Sid's Dad called last night because their generator committed suicide in this time of crisis. We met him halfway to deliver our generator this morning, and we listened to his account of the storm first person.
They live in Liberty County and decided not to evacuate since forecasters thought it would hit more torwards Port Lavaca. Once they realized Ike was headed straight for them, it was too late to leave. 146 was bumper to bumper traffic moving at a snail's pace, and having weathered many storms, they decided to stick it out.
Sid Sr. would never, in a million years, admit to being frightened, but I could tell they truly did fear for their lives. They lost a gigantic pine tree (I can't wrap my arms around the trunk) in front of the house, they have dozens of trees down, roof damage, the tin ripped off the shop, the house rocked all night, the door blew open, the sounds and sights were horrific and when the dust settled, they feel certain that a twister blew through with the way the trees are twisted and because there seems to be a path of destruction through the woods. He says they have never seen destruction so terrible, and they have weathered many hurricanes, including Carla when living in Port Lavaca. Thank goodness they are safe and sound.
We didn't encounter any traffic on the way down, but it really picked up by the time we headed home. Lots of family convoys, electrical trucks, trucks pulling industrial generators - all headed to the Houston area.