Pleasure Island Clean Up and Helping Hand

The Lake Charles Power Squadron is going out to Pleasure Island in Port Arthur to help out folks damaged by Ike on Sat, Sept 27.

Let Commander Ben Garber know if you would like to also go and help out.

Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 10:30 AM
Subject: LCPS - Pleasure Island Help

The LCPS HELP committee has been very busy and is now making plans to help our members and friends in Pleasure Island.   Meet us at 9 AM at the Anchorage on Saturday so we can caravan to Pleasure Island.    Billy is cooking a big meal and planning to serve red beans and rice for lunch to our friends that are working in small community.   We are also going to cook sausage and other finger food on the grill so if have anything we can cook, please bring it.  Harvey is going to bring the music system so that we can play some music and raise the spirits on the island.    Leon can\'t make it but he gave us the burners and small generator.    I am bringing tables and a BIG  cooler full of drinks for everyone.
 
Also, I would like to thank everyone for their help and support.    So many of you have called or helped in some way.    I know that all of our members in need really appreciate your help in this time of need.
 
Please join us if you can to help our friends in Pleasure Island.   Meet us at the Anchorage at 9 AM on Saturday!   If you cannot attend but would like to make a donnation instead, please let me know.     
 
 
Here is what everyone has committed to bringing so far.   If you plan to bring anything, please let me know and I will add you to the list.
Red Beans w/ Sausage (2 pots) - Billy
Cooked Rice - Irene
Paper Goods - Irene
Tables - Ben
Burners & Propane (from Leon) - Ben
Small Generator (from Leon) - Ben
Extension Cords - Ben
Large Cooler with drinks - Ben
Sound System with Music - Harvey
Small LCPS Banner - Harvery
 
 
Hope to see you on Saturday morning!
 
Cdr. Ben

Regards,
D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
D/21 XO

Shirley D. Heald on 9/25/2008 1:45 PM

More Ike damage reports from Phil and Dot Welch

More from Dot and Phil Welch about their loss in IKE.

i Lee & David, D/21 Bridge and Billie:

Here is our first report about our situation. I was getting withdrawal pains from the computer and all my murder mystery shows. I am doing much better now that we have electricity in Houston.

We finally got electricity on Friday evening 19 September in Houston and then it went out about 9:00 a.m. Saturday. Our home in Houston has roof and fence damage. Lots of food in refrigerator and freezer had to be throw out. Wet carpet and ceilings from the roof damage.

We had whole trees, limbs, leaves and have put them out on the curb. We have 3/4 of an acre of property and all of the front is covered with debris. Ice was the main issue with us -- you couldn\'t save anything because of no ice for three days and then one bag per person. No lights and phone service was hard to get working.

Our cell phones ran out of juice and I finally found a CVS that had extension cords and adapters. So guess who stood there in front of CVS (as a homeless person)? Yes, it was me. I was so afraid, but really enjoyed getting some telephone service and visiting with my fellow neighbors.

We went to Galveston (Jamaica Beach) today 20 September 2008 about 11:00 a.m. and had to go through at least four check points to get into our subdivision. It was so heartbreaking to see all the boats, cars, ruined restaurants, gas stations, buildings and devastation that Ike did to Galveston.

We were allowed one hour to look over the property and clean out the ice box and refrigerator. Everything down on the first floor was like a toy and I have no idea where some of our items are. It was a 10-15\' surge which crashed in our downstairs utility room (door missing) and it turned over the refrigerator, ice box, plants, chairs, fishing poles, life jackets, etc. We still cannot get into the room without help.

We have two 30-40\' trees in our front yard that have caught about eight ice chests, chairs, canoes, small boats, doors, furniture, life jackets, etc. The trash in the front yard is about 12-14\' high. The downstairs is a complete disaster and we lost a rod iron table and chairs on the second floor, not to mention all of the white railing is gone from the second floor deck. Anything that was on the first floor is gone, dead or maybe stolen. It is like wait a minute, something is missing. No railing, no dock, fish cleaning table, deck, fishing pier and boards missing which have been lifted and are in the water somewhere or in someone\'s yard. We also had siding and roof damage.

The deck has so much trash and debris that you really can\'t tell what damage has been done. The boat dock and sling for the boat is torn up as is the decking around the deck and boat slip. Everything on the first floor has been wiped out and garbage, debris, trash, etc. is there. To me it is a total disaster and we may be without water, lights, gas and phone service for maybe 2-3 months. The sand, dirt, trash is at least a foot high, so walking is really hazardous.

Most of the 30\' palm trees have been damaged by the salt water and we have lost most of our other Hibiscus, roses, Hawaiian, pineapple, orange, lemon and saga plants to mention a few.

Please keep us in your prayers.



----- Original Message -----
From: Lee Price
To: Dot Welch
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 7:11 PM
Subject: Are you ok?

Dottie, Just checking in with you and Phil, I\'ve seen the devastation on tv, I know you must be busy but please let me know that you guys are ok.

Love Lee

Shirley D. Heald on 9/22/2008 9:26 PM

Ike news from Dot and Phil Welch

This from Dot and Phil Welch:
From: dotwelch@sbcglobal.net
To: Glenn.SNELL@weatherford.com
CC: ben@gowebware.com, kpolt@aol.com
Sent: 9/21/2008 8:34:48 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Cdr's Report fall 2008 and how Dot and Phil Welch are fairing after Ike
 
Hi Glenn:
 
Thanks for your Commander\'s Report and it looks great as usual.
 
Hope everything is going well with you and your family.
 
We finally got  power yesterday in Houston and received roof and fence damage.  We had two large trees fall, one into the pool and the other on top of the barbeque pit, table and chairs lost.  We couldn\'t get ice for three days and everything in the refrigerator and freezer was lost.  Ice was the main problem.  We couldn\'t even get ice to try and save some of the items.  Oh by the way we did lose four Koi\'s at least 30\" or larger which were  in our fish pond and most of their offspring\'s.  Do think the insurance companies or Fema will cover them.
 
As to Galveston (Jamaica Beach) it is must worse with roof damage, siding missing, deck gone, etc.  Large trees are in our yard that are 30-40\' tall and the limbs which are at lease 12-15\' high.  I guess this was the dumping ground for the trash on the first level, leaves, furniture, 8 ice chests, a front door, life jackets, swings, boards, a large butane tank that looks like a hot water heater, anything that got loose from homes, seemed to end up in our yard or in the bay.  Hope Fema or whoever will help get the mess our of our yard and help with repairs.  The smell is bad and you can\'t walk around much because of the mud, leaves, limbs and trash.  It left at least a foot of trash in our utility room or maybe more, as we could not enter the room. All of our tools, a small motor, fishing gear, cleaning items are gone, anything that was in the utility room.   I hope someone finds them, returns the items or gets some use out of them. We be without water, gas, !
electricity, phone service and sewer lines to get rid of the waste.
 
On the way to Galveston we saw I know over 200 nice boats just in ditches, on the side road or turned  upside down in yards.  I guess this is when Phil and I lost it.
 
Our first floor we are missing the door to our utility room, the refrigerator and freezer are turned over and blocking our entry, very expensive fishing poles, paddle boat  We had 12-15\' surge into our home.  Our railing upstairs is missing, plus a rod iron table and chair, 2 other tables that fold as benches or a table all of the heavy clay pots with plants, barbeque pit downstairs and on the second level.  It is very hard to image something could remove the railing and topple of these large trees.  We have roof damage, deck and dock damage for our boat stall missing binds, board, etc.. 
 
While in Galveston I thought that Phil was going to have a heart attack or stroke, so we left after empting the refrigerators, freezer and dumped them at a site we were told to use.
 
D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/22/2008 8:52 PM

More Ike news from Joe Jordan

From: Yachtsmanjoe@aol.com [mailto:Yachtsmanjoe@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 12:32 AM
To: Yachtsmanjoe@aol.com
Subject: GBSPS Hurricane Ike Status Report

The Good News
 
1) The Strickler Building made it okay through the storm
 
2) Gasoline is now available without waiting in League City.
 
3) Free Emergency food(MRE\'s), bottled water and ice are available at the Target parking lot on Hwy 2094 in Kemah and the wait is very short. The Salvation Army is serving free hot meals in the same area, lunch and
dinner. Really great folks. Came in from the east coast.
 
4) I have a generator at my office in Houston and Jan and I have been staying there with 3 grandsons and 5 cats.
 
The Bad News
 
1) Some salt water seeped up through the floor in the Strickler Building and the carpets will need to be replaced.
 
2) The Elks Club, where we were to hold out annual auction/dinner meeting in two weeks sustained serious flooding and water damage and will not be available to us.
 
3) Marvin Frank lost his boat to the storm.
 
4) Both Lakewood Yacht Club and Houston Yacht Club had severe damage with many large boats sunk and/or tossed up on the beach. Lakewood has a lot of trees down and the club house and ball room had severe water damage and the interiors are being gutted.
 
5) It is likely that the in the water boat show for Oct 2-5 will be cancelled.
 
6) I had 3 feet of water come into our house. (53 years old, never had water inside) Much of our furnishings were safe in dry storage as we are selling the house (Hopefully).
 
More news as it develops
 
Yours for safe boating
 
P/C Joe L. Jordan, AP
Member Involvement
Galveston Bay Sail and Power Squadron
PO Box 640
Kemah TX 77565-0640
713 680-3181 ofc
713 301-5523 cell
yachtsmanjoe@aol.com

Shirley D. Heald on 9/22/2008 8:46 PM

More Ike Galveston Bay members heard from

More from Billie and Ray Kearney and Galveston Bay members heard from:

From: Julia Kearney [mailto:jkearney@satx.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 8:01 PM
To: Julia Kearney
Subject: FW: GBSPS--Billie Kearney IKE Information About Members

 

This is being sent from daughter Julia Kearney's email account because our web will not support multiple addressees.—Billie and Ray

 

Thursday the 18th of September

 

Just the Messenger, and all of our members have had a very busy week. IKE was a pretty tough guy.  My email list may not be up to date.  I brought my laptop with me to San Antoniobut forgot my memory stick, so my data may be a little off.  Anyway here goes….

 

The following is information that has been passed to me, it may or may not be completely accurate, but it is the best that we can do for now.

 

The D21 conference is scheduled for 3-4 Oct at the Hilton.  IKE took part of the facing off the building, windows were broken and the lobby had water.  Not sure if, where or when the conference will be held.

 

GalvestonBay's monthly meeting is on the calendar for 10 Oct.  IKE destroyed the facility that we were to use.  A replacement site has not been located yet.  That monthly meeting may be scrubbed.  Many ideas have been tossed around, just like our boats and houses…pardon the pun. 

If a place could be found should be set the meeting for the 11th and hold the Auction?
Forget about an October meeting?
Rent a place to store the auction items and hold the auction in May?

It is up to the eboard to make the final decision.

 

Our Building!!!  Roof is still there, not sure if it is completely intact.  We did have water; it appears to be in the East room and part of the Kitchen Bar area.  Rug is wet and some of the guys are trying to see about pulling the carpet.  Does not appear that any windows are broken.

 

Education classes are suspended until further notice because of repairs to the interior.

 

Lakewood Yacht had considerable dock damage and may have a gas line broken somewhere on the grounds.  They were not letting vehicles on the grounds, Tues.16th.  That may have been taken care of by now.  Betty Carr said that pictures were taken.

 

Our members!  This is info that I have heard, don't hold my feet to the fire for complete accuracy.

Marvin Frank – Boat is gone.  House has damage.

Harless Benthul – House is standing no word on boat.

Joe Brickha – Lost boat, it was seen in the pile of boats on I45.

Betty Carr – Boat is safe, House is safe with a few minor repairs.

Frank Lotz – Boat lost or damaged, they are OK.

John Krommenhoek – Water in house

Charles Ashford – Water in house

Mike Hancock – Boat is OK, all others on his dock are gone. 

Frank Boerner – Boat is OK, all others in his shed that listened to him as to how to secure are

also OK.  House OK, fence down.

Mike Trznadel – Boat at GalvestonYachtBasin, not found as yet.

Charles Scott – Boat is sunk

Jim Tyson – 3 ft water in house, Boat OK

Karen Coady – Front porch of house gone, now has piers and debris where porch was.  The roof over her bathroom and kitchen are gone.  House is not livable.

Raymond Kearney – Had carotid artery surgery on the 9th, released from hospital 11th, stayed at home during the storm.  We had minor damage to roof, fence and gutter.  We left for San Antonioon Saturday evening and are still in San Antonioand will stay put until we feel comfortable about returning.

Jinx Manning – Sailboat took a swim in her swimming pool and lost electric circuit box that feed house.

Marvin Radney – House OK. They live in Clear Lake Forest, a lot of trees down.

 

And if all of this is not enough, the Big Boat Show at Kemah is cancelled.  If you are signed up to work, work on your own property or your neighbors instead.

That's all for now folks, if any of you would like to send me email with your info, that would be wonderful.  I will pass on stuff as I receive it.

 

"Just the Messenger" – Billie Kearney

 

 Regards,

D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
D/21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/22/2008 8:43 PM

D21 Ike Update 22 September

We have compiled a spreadsheet & are updating as information is received from members. Anyone who wants a copy, just drop me an email (JLHamilton@MarathonOil.com).

Fall 2008 District Conference has been cancelled. USCG, FEMA, media apparently have commandeered the hotel - damage not withstanding! Probably will host first ever E-Council & E-Conference unless something is rescheduled in November. It would have been a great party...

Looks like we\'re up to about a dozen lost/sunk/beached vessels with many yet to be heard from; at least 15 members out of homes due to flooding/major damage; no permanent homes lost as of yet, 2 beach homes completely gone, 1 has major damage - with a lot yet to be heard from. Significant number of members still without power.

One member has gained a boat in her swimming pool...sounds like a raffle fundraiser item to me...

The good news is...so far...knock on wood...no loss of life or major injuries reported.

D/C Jean.

Jean L. Hamilton on 9/22/2008 2:33 PM

News on District 21 Conf and Betty Carr of Galveston Bay

Please see the not below from Commander Jean about our conference, with some other news from Bill and Betty Carr.

Betty:

The Hilton has not cancelled our conference as of 10 minutes ago.
Charlie is still in discussion with them - they are capable of providing
the facilities in our contract and we are discussing the situation with
them. Many D21 members are putting out information that is not correct
regarding the Hilton and the conference. I\'ve requested everyone please
wait and be patient until there is official word from me as to whether
or not the conference will go forward. We may not have an option to
cancel if the Hilton can provide what we need. Had it been scheduled
last weekend or this weekend, it would be different. We are hoping they
will be satisfied with the room nights being utilized now by FEMI, SUCH
and the media - I think they are stalling to determine how long those
folks will be paying!

Should the Hilton cancel, we will not reschedule. Plans are to hold
some \"virtual\" meetings by email to accomplish necessary business and
satisfy the bylaws.

Shirley has been posting the word we have on everyone on the SUPS Storm
Central page - that is a good place to go for information on everyone.
I\'ve copied her on this so D21 will know how you are.

I\'ll head back to Houston Saturday or Sunday. We now have power at my
condo, and the cooling towers repaired so we have A/C. There is still
an issue with gas stations in the area having power. Jo Lee and Bill
Haddock who live just a couple of blocks away still are in the dark.

-----Original Message-----
From: Betty Carr [mailto:bbcarr2@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 10:13 AM
To: Hamilton, Jean
Subject: District Conference

Dear Jean:
How are you doing after the storm and all? Many of our members have
suffered water damage and several lost their boats. I know that we are
npt able to have the conference at the Hilton but I was wondering if we
are still planning to have it at all. I have moved our boat over to
Southshore for about 6 to 8 months. Our marina was totaled. Anuway it
appears that Southshore is up and running. Their damage appears to be
minor. We do not have power and probably won\'t for another week or two.
If there is anything that I can do please let me know. Talk to you soon.
Betty
Sent from my BlackBerry(r) wireless device

D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/19/2008 11:20 AM

More Lake Charles news from Ike survivors!

Please see the below updates from Cdr Ben Garber in Lake Charles and other Lake Charles members reporting in:

Just a quick note to update everyone on our situation. LCPS HELP is getting organized. We have received several offers of many types of assistance and also spoken with several of our members that need assistance. Please continue to communicate with us and let us know if you need anything or can help in any way. Trisha\'s contact information is listed below.

Trisha Garber
526-6434 (cell phone)
trisha@gowebware.com

Harvey has reported that the Anchorage is fine. We have some cleaning to do but there are no major losses to report. We do need your help for a cleanup party on Saturday at 9 AM. We should be finished by noon so please come to the Anchorage and help us clean up the downstairs. Harvey says he has everything we need but need a group of people to help in the cleanup.

Here are a few stories that I know about from some of our members ......

Ron & Songa Gremillion\'s boat is on a levee near their home on Pleasure Island. Ron said it was damaged but the cabin appears to be in tact. Their entire area was hit very hard. They were working on access to the neighborhood and eventually their home which was flooded on the lower level.

Capt. Jodie is working out of Venice but heard his boat was found on land in Kemah. She had a hole in the hull so probably had a rough ride. LH\'s boat was also in Kemah but rode the storm on a floating dock without too much damage

Alvin Touchet also had his boat at South Shore Harbor. Apparently floating docks were the key to survival because he just go back from his boat and did not have a scratch on it.

Stan & Joyce Chapman had water in their home again. Stan was just about finished on all of his home improvements since the last storm. He had a few volunteers help pull carpet, sheet rock and furniture out yesterday. They plan to live on their boat while they repair their home. I hope the apple tree I gave him last year survives!

John & Joyce Stubblefield also had a lot of water in their home. I might be one of the few people that saw their home when it was finally finished since the Rita repairs. We all commented on how nice it was to finally be finished with the project and begin enjoying their home and boat in their leisure time. I heard the boat had a few issues during the high water but I do not know the extent of damage.

Glenn and Nancy Rogers also live in the same neighborhood as the Chapman and Stubblefield. They also had their home flooded in Rita and now with Ike. Their boat was in dry storage so it is fine but they have a long road of recovery ahead.

Ken and Diane Wilkinson rode out the storm on their boat. They did loose power but just switched on the generator and faired well during the storm. He had a few visiting boats so kept busy with lines and fenders during the high water. I have not heard about their home but I think it was fine other than access after the storm.

Contraband is still riding high at the Garber dock on the Calcasieu. As I hear the reports from my friends in Galveston, I am so thankful that I brought my boat home last Wednesday. I still have two cars on the Island. I parked them in a parking garage so I hope they made it. Mom & Dad\'s boat was fine in the boathouse. They do not have power but have nothing to complain about compared to the losses that other experienced.

I know there are many more stories and situations with our members. Please let us know if we can help in any way.

Cdr. Ben

And from P/C Chris and Annette McCain:

Had a few broken tree limbs, neighbors tree fell on our fence, Finally got to see Tails It Is at Nalmar, still floating like a champ, Virtually no damage! Heading to the Gremillions in the morning, will meet them in Vinton and spend the day with them. Bringing generator and gas compliments of P/C John Loukas!

P/C Chris

And from Bob Ward
The Ward\'s are all ok. No Damage at home. Minor dock dings to MinDee II. I have a 6.5 KW generator if some one needs to borrow it til their power is restored. Bob Ward

And from Gary Cryer:

Hi Ben,

We fared pretty well on the West Fork, just lost electricity a few days and experienced very high water on the river. Quality Tyme had some moderate scratches from a post and a broken VHS antenna, not bad at all.

If anyone needs an 85 KW generator I have one, let me know where/when to bring it.

Best Regards,

Gary

I also talked with D/Lt/C Alice Pippin last night who said she faired very well with no flooding and minimal power outages. Dogs are also ok, however, her significant other\'s house that just got repaired from 30 inches of water in Rita was once again flooded with 4 feet of water.

Regards,

D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/17/2008 10:19 AM

Ike Port of Houston update

The below is from the Port of Houston website as of today:
The below memo was posted on the Port of Houston website last night.

DATE: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 6:03 p.m. (CST)
PHA MESSAGE TO THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY
Port of Houston Remains Closed due to Power Outage 

Regards,
D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
D/21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/17/2008 10:11 AM

More info from Karen Coady, free supplies at her office tomorrow

Please see the update from Karen Coady and the offer of help of supplies from Nationwide at her office tomorrow.

From: COADYK@nationwide.com [mailto:COADYK@nationwide.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 9:26 AM
To: bjg1312
Cc: Creighton Maynard; Nancy Boggan; MAYT01@nationwide.com; Joe Dorn;
COOKJ5@nationwide.com; Harold Turner; Billie Sue Turner; Dan Joyce;
Donnie Hamilton; Hamilton, Jean; Jessica Hamilton; Jackie - Pope
Subject: Karen Coady status

The good news is that my Mom, step-dad Larry, doggy Stormy and I are
safe. And it appears from Josh and Jeff\'s account that most of our
personal belongings survived. My piano and all my shoes are ok-what more
could I ask?

Bad news part: Parts of the house didn\'t make it -porch swept away and
replaced by boat house debris from several neighbors piers,etc-roof
cave-in in bathroom and kitchen area-house unliveable at present.

The little house to the north of me-where we have utilized the porch
during Labor Day picnic is now mostly like a carport. Walls and contents
washed into the street. This was a weekend house for the neighbors but
is still very upsetting to have been so damaged.

House just to the south of me had a large above ground pool in yard on
the bayside and the pool/spa is now wedged up under their house. Most
of trees are down,too.

In spite of the damage, I feel incredibly fortunate-the bulk-heading
held up beautifully and most of the pier is still there (boathouse part
is gone).

I am leaving Austin in a few hours - will be staying with Jeff and
Klayre-parents are in their motorhome (with Stormy) and staying at a
state park until we can get some sense of our immediate future.

(Billie, pass on my note as you feel appropriate.)

Everyone, keep the faith, we WILL survive! Nationwide will have
Humanitarian station at my Clear Lke office tomorrow for a week amd
provide ice, formula, etc. Pls pass the word-free to everyone while
supplies last.

Karen

Regards,
D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/16/2008 12:18 PM

Lake Charles,LA Power Squadron Needs help from IKE!

Please see the below message from Commander Ben Garber in Lake Charles. Our members need all the help we can give them.:
By copy to Kay Polt, please send to the D/21 bounce to get everyone we can in copy.

We have a number of our members that have been impacted by Hurricane Ike.   Our area saw more extreme flooding than we did with Hurricane Rita so many more people were affected.    We have members in Orange and Port Arthur that have extensive damage to their homes and boats.  We also know many more people in the Houston/Galveston area that have damage to their property or lost their boats.
 
I know we all have a lot on our plate right now dealing with another disaster like this but some of our members have been less fortunate and need our help.   We are a community service organization and always try to help and support our community but right now, I think we need to help our fellow members!
 
I have asked Trisha to lead the LCPS HELP committee.    She will be collecting information about those members that need help and organizing volunteers that are willing to help out our fellow members.   If you can help out in any way, please contact Trish as soon as possible by phone or email (see contact information below).    Also, if you need help with anything, please let us know so we can coordinate resources.    
 
Trisha Garber
526-6434 (cell phone)
trisha@gowebware.com
 
You can help in many ways.   Some people might need a place to stay while others might need help pulling out wet carpet or salvaging belonging.    Some might need tractors or trailers to move things.   There are many ways to help.      
 
We have a great organization of wonderful people so please reach out to us if you need anything or if you can help in any way.
 
Cdr. Ben

Regards,
Shirley

Shirley D. Heald on 9/15/2008 10:53 PM

An update from Billie and Ray Kearney as to their whereabouts

Received the following from Billie and Ray Kearney:

Kay,
Ray and I are in San Antonio staying with his daughter Julie. Her phone number is 830 980-2539. We were at home during the storm. Ray had carotid artery surgery on Tuesday the 9th of Sept., they released him from the hospital at 1pm on Thursday just before the hospital went into a lockdown mode at 9pm. We went home and felt we could not leave town so soon after his surgery. The doctor did give permission to travel is we had to.

I was born and raised in Galveston, TX and have stayed on the island through many storms growning up. I lived in LaMarque/Texas City area during Carla and had to evacuate to Houston for that one. IKE was terrible, 92mph at Hobby Airport, and we live about 3-4 miles away. Saturday morning after the storm passed, we found tree limbs everywhere, part of our fence on side of house down, and gutter damage on same side of house. We are very lucky. No electricity or water and the neighbors put the fence back up for us. Ray is not to lift anything. At about 6pm on Saturday I loaded all of the frozen food from Freezer into ice chests, grabbed a few packed bags that I had ready and headed for San Antonio.

I have a son in Friendswood, a daughter in Houston that lives close to Reliant Stadium and another son in Bellaire. They are all without power and water, but still at home.
Ray has a son in Lumberton, north of Beaumont and he is without power but has a generator.

I talked to Nat Laffere this morning, she lives in San Antonio. She talked with Jinx Manning yesterday. Jinx has a sailboat in her swimming pool, she lives in Clear Lake Shores, water front, and her house looks out toward Watergate Marina. Her house is on stilts but her daughter, who lives in house behind Jinx, stayed on the Island. She said the water reached Jinx\'s porch level and therefore feels that at least the carpet is wet. Daughter and son-in-law used an inflatible to go to front of house to see the Sailboat.

Karen Coady evacuated to Austin, she has a son living there. Karen is right on Galveston Bay and I do not know if her house is still there or not.

Charles Ashford went to his son\'s in the Dallas area.

In case any of you do not know, if you have internet, you can go to www.Khou.com and see video of the damage in the area.

Billie and Ray

Regards,
D/Lt/Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/15/2008 4:31 PM

Coast Guard Update on Ports of Houston and Galveston

I received the following message from Ryder\'s global procurement team as a reprint from today\'s Journal of Commerce.

From this mornings Journal of Commerce. Please note, that with the highlighted exception below, the port is still closed to liner traffic and diverting other arrivals.
Houston waterways re-open

Updated September 15, 2008 11:34:47 AM

Journal of Commerce
The Coast Guard Captain of the Port at Houston has re-opened portions of the Gulf intracoastal waterway and the Houston ship channel.
The waterways were closed due to Hurricane Ike.
The ship channel is now open to outbound commercial traffic with drafts of 12 feet or less. The Gulf intracoastal waterway is open from Houston west to Port of Corpus Christi.
All other restrictions remain in place until survey of navigation aids, pollution and other potential problems is complete. The Army Corps of Engineers is surveying for shoaling.
The Port of Houston remains closed today after it was left without electrical power following the storm.

Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Steve Carleton of the Joint Information Center in Katy said approximately 90 percent of Houston Ship channel navigation aids have been blown off-station or are damaged.
Port of Galveston is under the same Captain of the Port order.
As of 10 a.m. CT there were 70 vessels in the queue at Galveston jetties: 22 general cargo ships, 21 chemical tankers, 14 petroleum carriers, four gas carriers, four ro-ro vessels, three container ships and two cement carriers.
Carleton said that some vessels may be diverted to other ports.
There was no information about damage at the Port of Galveston.

The Port of Houston Authority asked maintenance and operations employees to report to work Monday, to help with clean-up and recovery work following the storm.
The authority reported that its facilities had \"limited negative impact\" from the hurricane, but that it was operating with limited temporary power from generators.
The port was in the process of assessing the availability staff in order to bring its terminals back online as quickly as possible.
The authority also requested administrative staff to report to get their offices back in order so business operations can resume when electricity is restored.
The authority said its operations will not be open to receive trucks for drop-offs or delivery on Monday.
The agency was working with CenterPoint Energy to establish power as soon as possible.
The Coast Guard is conducting waterway assessments to identify areas of concern in the ports of Galveston and Houston and in the Houston ship channel. In addition, the teams will assess aids to navigation to identify any repositioning of buoys.
Capt. Bill Diehl, Sector Houston-Galveston commander, said that while search-and-rescue is the top priority, operations will begin shifting to assessment.
\"We recognize that getting the port [of Houston] open as quickly as possible is a top priority. Once we determine what we need to do to get it re-opened, we will send aids to navigation teams in the reset any buoys that may have been knocked out of position.\"

Noel C. Winger
Sr. Manager, Global Ocean & Air Procurement
Ryder Transportation Management Services
39550 Thirteen Mile Road, 2nd Floor
Novi, MI 48377
Phone: 248-699-7766
Fax: 248-699-2414

D/21 is going to have a lot of cooperative charting to do once we account for all of our members and get them back in their homes!

Regards,
D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP

Shirley D. Heald on 9/15/2008 3:18 PM

More D/21 members affected by Ike heard from

Received word today from D/Lt/C Scott and Claire McDonald as per below:

Shirley,

Claire, Fiona and I are safe at home.  We\'re lucky - we just got power back early this morning.  We are inside the loop in Houston.  The house is undamaged, but we had several trees down.  Lots of cleanup, we we\'re in great shape.

- Scott

And from P/C Karen Coady:

My house  didn\'t do so well -took the brunt of tidal surge with debris of neighbor\'s piers landing where front of my house once stood.  Parts of roof gone as well. My piano survived though, and that had great sentimental value.

Don\'t know yet where I\'ll be- probably at son\'s League city home-and living at the office!!!  Very busy with everyone\'s claims. Karen

And from our D/C Jean Hamilton:

Hi Shirley:
 
The kids & I got here at 0900 EDST - just got the computers going.  We had a safe trip and observed almost a constant convoy of supplies and electric power trucks from Houston through Mobile.
 
We\'ll be here at least through the 19th.
 
Thanks for being the communicator!
 
Jean

Keep the cards and letters coming, everyone, until we know you are all safe or if you need any help we might be able to provide.

Regards,
Shirley

Shirley D. Heald on 9/15/2008 12:20 PM

Another Ike update from D/C Jean Hamilton

I received another call from D/C Jean Hamilton about 7:15 Central Time tonight (Sun, 14 SEP).

She is on her way to her parents house in Florida as she had such limited communication abilities in Houston and still no power. As soon as she gets to Florida in a couple of days, she will have Internet access and cell phone access again. She was traveling by car down I-10 when she saw a convoy of power line trucks headed into Houston.
Those must be the Florida Power and Light trucks I read about in the Dallas News coming in to help out.

She had also heard from P/C\'s Deb and Steve Gallington of Houston who had arrived home only to find it unliveable. There had been three feet of water in the house and many downed trees in the yard and on the house.

More later as word comes in. My prayers are that everyone else is safe.

D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/14/2008 9:19 PM

More Ike members heard from

More communciation is coming in slowly. Here are some other members we have heard from and know that they are safe.

We received the following message from Bill and Betty Carr: of Galveston Bay:

I\'m at home with no power and low ice. Where are you?

And from Jim Hotop of Houston:

Shirley:

Thanks for the concern. I am in Dallas and am fine.

Jean: I hope you are ok.

Jim Hotop

And a further update from Commander Hamilton:

I\'m at home with slow dial-up, no power, wet dogs, ice situation medium - champagne ok.
Boat OK?

D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Exectutive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/14/2008 8:59 AM

Ike update from Ken Wilkinson, Lake Charles, LA

Just heard from P/D/C Ken Wilkinson in Lake Charles. Below is his message:

We stayed on boat. High and dry!! Water going down. Check house today??  We are OK. 
Ken and Diane

D/L/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/14/2008 8:22 AM

Ike storm update from Lake Charles, LA squadron

Just received the below email from the Lake Charles, LA squadron{

Shirley,
 
Water is deep but spirits are high here in Lake Charles.   We are having record flooding (about one foot higher than Rita) here in Lake Charles.   We have no power but have heard there is power in some areas of town.   The flood waters are backing up in town and have flooded many neighborhoods.    We did not have much rain but the gulf is in our back yard.
 
The winds were steady at about 60 Mph.   We might have had gusts to 90 but nothing like they got in Port Arthur and Galveston.    I have a lot of friends down in Galveston that did not get their boats out.    Also, the dry storage and the Galveston Yacht Basin burned with all of the boats inside.   I am waiting to hear more from my friends that are down there now.    The morning report was they had 11.5 feet of water on the Strand.    They were trying to get GYB by boat but I have not heard from them again.
 
I will let you know as I know more.
 
Regards,
Ben

Shirley D. Heald on 9/13/2008 4:28 PM

Update from Ike and our members

Hello, all,
I just got hold of D/21 D/C Jean Hamilton who rode out the storm in her high rise condominium near the Galleria section of Houston. She has no power, but you can reach her on her land phone line (713)785-6817.
She has heard from P/D/C Tom and Mary Derden that they are in Austin and safe, and also P/D/C Charles Ashford who is safe in Dallas.
We do not have a status on anyone else yet, nor the status of homes and property in the affected area.
Here in Dallas the winds and rain are just now picking up at 1PM Central time as we prepare for the tail end of the storm which could be a category 1 here.
It appears we will only get gusts of about 35 MPH while areas east of the Dallas area are getting 45-50 MPH winds.

The Nasa Bay Hilton where we were planning on having our D/21 Conf has sustained some damage, but we are not yet sure of the extent nor how it will affect it being ready to host the conf in Oct. From the pictures on the TV starions, it looks like the Marina there is totally destroyed.

The Kemah, Sea Brook, and Galveston areas have been hit very hard with flooding and high winds. Local TV stations are indicating the Kemah Boardwalk and some homes in the SeaBrook area have been destroyed or very heavily damaged. Over the water casinos and hotels in Galveston have been destroyed as well as some marinas.

The good news is that we have not yet heard of any deaths or injuries.
We will try to keep you updated as we hear more.

Regards,
D/Lt/C Shirley Heald, AP
District 21 Executive Officer

Shirley D. Heald on 9/13/2008 1:12 PM