Hurricane Ike Had no Discernible Impact Here in Austin

First of all, I would like to thank everyone here in the ActiveRain community who emailed, called, and commented about your concerns with regard to Hurricane Ike.  For those of you who are out-of-state, Austin is located inland by several hours, although they were predicting thunderstorms and heavy rains here.  Instead, we got a small amount of rain and some moderate gusts of wind, but nothing enough to cause any damage.

We were more worried about my in-laws in Pearland (located south and east of Houston - about 15 miles or so from Galveston Bay).  They decided to stay and ride it out last night, possibly because every other time they had evacuated in the past, it probably wasn't necessary.

My wife was talking to my father-in-law last night, and they did lose power and the winds were pretty bad, but today I am happy to report that they didn't get any flooding or experience any major damage.  All is well.

I am still concerned about a few of my AR friends who were in the path of the hurricane.  If you are reading this and you live in the Houston/Galveston area, check in and let us know that you are okay. 

Again, my thanks for all of your prayers for Texas.  They are certainly appreciated.  I know that I am not alone in this, but I really hate hurricanes.  My father evacuated from his home in Corpus Christi in advance of Hurricane Rita back in 2005.  He was sick with emphysema, and apparently he picked up a germ that led to pneumonia and he died shortly thereafter.  However, we really didn't have a choice, because he needed power for his oxygen.

I just received an email from Amanda Hall asking for help in procuring a hotel room in Austin for Greg Nino.  Guess I need to do some checking for them...

Thanks again, and God bless you!