Hurricane Ike !

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by bigbeezy

Makes you wonder what the country would do if there was a major problem and there was no gas...

Adapt.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Adapt.

Which would take months, if not longer, through which we would suffer at a standstill.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Cory

Which would take months, if not longer, through which we would suffer at a standstill.

Sounds like fun! /sarcasm

Looks like alternative power (for transportation & every other area) should be a top priority of the next administration that takes over the White House, whoever & whatever party that may be.

Sometimes it takes a disaster to cut through beuracratic red tape a little quicker and get things done, but then again sometimes disasters make the red tape even more prevalent.

Whatever the case, let's hope it's a seamless transition over an extended period of time so we don't have the standstill you speak of.

Originally Posted by waialua359

i guess everything is relative.
try paying 4.60/gallon for gas for super. I guess the good news is they are saying on the local news that it will drop 3 cents this week.

Why on earth would you buy super?
Please tell me your vehicle that uses or needs that is not your "daily driver".

[Andrew Schreiber]

Here in Flint we had a ton of rain. And a ton of price gouging, prices for regular jumped ~40 cents in 12 hrs. Also, some of our roods our flooded, nothing around KU though, being on the Flint River has its perks I suppose.

Best wishes to all those teams NOT reading this due to power outages.

[JaneYoung]

There are other groups that are helping/preparing to help those who have been impacted by Ike and who continue to be.

The Salvation Army is one.
Also, a thought - if you are interested in volunteering as a team or individual, contact your local Red Cross or Salvation Army and ask them how you can help. A blanket drive might be helpful in one locale but not needed in another.

Also, please remember the animal shelters that are going to be overwhelmed and may be already. Check their helplines and see what their needs are. They, too, can always use monetary donations.

Ike has impacted so many states and areas. (And that's just the latest one in a series.)

Sorry to take everyone off the discussion of gasoline -

Jane

[Alivia]

This is a picture my mom sent me from back home. (Hammond, IN)
The picture was taken on the dividing line of Munster and Hammond (pointing towards Munster)
A substantial rainfall caused by Ike caused the local Little Calumet River to overflow.
I hope everyone's okay back home!!

And my thoughts and wishes go out to all others affected by Ike.

[waialua359]

that's terrible! Sorry to hear that your family has to deal with severe weather issues.
Hawaii's economy would be in shambles if that ever happened here to the point where I think we would never recover.
We had two major hurricanes the last two decades, but nothing severe on the main island of Oahu.

[Protronie]

My thoughts and prayers are with all of yous that were in Ike's path.
We even felt him here in Carolina. Personally I've had no damage from the rains Ike sent here but my job.... all paving and road work has been suspended for at least a week. Everything is just too wet from all the rain Hana & Ike dumped on us. As I look out my window I see its still sprinkling, forecast looks like more rain for the next 24 to 36 hrs. After the drought we've had I really can't complain about some rain. Thankfully I've a few hundred hours of comp-time I can use.
And I just bought some VEX robot kits for the local Boys/Girls club... guess I'll help them figure them out. Once I figure them out... thats why I bought one for myself .

I wish all those affected by Ike well... my prayers will continue to be with us.

-p

[Kevin Sevcik]

Guess I'm the first texan hit by Ike to actually be able to post. Centerpoint estimates 95% of customers lost power, so I assume Andrew's power didn't survive the eye blowing through around 4-5am. To my chagrin, I lost power for all of 2 hours, and my shiny new generator is now powering my neighbor's fridge and freezer across the street. Still lacking cable and internets, so I'm currently posting from work, which fared slightly worse due to a poor roof and Sunday's torrential downpours. If anyone in FIRST corporate is curious about the sudden decrease in volume, the Lone Star RD is without both power and internets. I can assure them she'll be up and pestering them at full speed as soon as service is restored, however.

The city overall seems to be dealing with the disaster well. There's much pulling together and neighbors helping neighbors and surprisingly little unproductive behavior. The police chief notes that arrests and such are actually lower than usual. The only real pointless activities I've noted are reporters badgering the poor Centerpoint rep with pointless repetitive questions and their ridiculous "theories" as to how Centerpoint is working the problem.

In FRC related news, Clear Creek, Pasadena and Goose Creek ISDs are closed until further notice and teams associated with them are likely to be hardest hit. All the teams in the Greater Houston Area will obviously be affected to some extent, but in my judgment, the hardest hit teams will be 118, 231, 1255, 2597, and 2664. Despite concerns voiced here, I'm confident 118 will bounce back strong. They are a strong team will great sponsor support. I think the team that needs the most support from the FRC community is going to be Blarglefish 1255. They're based out of Baytown, which was very much on the dirty side of the storm. In particular, one of their two high schools is on Goose Lake. I haven't been able to confirm, but I imagine it was heavily flooded from the storm surge pushed into Galveston Bay and the Ship Channel. So if anyone needs help and support right now, it's likely to be them.

[JaneYoung]

Thank you for the news, Kevin. It has been hard not knowing or hearing anything. I've gotten some news here and there regarding Clear Lake but not enough to know anything.

It's also good to hear that folks are helping each other out.

[Richard Wallace]

What was left of Ike came to visit my part of St. Louis county, and deposited about half a foot of rain in some spots. My yard only got about four inches, but it all fell between 5:30 and 9:30 am Sunday morning.

Later that day, the remains of Ike arrived in Chicago -- after they'd already had about 20 hours of continuous rain from a stalled front. My brother who lives in the north loop told me their 36 hour rainfall total was over a foot in some places.

Al Skierkiewicz and I exchanged a few messages that day, while each of us was vacuuming seepage from his respective basement. I think Al stayed at that task for most of a day, while I got off easier with only about four hours of shop-vac duty.

The good news: my area had relatively minor wind damage and no loss of electric power. Even though we got very wet, our Ike troubles were negligible when compared with those in Texas.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Richard

Even though we got very wet, our Ike troubles were negligible when compared with those in Texas.

Louisiana, too. I did a search to try to find the path of damage/impact. I looked in Wikipedia to see what was there. Check out some of the inland areas that are mentioned.

The "Ike Spike" is also mentioned concerning the severity of the price increase of gasoline in Canada.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Northern Illinois and northwest Indiana are still waiting for the water to go down. Traffic reports on the way in have I 65 north closed for 70 miles, and the main east west road I80/94 is still closed between Illinois and Indiana. The Indiana tollway is free so that traffic can get by the flooding. Munster is pretty much closed although there are some areas that are dry. The levees on the Little Calumet didn't fail, the water just is so high it went right over. The north branch of the Chicago River is still very high and the neighborhood near where I work is still under water. My main road to the station finally opened this morning but the water is just a few inches from the street.

[lynca]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

I think the team that needs the most support from the FRC community is going to be Blarglefish 1255. They're based out of Baytown, which was very much on the dirty side of the storm. In particular, one of their two high schools is on Goose Lake. I haven't been able to confirm, but I imagine it was heavily flooded from the storm surge pushed into Galveston Bay and the Ship Channel. So if anyone needs help and support right now, it's likely to be them.

Thanks for the update, I don't know 1255 very well but hopefully someone checks on them. I would be happy to contact them to see if they need help.

My power and water has been restored, it was out for about 3 days. Even on Wednesday, over 60% of Houston is still without power. The gas station lines are long and many of the street lights and intersections are without power.

I had no idea Ike would impact so many people !

[JaneYoung]

Welcome back, Andrew.