The Aftermath

Aftermath Photos

As day broke on Saturday morning, we struggled bleary-eyed to the windows to check out the effects of the hurricane. By now the worst had passed (apparently headed out over the Woodlands) but the outer storm bands were still bringing gusting winds and rain. We could already see from the windows that the palms had somehow survived – the smaller trees and a big oak down the street hadn’t been so lucky though and now lay in the street.

As the morning progressed and the winds calmed, Andie and I set out first by car to check the safety of our houses. Both looked to be in good shape bar some fence damage to mine but we saw a lot more trees down across streets which had taken power lines with them. Anything unsecured had been ripped from its moorings including roofing and advertising hoardings.

Soon Tracy rejoined us at the house and we set out on bikes to further assess the level of devastation. Clearly everyone else had the same idea – I’ve never seen so many pedestrians in the city of Houston!

Power was obviously down everywhere, as were many trees which had blocked off a lot of neighborhood streets. We soon came across some more severe damage at the Urban Living building on Washington, which had lost a whole wall including concrete blocks. We turned south down Durham to check out the bayou and found it out of its banks and spread all the way across Memorial Drive on one side and Allen Parkway on the other. As we arrived, a guy was trying to tow a flooded car off Memorial Drive – but as the police appeared it soon turned out that it wasn’t his car and he was trying to invoke ‘rights of salvage’ – unfortunately for him the cops didn’t see it the same way…!

Moving on along the edge of Allen Parkway, the water was fully up the level of the bridges (14ft) and more cars were sitting submerged. As anyone who has ever run the Houston marathon knows, those dips are pretty big! Clearly we wouldn’t be doing much running training around the bayou trail for a while unless we wanted to bring a snorkel… At one of the bridges we ran into the Finley family who we were pleased to see were in good spirits. We heard from them that there was some worse damage downtown so we headed eastwards to take a look.

Arriving in downtown we quickly realized that we had underestimated the amount of damage we’d find. Broken glass was scattered across the roads, while above us, jagged holes in the building pointed to the source of the debris. After getting two flat tires in quick succession and concerned at the danger from above we made the decision to get out of downtown to a safer location.

Halfway down Washington we were pleasantly surprised to find power on at the Daily Grind and coffee being served…the only problem being that none of us had any money!! Apparently the presence of a major police station nearby had given this grid priority for power supply.

At this point with a third flat tire and no more spare tubes, we accepted defeat and headed back home.

Having cooked by headlamp, settled in for the evening and assuming we’d be spending another night without A/C, we were incredibly fortunate to be offered the use of our friend Vince’s house which was one of the few in the city still with power (thanks again to that police station!). We quickly regrouped there to enjoy the cooler air and where the boys made a priority of checking out the video game selection!

We woke Sunday morning much refreshed from a good night’s sleep only to hear the worrying sound of torrential rain outside. Tracy and I, concerned for the integrity of our houses should the waters rise, made a decision to brave the roads to check on them. After running by my house and ensuring that though the water was high, it wasn’t likely to reach the house, we turned north towards the Heights.

We were surprised to see that I10, easily passable only the night before, now resembled a major river! Shepherd was closed by flooding so we weaved around the neighborhood and tried again on TC Jester. Though the bayou was very high and touching the underside of the bridge (which made us hold our breaths as we passed over it) it didn’t look likely to overcome its banks. Coming across some small floods, we crossed some, navigated around others and finally came to a stop a block from Tracy’s house from where we waded the final few yards! At this point I got to check out the house in her block which had collapsed in on itself mid-construction and landed on the builder’s porch – quite a sight!

Leaving Tracy there I returned the way I’d come and was relieved to get back safely to the house and step back into the air conditioning. By now the rain had stopped and the waters rapidly receded allowing Tracy to rejoin us later that day.

After a few hours in the house, and with movie-fatigue setting in, the boys set about fixing Vince’s broken window, and did a great job of securing it until he can get some glass put in. Tracy and I took the chance to venture out for a run and see a little more of the city. Heading east along the bayou again, it was a strange sight to see all our familiar running trails and steps disappearing down into the murky water. As we circled downtown we caught a glimpse of the Chase Tower which apparently sustained the worst of the damage. Many of the local residents were taking the chance to observe the cleanup from outside the bars that had already reopened, thanks to the underground power supply in downtown.

Moving back to the bayou we saw the boat ramp we use for paddling completely submerged (no-one to ticket you for improper parking today!). Turning around we encountered some foul smelling water surging from a street drain and flowing straight into the bayou. A police car pulled up and moved the crowd along, warning a nearby family “this is raw sewage – you are infecting your child” which we couldn’t help laughing at despite the sad situation.

With night drawing in and a curfew in place we turned back towards Vince’s house. As we ran, every third car seemed to be a police car….I guess this is what it feels like to live in a police state!