@ehBeth,
Thanks Izzie!
ehBeth, I know, just doesn't seem to have made the national news. The governor declared a state of emergency and everything.
Quote:COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Governor Ted Strickland today issued a state declaration of emergency, allowing the State greater flexibility in quickly allocating resources from state entities, such as the Ohio National Guard and the Ohio Department of Transportation, out to local communities.
The declaration follows a major wind storm Sunday that resulted in the loss of five lives and led to widespread power outages and damage across the state.
“The state of Ohio has experienced hurricane-level gusts of wind, which is obviously extremely unusual for our state,” Strickland said. “We are staying in very close contact with our communities and doing everything in our power to assist the response and recovery to these extraordinary circumstances. Ohioans are strong and resilient, and I know that our citizens’ first concern will be looking out for each other. And I will make sure that the State of Ohio stands with its people during this difficult time.”
The Ohio Department of Public Safety is coordinating the response on the statewide level through the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. As of 11:55 a.m., there were 1.92 million customers without power across the state.
http://www.wtov9.com/weather-v2/17478387/detail.html
(From the 15th.)
Random photo I found of wind damage here -- very familiar sight:
More here:
http://culture11.com/node/32214
@sozobe,
Soz ..... you had it much worse than Findlay. We lost power to 4500. Never lost mine though. Had several roads closed due to fallen trees and downed wires. They finished getting power restored to everyone last night.
A friend of mine in Worthington was at the Steelers / Browns game. Him and his wife came home to a yard full of downed trees and the power off. They couldn't get in their house because neither had a key since they made it a habit of going in through the garage. I'm thinkin' he'll change THAT habit!
Talked to a girlfriend that lives down by Cincy. She had quite a bit of damage to her house from the wind. She got her power back yesterday. Her moms is still off. They told her they should have it back on by Saturday night.
I was up in Toledo on the site of Extreme Home Makeover. Everything was cool up there..... but on the way home, it hit. Was pushing hard at my car, but had no problems, really.
@JustBrooke,
Ooh, I can't imagine driving in that! Glad you're OK! Hope everyone else gets power soon...
It was really freaky. About an hour after the power went out the storm seemed to die down and E.G. suggested we take a walk to see what was up. I was resistant. They (sozlet wanted to go too) finally convinced me. We got halfway up the driveway when we were met by this ENORMOUS BLAST of wind -- shoved us all back a few paces. Then E.G. got panicky and started yelling and trying to get us back towards the door... I didn't know what was going on, grabbed sozlet and ran. He'd heard an enormous *CRACK* and a huge cottonwood branch from across the street came down. (Wouldn't have been on us but not so far away either.)
We didn't go for that walk.
This is another common sight -- whole trees just pushed over, roots in the air:
Also a lot of trees just snapped about 5 feet off the ground -- healthy ones. Haven't seen any photos of that yet.
Edit: actually that first one is snapped at about the spot I have in mind, but looks like it was hollow. The perfectly healthy ones are even freakier.
@sozobe,
Forgot to credit where I got that photo -- it was from here:
http://www.columbusoncamera.com/ChannelGallery.aspx?page=3&c=381&
Lots more pics there too.
@sozobe,
My niece sent me these photos today from Houston....
She's going over to her parents in CA for a while - she's lucky they had very little damage to their house and that she has somewhere to go to - Family and friends of theirs weren't so fortunate.
I'm just so glad that you guys are all OK ...
Hoping Edgar will be able to post soon - and that everyone everywhere will get power back quickly.
@sozobe,
Omg! Thank goodness you didn't leave for that walk sooner than you did or you would have been farther away from your house. Glad you got to safety!
There were a lot of semi's pulled off to the side of I-75 as I was driving home. They get blown over so easily. It looked like a fog setting in with all the dust blowing around. Definitely came in fast and furious.
@Izzie,
Good wishes to all those poor people that lost so much.
Sad.
@sozobe,
I saw it on one of the broadcast network's Nightly News reports last night . Was very brief but they did show footage of the flooding in Ohio and Illinois. I thought it was NBC but can't find the video on their website.
Here's an AP article with photos from yesterday on the damage in the Mid-West from Ike.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26757056/
And one from the 16th:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26738082/
I'm glad we're getting a nice dry/calm spell so that everyone can dry out and recover. Still keeping track of the power grid in Houston which shows 46% of CenterPoint's 2.26 million customers now have power
http://www.centerpointenergy.com/staticfiles/CNP/Common/SiteAssets/doc/Ike%20outage%20MAP_9.19_8AM.pdf
Also, the lone surviving house in Gilchrist was apparently completely destroyed during Rita and was rebuilt to withstand a cat 5 hurricane.
Well blow me down. Arf arf. I yam happy ta be here, if only for a short time. I am not allowed access to the office computer, but I defied 'em, this evening.
The apartments where I waited it out were not majorly damaged. A patch of siding, a couple of chimney arches, and water blown in holes that had always been there, but had not leaked before. And five crepe myrtles blown over. When the weather seemed calm enough, I walked the property, taking pictures for the company. I went to the doors of certain residents with medical problems, and they were okay. Finally, I headed out to have a look at my property. I had to backtrack a few times. Finally, out on 2920, the elements assaulted me to the extent I turned around. It was much later in the day that I tried again. This time, I brought Mrs edgarblythe and Punky the Wonder Dog, and we made it into the neighborhood. There were trees on top of more than one home, along the main road, but ours remained unscathed.
We were okay, for the time being, with the provisions we had stocked up on. A woman behind the office of the apartments set up her grill and hospitality, and became the heart and soul of our community for a number of days, until the apartments had a return of power.
We have plenty of ice and food. The school at the entry to the neighborhood put a hose across to our mail area for us to get all the water we want. I use it to flush the toilet, but drink the bottled spring water. A few days back, I began to experience a bit of the GIs - a bit of an ache in the pit of the stomach, with a touch of the runs. A good dose of colloidal silver stopped it almost instantly.
The dog was afraid to get in the truck. I lifted her in. At the apartments, when we were awaiting the storm, I had to carry all 65 pounds of her up the stairs, because the height frightened her. When we had to go for a walk, she went down, however hesitantly, but I always had to carry her back up. She finally got in the habit of standing there, as if to say, "I'm ready. Carry away."
My cell phone went dead, immediately after the call to rockhead. (Thanks for relaying the message rh).
To all who have expressed support and/or concern, I am forever grateful. A2k is the best.
@Rockhead,
Awesome to here from you, Edgar. We have been waiting.
@edgarblythe,
Glad to hear you and Mrs edgar are ok and good news about your place being unscathed. Tell Punky to start hoofing up those stairs!!
Any guesses on when you'll be able to return home?
@edgarblythe,
So good to 'see' you here, EdgarB.
@edgarblythe,
Hey edgar!
What a story... glad things are basically fine.
Take care...
@edgarblythe,
It's great to hear from you, eb. I'm glad you and your loved ones and your home are in good shape (and that you defied the computer rules!)
I'm on Day 9 of no power. It sucks (what with the 90+ temps) but it can't last forever, right? Today I've escaped to the office (the air's off, but it's still more comfortable than home) and I haven't decided between a movie or the Galleria next. (Maybe both.)
@mac11,
Day 9?! Gack.
What are you doing for food? That seemed to be our biggest problem when we had no power. (But then the temps were lower at the time too -- 90+ is rough!)
@sozobe,
Well, my previous healthy eating plan has been shot to hell, but I'm trying to avoid the really bad stuff.
I didn't find a store with produce or dairy until day 7 (I tried several, but didn't want to waste hard-to-come-by gas driving around to other parts of town), and I only bought a tiny amount of perishable stuff. There are some restaurants open (Jason's Deli, Cafe Express), and I try to get healthy foods at those. At home, I have pbj sandwiches, granola bars, dry cereal, applesauce, apples, carrots and such.
My company goes back to full operation tomorrow, so I can eat at the cafeteria for lunch. But I'm really missing having the ability to cook and really keep control of what I eat. Soon...
((((((((( Mac11 )))))))))
((((((((( Edgar )))))))))
Umm - I hope this wont be seen as disrespectful - I dont mean to make light of the situation ...
But I'm kind of thinking that maybe this will get a laugh in between the troubles, which is always good ... Staz just sent me this:
By the way, it only just hit home with me, when looking at that picture ... JPB explained the other day here that this house had been almost destroyed in Rita, and so the owners had rebuilt it in such a way that it would survive even a Cat. 5 hurricane ... and well, obviously, they didnt do badly.
Their
house is still standing.
I just had this vision of these people going, "Yay, see, we did well - our house is still standing! So that means that we can ... {voice dying away} ... go ... back home ... um ...".
There's some wise lesson in there somewhere...
