Prior to Ike’s arrival, the pool was actually about an inch low of where it should be. Today, it’s topping out due to the storm and residual thunderstorms today. A fun project for John-Co Pool Service this week. That is, if we get power back.

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John and I met Mikey at MogerMedia to retrieve the key computers from the office. The experience of walking through the building was other-worldly. There’s no emergency lighting. There’s nothing moving in the building. John and I made our way up the back stairs and found Mikey waiting with the CPUs in the hallway. Our audio and video station PCs and the main servers were ready to go. We also got Paula’s PC and the iMac on which she organizes most of our projects. This means that we could commence business elsewhere if need be. Tomorrow will be the time for those decisions.

The good news is the building is standing solid. No leaks, no lost windows, no sign of damage. We made it through far better than many. Our partners over at CBS Radio, for instance, said there are no elevators in their building since the mechanisms on the roof were damaged during the storm. It’s a short 19-story walk up and down to reach their facility. At the height of the storm, one of the on-air staff got motion sickness from the rocking of the building. Suddenly the second floor of our diminutive four-story building seems so much nicer.

We awoke in darkness again this morning. I was able to get some news on the grid: 75% of the heavy transmission lines on the gulf coast have been damaged. As a result, getting power back up for the entire region could take up to six weeks.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, most of the damage is on the east side and over toward Beaumont where electric service isn’t expected for over a month. Just on the other side of Westheimer, there’s electric. There’s electric just west of Eldridge. So, we know transmission isn’t an issue here. It’s a matter of them working through popped transformers.

In the meantime, we’re working our way through canned food and the last of our bananas. There’s no school tomorrow and I’m kicking around a drive out today. Stay tuned for details.

MogerMedia
I’m concerned about the safety of assets at MogerMedia. The electronic locks on the building have failed. The front door is chained, but the back two doors are easily opened. Today, John and I will go in and harvest the main server and three other key PC’s. The rest of it will just have to wait.

This afternoon, the kids and I piled into the DaddyMomMobile and took a run in to make sure all was well at MogerMedia world headquarters. As kids delighted in counting off all the felled signs, lights, and awnings. I couldn’t help but see a long road back in front of us. There wasn’t an intersection without at least one downed, drooping or missing light. Our drive back was worse: we came back via Briar Forest and there are parts where it’s only passable in a single lane in either direction.

We still have no electric and the prognosis isn’t good for its return. It will be a quiet night tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll consider our options moving forward. Thanks for all the attempted calls today. We are unable to receive calls, but can dial out sporadically. I’m updating via my wireless web card with the mac charging via an inverter in the Expedition.

I’m a little numb at the enormity of what lay ahead for the city–never mind Galveston. This is going to take months to clean up. Evacuating might have given us a bit more comfort last night, but the reality of what is here would just be waiting for us upon return.

This is pretty primitive stuff we’re working through. It will get better. All we need to is summon all our patience and work together as a circle of five, a family complete.