Hurrican Ike and Houston

[outdoorenth]

We decided to play it safe, didn't want to get stuck in the horrible traffic of Hurricane Rita, and are now safely in Dallas (hopefully Dallas was a good choice). We're hoping if it hits Galveston it will slow down considerably before it reaches farther inland. Hope the rest of you in it's projected path play it safe and heed the evacuation orders.

If it hits hard, we didn't want to be without power for a while. If it moves more east and misses us or we're on the clean side we'll head home sooner.

It was too late to get storm panels, but you can be sure with all this stress we'll be getting them soon. For those of you that have installed storm panels, do you have any advice on the lexan polycarbonate or aluminum storm panels vs the FabricShield ones? Thank you.

[beachcat]

our prayers are with all who are within reach of that storm.

[birdbrain]

fabric panels have a poor rep down here, insurance will not even recognize them. i like the lexan but cost is 3x metal.we have clear for the bath window and one front window only. stay away from steel as they get too heavy and you put off installing them.

[luckydog]

my sister just got the clear storm panels installed on her home in Rotundra west, which is near Ft. Myers.

a few mobile homes here have then, most people here have the awnings that drop down over the windows.

I had a drop down awning over my front windows till a surprise storm hit whlie I was working and blew it off.

I've been here 7 years and others have had carports blown off and a few roofovers too.

but, most were on corner lots with really nothing to help breakup the wind.

the ones that lost the roofover had their windows covered with the awnings!!!

[musky]

Well, my employer was so gracious enought to let me off late this morning, have been boarding up most of the day. Got one more window left. We are going to ride this one out, I only hope it does not get any stronger. Glad to hear you got out ok. The traffic is a lot better this time but tomorrow it will be a mad house.

[compirate]

Good luck musky, force field to maximum!

[FTKServices]

Good Luck Musky, keep us posted...

[dattia]

You will be in my thoughts...

[luckydog]

tonights weather mentioned a 15 to 20 foot storm surge when Ike hits the coast of Texas.

everyone in or near the path please keep safe

the waves near the center of the storm are over 30 feet high

[outdoorenth]

Well, my employer was so gracious enought to let me off late this morning, have been boarding up most of the day. Got one more window left. We are going to ride this one out, I only hope it does not get any stronger. Glad to hear you got out ok. The traffic is a lot better this time but tomorrow it will be a mad house.

Musky, glad you were able to get plywood and board up. I just read that Ike might only be a Cat 2. Good luck and hopefully your power won't go out.
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fabric panels have a poor rep down here, insurance will not even recognize them. i like the lexan but cost is 3x metal.we have clear for the bath window and one front window only. stay away from steel as they get too heavy and you put off installing them.

Birdbrain, thank you for the info on the fabric panels. We'll steer clear of them. We have a 2 floor house and are looking for something that is easy to install. Was quoted $12/SF for the clear and $7/SF for the aluminum.
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my sister just got the clear storm panels installed on her home in Rotundra west, which is near Ft. Myers.

a few mobile homes here have then, most people here have the awnings that drop down over the windows.

I had a drop down awning over my front windows till a surprise storm hit whlie I was working and blew it off.

I've been here 7 years and others have had carports blown off and a few roofovers too.

but, most were on corner lots with really nothing to help breakup the wind.

the ones that lost the roofover had their windows covered with the awnings!!!

We might also look at other options to the panels such as the awnings you mentioned, but it depends on the cost and what the HOA will approve. Great, we have a corner house.

[musky]

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. As of now it looks like Galveston is ground zero with Houston in the direct line of fire. We are expected to get 84 mph winds for several hours. I got my supplies and stuff so we should be ok. Loss of power and utilities are expected but may not happen. We'll try to keep in touch somehow.

[Sid]

Hang in there Musky!!

[outdoorenth]

Musky, do you have a generator? The predictions on strength are back up to a Cat 3 and they anticipate power may be out in some areas for a week. We are south of Houston with the higher winds and will not be going back until power is restored. We did not clear the frig and are not looking forward to the mess when we get back, but we are hoping that is the only mess we will be facing.

[teqkng]

I know it is late but I am sorry it has been a bad week in other aspects. Plywood is not very effective in thicknesses of under 3/4 an inch (and 5/8 is what they usually sell you at home depot or lowes) We have large plate windows on my office front which is directly in the southern windpath with an open parking lot in front of it. Before Wilma I mad up a set of panels which consisted of two sheets of 1/2 inch plywood sandwitching 2 sheets of 1/2 inch styrofoam over a 1/4 inch hardboard core. most of the other office warehouses lost all of their glass and a couple were total losses for everything inside the building but my office was untouched save for the back wall that moved a few inches from wind pressure as the bay door behind me burst in. Luckily I had a few tons of merchandise on racking directly against that wall. We store the panels above the office and I have even tried to test their strength by running the forklift at them at full speed. They hold up...

All of these Items are cheap and will probably still be available at the home centers. BE SAFE AND BE CAREFUL... My only Uncle and First cousin are in this with you. they are staying as well.

[musky]

Thanks again, I'm looking at 84 mph winds and outdoorenth's place is going to see the same. I'm assuming they're in Pearland or Friendswood area. Yes I have a generator but was not able to get a lot of gas I have enough to run it maybe 16 hours. I plan on just running it every few hours to make the fuel last and keep the freezer cold. other then that I have coolers full of ice for what items in the fridge which we will eat first I'm stocked on can goods and fuel for the grill.

[luckydog]

I wish the best of luck to all our members in Ike's path!!!

hang in there

[teqkng]

I hope the gas tanks are all topped off in the cars.
keep in mind you can siphon for the generators, I did a mod on my old work truck that had an 80 gal capacity in three tanks so I could pump it off to gas cans at home. it worked great.. (and the boss paid for the gas :::VEG::)

Buckle in and have a drink or two to take the edge off...

[JohnD0406]

I lived in Clear Lake before moving to California (from hurricanes to earthquakes). I was in Houston for Alecia in '83. We've heard from many friends on their way out of town due to the mandatory evacuation.

We used thick plywood with slits cut on each corner, and had large eye hooks screwed into the corners of each window, so we'd just straighten the eye hooks, put up the boards, then turn the eye hooks 90-degrees to secure the boards. We could board up the entire house rather quickly with that method.

[musky]

Wow, what a night. We are ok, the power went out around 12:30 and is still out. Maybe as long as 2 weeks before it is restored. The eye of the storm went right over us, we got a chance to go out side and check the damage...I have no shingles. Fence is gone and the maple treecame down on the spa. well I'm going for now and will get back on later.

[hanabi]

Glad to know you are safe Musky

thanks for updating us, we were getting worried