It has been six years that I have been living in Houston and the occasions for hurricanes have been numerous. By this hurricane season, I was tired of the hurricane warnings and preparations that were to no use - the winds would always pass up Houston, would suddenly take a turn in their path, and all we would be left with was a single day of school to be, unfortunately, made up at the end of the year (shorter summer? NOOO!). This time, everything was showing the same warning signs as Rita and Gustav and whoever/whatever other hurricane there ever was. We missed school on Friday and everyone, including engineers like my dad, was free from any forms of labor on that day (except the faithful cashiers at HEB - i love you guys!).
Waking up Friday morning and watching the ginormous waves crashing into the seawall of Galveston several hours before the actual arrival of the storm on the shores of the island changed my views on a hurricane-less weekend. There were 20 meter waves.Seriously.
The hurricane came at night, and the winds were extraordinary. You know when youre speeding down a highway and stick your hand outside the window and you're fighting against the wind to keep your hand from flying backwards? Yeah, kinda like that, except here its youre whole body. I watched the trees and the wind and the various objects sailing through the air throughout the night thanks to the kind and generous calls of both pairs of grandparents and my mom (thanks for calling at 2 AM, mom).
We were some of the luckier ones of all of Houston. We have electricity, water and everything else the most serious destruction to our home was a bit of our fence folding over. And the leaves of our freshly-sprouted grape vines torn off (tear).
Finally a real hurricane hit us! I am so happy and excited. Here are the images that I will be remembering when in 50 years I tell the story of Hurricane Ike to my grandchildren.
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