The Aftermath of Ike:

I feel for the victims of hurricane Ike and especially the ones that stayed behind and rode out the storm . We have barrier islands here and several channels and sounds and the intra coastal waterway and steep hills to protect from surge. Not Texas. All they have is a seawall. Now really did they think a seawall would keep out the surge? It’s the worst part of the storm. There are numerous stories around here of people treading water or clinging to tree limbs all night long.

The story from Texas where a man said his children went to the bathroom during the storm and came back with their names and social security numbers sharpied on their forearms was plain sad. What a good dad you are…protecting your family with a drunken hurricane party and sharpies.
















The aftermath of the storm is like deprivation. No utilities. What do cell phone addicts do without service? They suffer. But if you have an old rotary phone chances are good that you can get a connection if you still have a line attached and a dialing wand.

















911 is of no use. Remember the operator? She was efficient and was always able to make a connection. If she couldn’t she’d ring back when she did. All you did was pick up the receiver and order her to do all the work. Nowadays it’s all so manual with buttons and texting…so much work involved. Once the phone was used for important communication and people didn’t just hang out on the phone chattering away. I even received instruction during finishing school in the proper comportment and etiquette of modern telephonics. It serves me well to this day.



















Wishing I had a proper operator to place my calls following a storm has always been a concern, that and listening to gospel music. It makes you feel better about scrubbing off indelible sharpie written identification.


7 comments:

  1. Glad you're okay....and very grateful we don't have hurricanes in Seattle (just volcanoes)...but I'm gonna buy me some Sharpies just in case.

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  2. yay that you are a-ok

    i hadnt heard the sharpie story - woah

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  3. I know fellas the sharpie story is the saddest. Thanks for your concern. The storms look bad on radar but we never saw a drop of rain. Not one!

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  4. See the fatty in the 2nd photo (orange top) she was on her way to Domino's, but couldn't get through all that rubble so she left in a huff.

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  5. How awful. Mama Janey lives in FL and went thru Frances and Charlie a few yeas back. No 'lectricity, running water. 90 degrees, 90 % humidty... worst of all, it was days before MIss J even knwe if she & the rest of the fam were OK.

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  6. The lack of communication after a storm is always the worst part. My mother routinely calls after each storm and says, “Well…We hadn’t heard from you…just wondering if you were dead in a ditch or something.” Then everything after that is a closing statement, “Well all right now…Ok then…Just checking on ya…”

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  7. Glad you're ok.

    ...but, and I know it's kinda prickish of me to ask... why do people stay during such an obviously devistating event, and then really, why do they stay at all? I gotta tell ya, 5 months of snow is very little to pay for not dealing annually with multiple hurricanes, floods and the aftermath... Come on up North... we'll make room...

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