Hurricane Ike - The Ohio Toll
By Jamie Friday Sep 19, 2008 8:00pm<!--[if gte mso 10]>
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The national media has spent the week covering storm torn Texas' damage from Hurricane Ike. Something that appeared to fall off the radar though was the damage Ike left in other parts of the Midwest. Here in the Greater Cincinnati area, we were hit with high winds last Sunday, gusting upwards of 80 mph. These near hurricane force winds wreaked havoc on an area that isn't used to such weather systems.
By the time the winds died down on Sunday night, our area saw close to a million people without power. Ohio overall saw close to 2 million in the dark, and as of today there are still about ¼ million people without power in the state.
Luckily, I escaped damage to my home. I was without power for about 12 hours, phone for 4 days and internet for 6 days. There are others who weren't so lucky. The picture above is a couple miles from me where a tree ended up crushing a car. This was a common scene around Ohio, and cars weren't the only casualties. Four deaths were caused by the storm in the Greater Cincinnati area and numerous houses sustained massive damage from down trees and limbs.
However the story doesn't stop there. People ended up losing refrigerators full of food. Gas stations had hour long lines, what restaurants that were open were running out of food, and grocery stores had to throw away millions in stock (including Kroger, which is based out of Cincinnati). The saddest part is all the people on fixed income who had to toss away their food. Luckily, state and local officials are working to issue food stamps to these people so they can restock.
At least normalcy seems to be trumping the frantic week we saw. They are hoping to have power back on to all those affected by this Sunday and we might see a normal week of school and work around here. It did take me by surprise that the media was rather silent on this aftermath of Ike. I saw a blurb about it on the crawl of MSNBC in the middle of the week, but that was it. If you have any stories to share about this massive storm, please do so in the comments. It will be interesting to hear how other people weathered this past week in the area.
(Additional photos and video of the damage Ike left in the Greater Cincinnati area can be found here.)
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Yeah I live northeast of Columbus and we got hit pretty hard as well. I feel your pain. I sure hope that power is up by Sunday
After Katrina, MSM doesn't like to highlight Georgie's failures. In fact, MSM hasn't really reported on Ike that much at all. They are so fixated on the election, you would think we don't have two wars going on, a healthcare crisis, etc.,ect.,
If you are connected to a college campus please share this - http://www.ikecampus.org/
There has been almost no coverage of the storm damage in Texas or anywhere else. Americans don't matter--only billionaires. The media and Washington need to be held accountable, and a few thousand crooks on Wall Street need to be paying up.
I had read of some of the damage in Ohio, but only because I looked for info. There are still a lot of people unaccounted for on the Texas coast. Money trumps people all the time.
Fortunately, I only lost a pawpaw tree, and I've got another. Thankfully, the tree didn't do any damage.
My heart goes out to all who suffered real damage -- from OH all around.
Also in Cinci and also dodged a bullet, but the houses in my neighborhood that have siding, well, don't anymore. Talked to a friend in the Cleveland area and they also still have people in the area without power. I think it's going to take some time to fully assess the damage across the state.
This is my first reply to a blog in six days because as of today (my birthday by the way) we got our power back here in the Dayton, Ohio suburb of Huber Heights. I can't tell you how this has changed my perspective of wanting a second choice to help us if a blackout happens again (i.e.--solar power, wind, etc.). Dayton Power and Light is getting a lot of hate because of the slow progress, but in all fairness a lot of crews from all over are trying to help everyone affected by the power outage in Columbus, Dayton, Middletown, Hamilton, Cincinnati, and parts of Kentucky.
I've seen in many of the cities the damage and power outage first hand and let me tell you the days of single utility power companies will be a thing of the past if Ohioans, Kentuckians, and the Indiana populace have something to say about it.
Our little town of Munster, IN had record flooding which forced the evacuation of 2000 homes and shut down the interstate for almost a week. Some roads still remained closed today. Power was still out in some neighborhoods while the fire department went door to door checking for gas leaks to avoid a repeat of a house explosion that happened earlier in the week. 70 firefighters had to haul equipment through three blocks of waist deep water to fight the fire that then spread to two adjoining homes.
This followed on the heels of the tornado that hit town last month that took out power for a week and caused a massive amount of damage. I spent today watching heavy equipment haul the sodden contents of my neighbors' homes to huge dumpsters at the end of the block.
Good thing AIG was rescued this week...
We got through Ike relatively unscathed. That makes 2 hurricanes so far. Either God loves Lake Charles, or he has one sadistic sense of humor.
We went through this in Virginia a few years back with Isabel. It was tropical storm by the time it got to Richmond, but was slow moving and we had high winds for about 12 hrs. Downed trees and crushed cars everywhere, and houses damaged by downed trees. Many areas took up to 2 weeks to get their electricity back. Everybody had to toss lots of food.
Good luck to you guys, but you will get through it.
Shaker heights and brecksville in northwestern ohio had a lot of damage also. Sorry, i don't remember where i saw the coverage, maybe in the cleveland plain dealer. You could check the online paper.
If the storm makes it harder for the anti-Obama rednecks to vote this year, then who am I to complain? Besides, they voted for a guy who would rather spend more time protecting Wall Street than the country, so they shouldn't be complaining now.
I'm in Blue Ash (northeastern Cincinnati suburb). Our electric finally came on late Thursday afternoon, making it four whole days without power. Good thing it's still warm out, it would have gotten pretty cold in this all-electric house otherwise. My kid's school was closed Monday and Tuesday.
There's probably a great investigative reporting piece waiting to be written on how Duke Energy handled this whole thing. Also, isn't this the sort of event they used to call the National Guard out for -- back before we sent them overseas? Well, you can bet the Cincinnati Enquirer isn't going to look into any of this.
Mother Nature is almost as nasty as the Bush crime family, sometimes. I check the website of the Houston Chronicle, www.chron.com/ to see what is happening there. Many residents of Houston are still without electricity...
O/T: the latest so-called "bailout" - the $700 Billion dollar one -is just a massive theft from the poor and the middle classes to our ever-greedy ruling class. We need to demand a return to stiff and comprehensive regulations of our financial markets, first. We also need to demand that all these greedy incompetent (sic) CEOs be fired immediately without any "golden parachutes."
This whole show is rigged by the Bush & Co. gangsters. The financial system is not collapsing, just because some of the bigger greedier financials got hoisted on their own petard. We should demand that credit card and mortgage interest rates be cut in half before any bailout of the top players... The Bush gangsters just want to hogtie Obama for 2009...
Sure as hell don't want too many to know cause then one of the biggies would feel an obligation to have to do something. I hope this thread continues so people know as we won't hear it from anywhere else I guess.
Outta the Cornfield
We got remnants of Ike all the way up here in Maine! Although there was not much damage and no prolonged power outages, the high winds did take a toll with downed trees and anything that wasn't nailed down being buffeted around.
If we don't stop clearcutting and making this country into one big parking lot, these storms are only going to get worse with little to buffer them.
The mountaintop removal in West Virginia for coal has had an effect on weather, too.
We got to start connecting the dots.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all who have suffered and lost in the aftermath of Ike.
james k. sayre @ 14:
The earnings of these companies should go into the treasury before investors receive 1 dime in return on their investment.
Jo @ 16:
Yes...
let's keep that out-of-control ecosystem from post-1492 North America! Imbalance is balance!
The Indians cleared large areas of forests, too. Hurricanes evidently didn't trouble them as much as they do us.
One Fly @ 15:
There was a great diary on Daily Kos complete with pictures of the terrible damage in Texas. Looked like a bomb hit the coast. I'll try to find it and post alink here if I can. If not, it still may be on the recommended page and you may be able to see for yourself.
Tequila @ 12:
It won't affect voting, Rev. Hagee.
General Rennekampf Dzughashvili @ 18:
link?
Jo @ 21:
I read it in the book 1491.
You can also look up the records of the first contacts with the Indian peoples from men like Ponce de Leon and John Smith. Not a bison to be seen, and no massive forests.
Europeans arrive. 90% of Indians die. Europeans depart as disease works its way through the peoples. Europeans come back, trees and bison everywhere they look. Such stories repeat themselves over and over again.
The Indians were quite powerful and had cleared parks and the like. A General History of Virginia, in particular mentions one in the time of Opechecanough.
General Rennekampf Dzughashvili @ 9:
Howdy neighbor... I think God has a touch of cajun blood.... or at least I hope so. Being your neighbor from Orange, I'm glad ya'll had just a kiss. We're still on a boil water order, and Bridge City won't be the same for a very, very long time. We finished moving my son and daughter-in-law out of their flooded home today. Has MSM covered it? Not past Galveston & Houston, and trust me, they did have a lot of damage, especially Galveston and Crystal Beach, etc. But Ike's path covered so much more. You gotta be home to many multi-millionaires to get coverage. Call me when the gumbo's ready... I'll bring the beer.
Doesn't help when our "just in time producer to consumer system" has become a "we don't when we're going to get it system".
Tequila @ 12:
Ohio was the state that delivered the boy King the country in 2004. Seems like Karma, not for good Dems just evil thugs.
txlvn @ 23:
Aye...
you fellas got burned. I'm just glad we got a kiss from Mother Nature.
Jesus, I didn't realize just how bad Orange got hit. Makes the sparing of Lake Charles all the weirder. Makes the sparing of Lake Charles twice one of the weirder things that's happened in my lifetime.
I live on the east side of Cinti.and we got creamed.Huge trees down all over the place.I`ve lived here most of my life and have never seen anything like this.The fact that there was no rain probably helped.I walked and drove around most of Sunday night.It was just amazing.
A near hurricane in the mid-west with sustained winds of 45-55 mph and gusts up to 80 is very strange.Four people killed by falling trees,and not a peep from major network media.Let`s not take a look at Global Warming.AND THE PEOPLE WHO DIED;WELL THEY DIDN`T QUALIFY FOR THE BUSH TAX CUTS.I don`t think they even made the front page of the Cinti Enquirer,the worst,newspaper in the nation.
L.A. Confidential @ 24:
Meant "we don't know when we're going to get it system".
Sorry about being OT, but there hasn't been an evening open thread yet.
My question pertains to the following: I sent an email to the Obama campaign several months ago asking for an explanation on Obama's FISA vote. I REALLY want to vote for Obama, but I have to understand why he chose to further expand executive power when it wasn't warranted AND grant telecomm's immunity from any potential civil suits or investigations into their illegal complacency with the Bush administration.
As of yet, I haven't received a response, even a form letter email or basic acknowledgment.
So I want to ask all of you, if you know of any sites/articles where he explains his vote, please email me at jj_dc_2007@yahoo.com
Keep in mind, I want to read his explanation, I've heard plenty of people explain it away in political terms, such as he wanted to appear strong on national defense and not give the Republicans fodder. And while I understand that, I can't excuse that, and I can't vote for someone who votes against the Constitution and common sense for merely political reasons. So if he has other reasons for voting in favor of the FISA bill, please just email me the links and I'll read them for myself. Thanks!
My city, Louisville, had 75% of its residents without power after the storm.
My business was knocked out for a week. We only today had our power restored. Many residents of Louisville are still without power. I'm not looking forward to seeing what the final tally will be when the numbers of my P&L (profit and loss report) come in.
In other global warming news, has anyone else noticed how winter seems to be arriving a month later than what we saw in the 80s? September feels like August, October like September, etc. all the way to December being like November? Amazingly, there are still people in denial about this. Because the transition has been so gradual, there are people who think it's "normal" that Louisville barely sees any snowfall anymore. I have a full-body snowsuit that hasn't seen the light of day in 15 years.
The American media is not independent. For example, the once-respectable Chicago Tribune is now owned by a big real estate tycoon who is highly unlikely to publish devastating comments about the collapsing real estate market.
L.A. Confidential @ 28:
Don't worry. Any financial backing needed will come from the Bush administration. First they gotta clearcut a few thousand acres of forest to print money though.....I mean, what with federal money for Gustav, money to Texas for Ike, billions in Iraqistan and Afghanistan, and of course the golden parachute to help out the market fatcats........print borrow, print borrow........
Here in Louisville, Ky finally got our power back up today. there are still 60,000 without it though.
sully18 @ 27:
Storms are getting stronger, that's for sure.
Jo @ 19:
Can't find the diary but found this:
http://www.hurricanewiki.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ike_GIS_Resources
Thanks,Jamie,for your acknowledging this tragedy.I have friends who still don`t have power.We damn well better start some heavy duty grass roots actions in the name of stopping Global Warming and government irresponsibility the past eight years.
If I said I could cut the continental impact of such a storm system by 40 or 50 percent, by a one time expenditure of 150 billion to build up the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, specifically to abate the IKE (integrated kinetic energy) of these storms and likewise their effect on the rest of the country, do you think anyone would be interested? What happens in the gulf of Mexico, can stay in the gulf of mexico....
We were visiting our son at Clarksville/Ft. Campbell Army base, KY last Sunday when the remains of Ike blew through. Knocked out electricity to a chunk of the area. Weird feeling winds, saw several trees knocked over but only minimal other damage. fyi, this is almost due north of Nashville, TN in the "notch" area of the TN/KY border.
General Rennekampf Dzughashvili @ 22:
Thanks! I will look for the book at the library. Good to get all kinds of viewpoints from authors.
North-Eastern Ohio, we had a death here. A 12-year old bow was struck by a tree limb and killed, very sad. There are people in my neighborhood still without power.
If anyones interested... some pics of the effects of Ike in Southeast Texas
http://kogt.smugmug.com/Events
http://www.klvi.com/pages/HurricaneWatch.html?feed=296507&article=4208065 (#3 has pics & videos and the middle of screen has link to pictures submitted by local residents of the area)
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of....
Considering the path of Ike, from Galveston to Orange and southwest LA, all the way up through the U.S., I'd say it was pretty far reaching in its damage. Please tell me they haven't used the name Tina for any hurricanes this year .... She kicked Ike's butt.... (haha)
West side of Cincinnati - We were without electricity for 6 days even though my oxygen dependent mother had filed doctor's papers with Duke and had been given a special number to call in the event of a power outage. Duke's response was that it did not matter. In frustration on Thursday I finally contacted two county officials (Democrats) who did put pressure on Duke to honor their medical priority promise and restore the power. Power finally restored on Friday afternoon. We lost an entire freezer of food as well as the food in the refrigerator.
My sister's neighborhood is still without power. They have been told that Duke needs to send out for a part!!!
The men and women working the line for Duke have done a great job, but Duke corporate has a lot to answer for.
I went through Hurricane Katrina in McComb, Mississippi. I evacuated there from New Orleans, where I was living at the time. It's about 100 miles north of NOLA. Now I live in NE Ohio, and I was here for that windy Sunday night when the remnants of Ike came through. Sounds weird, but Ike in Ohio was worse that Katrina in MS!
St. Louis had some nasty flash floods due to Ike. One poor old women died trying to move her car from the flash flood, ended up being swept away and found her in her cars miles away form her home.
These flash flood happened in places that had not flooded in decades.
Not having power sucks. Two years ago we had a freak storm here in St. Louis and I didn't have power for 8 days.
I feel for the folks dealing with this mess.
gw @ 42:
Sorry for your problems with Duke." Duke's response was that it did not matter."That is totally outrageous.
Duke corporate like most corporate has been so deregulated that they do what they want.Since Duke took over CG&E we have had more power outages on the east side of Cinti.than I remember.The line guys are great. Corporate laid off a bunch of line men when they bought CG&E.Progress,my ass
Luckily I don't have Duke where I live. We have the Butler County Co-Op (out between Hamilton and Oxford), so our power outage wasn't that bad. The street off of mine is Duke though and they just got their power back today. I have read some articles in the Enquirer on Journal that there will be meetings and hearings about the response from Duke as well as other utilities. We can only hope that they produce some sort of action, but I'm not holding my breath. I heard Willy Cunningham talking about a class action suit against Duke on Monday. Pretty bad coming from a right winger, who is supposed to be anti-lawsuit and pro-consolidation. He was complaining about crews being in Texas for Ike.
My neighbors and I in Cleveland Heights just got our power back on yesterday afternoon! We lost whole freezers of food; thankfully I have a gas oven so I could make soup by flashlight. I know that a lot of other people had it even worse than we did. It still amazes me that a major metropolitan area could lose so much power for so long. I lived in NYC during the blackout, and my power was back up the next day.
What timing! The power was just restored to my Mother's Massillon, Ohio home.
She's been without power since last Sunday spending nights with a friend who lives down the street.
She'll be so happy to have her house 'back' Sunday!
I live in Columbus and the damage here was pretty extensive. Half of my coworkers were out of power for almost a week. It was the weirdest "storm" I've ever seen; no rain but incredibly high winds for almost a full day that blew over lots of old trees in my neighborhood.
Luckily, we never lost power. Lots of our neighbors have.
I live in Columbus, OH and was out of power for 2 days. The building next door had power and the apartments across the street had power but my building was out. Trees down all over. All the rain went to Indiana and Illinois and luckily although it was bad I wouldn't trade places with anyone in Texas right now even when we had 300,000 without power in Central Ohio.
The funny bit was the news people telling listeners to check their websites for full lists of school and business closings. No power no Internet. Duh!
On our small street in Symmes Township, just east of Cincinnati, some people had power within a day of the storm, but the rest of us only got power yesterday (Friday). Some people in the area are still without power. I know that we should look at things in context and a huge section of the country was affected by this storm, but it is still incredibly frustrating to be without power for so long. It also makes us appreciate the many things we take for granted -- such as just being able to stay up after dark! The bill to replace everything in the refrigerator and freezer will be whopping, but we didn't lose our house and no one died, I'm trying to focus on that.
I feel sorry for customer service representatives at Duke -- it wasn't their fault but I'm sure they took a beating!
I live up near Akron and the wind was pretty ridiculous! I never lost power, but our cable was out for about a day. I have a bunch of giant maple trees in my backyard and only lost a few medium-sized branches. My neighbor, however, lost a tree that was probably over 60 feet tall, but fortunately it only went through his fence and his neighbor's at an angle and didn't hit her garage. I was actually looking out the back window when it happened and saw it go over, like in slow motion.
My parents live down in southwest Ohio and lost a bunch of trees and power for about 12 hours. They ran a power line from their RV's (they're retired) generator to keep their fridge and freezer going. I don't think their cable is back up, because they have Time Warner digital phone and haven't called or emailed since it happened. I wonder how TW is going to respond if people demand credit vouchers for lack of service?
I live in Centerville, just south of Dayton. We still do not have electric. This is one of those times we are glad we invested in a generator. We have been told that we might have electric on Monday.
We were out of power till Thurs. night. We celebrated with hoops, hollers, and car horns.
And I didn't think there were still any Citroen SMs left in the Midwest...
i didn't get my power back on till yesterday afternoon...
it was driving me nuts, had to clean out my fridge and take cold showers...
a building a block away from me collapsed and had to be torn down...
the wind man, what a bummer...
but it still hasn't even rained yet, and it wasn't hot and besides on sunday when it hit, the weather has been great...
i didn't have hot water, but at least i had water... i lost the contents of my fridge and cleaning it out was an overall terrible experiance, but at least i wasn't cleaning out the contents of my apartment and having to repurchase a couple frozen pizzas and milk isn't worth complaining about cause at least i don't have to start all over again...
still, being the only one on my whole block without power was pretty annoying...
this was the building that lost tis facade and had to be torn down... just a block from me...
i142.photobucket.com/albums/r88/wormwood66/building1.jpg
p.s. the day of the storm the bengals lost and my power going out before i had to watch the last quarter of the game was the only good thing to happen to me all week...
silver lining...
whenever something happens in ohio, the rest of the country goes, "look! something happened in ohio!" and then quickly forgets.
My parents live in Cincinnati, and called to tell us "they are OK"... we were like "what?"... The media didn't have a peep about this disaster in Ohio here in California, so we had no idea they were even affected by Ike. Turns out my parents need a new roof and were without power for a while. Funny thing is, the national news will pick up news of earthquakes around here, and my parents will call us asking "are YOU OK?", even if it is just a minor quake that just knocks pictures off the wall. I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything, I've been watching the main stream media closely as this election gets closer.
In Chagrin Falls, eastern suburb of Cleveland, lost power on Sunday, didn't get it back until Saturday night -- little rain but high winds. Didn't lose trees this time but some large branches. Not a pleasant week, lost all food in fridge and freezer -- the only saving grace was the gas-fired hot water heater so candle-lit showers were possible. And the library had power so there were daily evening trips to charge the cell phone and laptop and catch up on e-mail and blogs. Helped to relieve the feeling of being cut off from civilization.
Thank you! Nearly one week without power. And lots of people haven't had water either. And no national coverage of this.
I guess we no longer do infrastructure.
I live in Columbus. One reason it took so long to get power back was AEP sent a lot of crews to Texas to help out there, then had to recall them just as they arrived. Took a couple of days to get them back. They did bring in several crews from other states and that helped tremendously. Westgate Park lost lots of old beautiful trees. A lot of people had damage to their homes. I just had a couple hours of clean-up from small branches, etc. and got my power back Wednesday. Saw one huge pine tree that fell from the roots up...right in between two homes. The houses are close together and it is a real wonder there no damage.
Heard a story on the local NPR about a restaurant in Columbus who lost all frozen and pre-prepared food, plus all their business because of no power. The owner said they carried loss insurance for 40 years but dropped it last January to save money. Bet there's at least one Insurance Company that's really happy!!!!
We're in Kettering, an inner-ring suburb of Dayton. My street got power back after 48 hours, so at least we could see the spoiled and thawed stuff we were having to throw away. Two streets over people are still in the dark, or half of them are, stretching extension cords across the street to the other half. We've had a steady stream of friends coming by to do laundry and charge their cell phones. Lots of downed and damaged trees too. We're having to take out an elderly silver maple we've been nursing along for the past several years.
But those 48 hours were a real test of our grace under pressure. And I don't think we tested so well. You think you know what it's like for people who have to do without essential services--whether in Galveston after a hurricane or parts of Iraq during Bush's vanity war, but there's no real knowledge until you experience a tiny taste of it. What must it be like for people who have limited, or no, power for months or years? I feel ashamed of myself for grumbling for 2 days about not having freshly made coffee in the morning, or having to read by candlelight.
Last Sunday, the NWS issued high wind warnings saying sustained winds of 35-45 mph and gusts as high as 50 mph - what we actually got were sustained about 45 and gusts around 75 - so no one was prepared for the destruction. I live in Delaware County, and we got hit almost as hard as Columbus (about 20 miles south of us). We didn't lose power except for 3 brief periods, but we live near a fire station, that may be why.
This is a perfect example of why we need several kinds of change: more home generators; power companies need to bury more power lines so trees can't bring them down; and citizens need a choice - more solar and wind power. If we had solar, there would have been few problems, as the days after the storm blew through were sunny and would have provided much needed power. A better forecast from the NWS would help too.
A lot of people around here have generators. Fortunately, I live in a community with underground wiring and haven't lost power ever because of a storm, not even in Isabel which left an enormous tree on our house in VA.
I'm in West Chester, a northern suburb (John Boehner is my congressman, PUKE!). No power for 3 days. Neighbors were great, we all helped each other out.
What was weird is that my wife was out of the country (in Peru) and called saying that the news DOWN THERE mentioned the storm in Cincinnati in detail- she was worried sick. WTF- where was OUR media??? My sister in upstate NY is a news junkie and hadn't heard a word...
Dave
I live in Jeffersonville, Indiana, part of the Louisville Kentucky Metro area, and we got slammed. I read that there were two local deaths from blunt force injury related to the wind storm. Large parts of Louisville have been without power all week because of the storm, as well. All of my trees were damaged to some degree and some did damage to my neighbor's roof. I saw large trees snapped in half. What really got to me, though, was the way our neighborhood came together. My husband and several other men in the neighborhood who own chainsaws went around and cleaned up the large debris for our neighbors. Across the alley from us is housing for disabled folks and they lost power, so several of us ran extension cords across the alley so they wouldn't lose what they had in their refrigerators and they could run any essential items. We all checked on each other and contributed anything we could to help out and that was a really good feeling. My husband got a chuckle because when the storm first started I ran out and got my Obama yard sign in to keep it safe.
Doug @ 50:
Back during Rita we got a taste of FEMA humor in our care packages of ice, water and food.... the "MRE" was a box of ..... get this... and remember this was in mid-late oct and still without power .... the ration was microwaveable dinners!!!! Yeah... we laughed our asses off all the way home. No electricity and FEMA sends us boxes of microwave dinners!!! Our power was restored Nov. 1st. Rita hit Sept 24th. And those dinners did taste good after power restored.
The winds were so bad that Mean Jean Schmidt was forced to riding on public transportation instead of her broomstick.
Hang in there fellow Columbusites. I've been w/out power for 8 days so far. Luckily, I can come in to work for my internet fix.
Even more troubling to me is the Ohio Newspaper Poll putting McCain ahead of Obama 48-42. I hope this disaster blows over, too.
welcome to Florida
I live in Mercer county here in northwest Pennsylvania. Many trees down and many without power all the way down to Pittsburgh. Next street over a large part of a tree destroyed the front roof and porch of a friend of mines mothers house when it fell. Wind gusts in the 60+ mph range were felt all over the area. Most all power is back up as far as I have seen.
Sorry to hear you lost food and trees in Ohio. We lost towns. Down here in Texas, we are starting to feel like the rest of the country thinks this is old news. Being from Houston, we watched this happen to New Orleans and now it is happeing to us. Ans yes I am cranky, there still is no power.
Out here along the banks of the beautiful Ohio River, we were without power for about 12 hours- we were very lucky. Have friends in Glendale Ohio, north of Cinci who only got their power back on yesterday. So, 5-6 days without power. Lost food, etc...
University of Cincinnati had power, but they have their own plant as well, and many areas on campus have 48 hour generators. Nevertheless, one of the main intersections to campus, off Martin Luther King, had no working traffic lights for 4 days.
Ridiculous. Infrastructure- what infrastructure.
Today, sunday the Enquirer, the worst paper in the world, says almost all have their power back, well except for 31,000 people.
Many schools were out 3-4 days... no power, than when power came back up, no gas for buses and no food for students.
Our little town of less than 2000 survived with a couple roofs blown off, limbs down, etc... but as I said, we were lucky.
Here in Chicago, the triple whammy of a strong cold front, remnants of tropical storm Lowell, and Ike dropped up to 11 inches of rain in two days in the city, and we had a lot of flooding problems across the city and the suburbs. The Illinois river is still in major flood stage and threatening people downstream
I am in Houston, and I am lucky. I got my power back on yesterday (One week without power). I can send you dozens of pictures within three blocks of my house of trees thorough houses. About 50% of my coworkers still don't have power. We have it way better then Galveston, but Houston is just getting back on its feet.
Why no MSM or crooksandliars coverage of the fact that it took FEMA 48 hours after the wind died down to deliver ONE liter of water, or ONE single ice cube within the city of Houston. All of these supplies were staged less then four hours away in San Antonio. FEMA is pointing fingers at the State of Texas (a worthless entity), but which agency has the words Emergency and Management in it's title.
You are not hearing much about what happened in Houston because most people in the city have been without power for the last week.
Well, I live in Columbus and my power was restored this afternoon (Sunday) at around 5:00. I have no damage, but many of my neighbors did. It is very strange that this storm got so little press.
I was without power for two weeks after Gustav here in Baton Rouge. I visit houses every day that are still without power three weeks later.
After Gustav, you probably never heard about the deaths and such from it, because the MSM just breathed a sigh of relief that New Orleans was spared.
I don't watch tv, but that is what I am told.
Anyway.
My sister lives just north of Houston and she lost her roofing, window, garage door and every last tree around her house. She had over a foot of water inside. She still does not have power. But the worst thing is that she can't find her youngest son. He's an adult who was living on his own in Houston but he hasn't shown up at his apartment or at his job. His cell phone doesn't work and when we tried to contact the Red Cross and FEMA to find out how to put his name on the list of missing people, we were informed that the missing person themselves has to put his or her name on a "safe and well" list! What kind of stupidity is this? If a person is a victim, injured, stranded or dead, how the hell is he or she supposed to notify anyone? There were no apparent provisions for families to report possible victims. We tried the local police but they were out of commission. Still no word.
Yes I was one that had lost power also. I own a new restaurant and my headaches began when I got my electricity back. I had two surges that cost me over 2,000 dollars and I also had inventory that had to be thrown away in excess of 4,000 dollars. I have put phone calls to my insurance company to claim it but I am yet to get a call back.. Being a new business and competing against chain restaurants I can not afford this kind of damage. I just want to know why the small guys cant get bailed out but the giant companies can. I know a lot of people got some kind of damage but how can these people survive like this when gas prices keep going up and food prices keep going up. There has to be something done when a crisis like