"I like IKE." I had fond memories of that slogan as General Eisenhower was elected our President. Today though, the new Ike didn't have quite the same effect...

Hurricane Ike was a strange hurricane, but then today was the 13th too. We didn't have much rain, but the wind! Lot's of wind. These images were captured after the eye of the hurricane had passed but before the hurricane had finished passing over. In fact the last band had just passed over Galveston Bay, and we didn't know what more to expect...

I hasten to add that we were little effected by hurricane Ike. We lost power for only about 19 hours. In our backyard the wood fences at the sides took a definite slant, but with the help of our neighbors we were able to straighten them with little effort as the ground was still wet. A few small branches were broken on a couple of our trees, and that was about it for us. When we knew that we were going to have to move to the greater Houston area we were well aware that we were moving from a relatively safe area with regards to weather to an area that is often struck by devastating hurricanes. With this knowledge in hand we searched very carefully for a community that was designed and built with hurricanes in mind. When we bought our house we paid a premium for it as do all owners in Shadow Creek Ranch. Shadow Creek Ranch is a planned community with elevated building sites and integral drainage built into the landscaping. Today it payed off.

Many others were not as fortunate as we were. Too many houses and commercial buildings were not built to standards to withstand a category 2 hurricane. Hurricane Ike is now said to have been the 4th largest natural disaster to hit the U.S.A.. My wife and son volunteered to help and are working at a relief center to assist those who were less fortunate. These included several disheveled people looking very miserable in Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar and other expensive cars. Ike did not discriminate.