mosquitoes, they're limiting outdoor time.

Power on! My little part of Bellaire just lit up. A few hours short of two full weeks without electricity; not bad. There were predictions of 3+ weeks for my area.