(Hey it's Austin. Just for the record, I got the email from my dad at 3:27 AM. Something tells me that he didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night...)
Got about 90-minutes of sleep when the walkie-talkie I left on near my cot started crackling with life. “Call back Engineering.” “Call back Heart Tower.” “All hands to the Heart Tower.” “Brock is outside restarting the generator.” “We’ve got to get these chillers back online.” Our backup generator went down at 1:00am, so the A/C in the heart hospital was down, too. That had to be restored, so there was lots going on. Fully awake by the activity, and aware that there was probably plenty to do, I got up, threw on a cap and grabbed a flashlight.
Water is coming in from the roof of the main hospital from all over the place, and it is leaking into the heart hospital in a few places, too. Several trees in our parking lot are down, and a wooden fence behind our hospital was knocked all over the place. Everything is wet but there is no standing water anywhere. There is so much wind that the water if being pushed off the streets and hurled sideways through the air. There is a roar in the air that sounds a little like road noise when you are going 80+ mph in an old car, plus whistling, cracking and breaking noises mixed in for full effect.
The eye passed a little to our west, so we got only a 30-minute break from the winds, which was enough for the smokers to flock to the ER and burn off a couple of quick smokes. Someone suggested we should have brought a brisket with us - between the heat and the smoke it would have been done before the back eye-wall passed over.
Transformers are blowing all around us, lighting the entire sky with a teal blue flash that is both unexpected and highly unusual looking. The firefighters in the heart hospital lobby told us the Clear Lake Hilton has six feet of water in it, the front facing of the building has been torn off, the building is generally getting ripped to shreds and all the guests are gathered in the stairwells for safety. Water from the storm surge has come up as far as the road in front of the Hilton, which sits on the bay but is several miles inland. It is only a mile or so to NASA from there, which makes me wonder how they are faring.
Random images. A Midlothian police officer is guarding our ER Entrance with an AK-47. The Command Center had two huge pans of chicken tenders everyone was eating at 2:30 in the morning. A Nassau Bay firefighter told us their HQ had measured a wind gust of 112 miles per hour. A housing addition near Shelley’s work was reported to have all of its homes flooded.
It’s 5:30 and I had a shower just a little while ago, hoping it would make me feel more alert. Did. Not. Work.
I bet I can catch another hour’s sleep before sunrise, when we will – for the first time – be able to see just what Ike has been up to all night.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Ike Speaks
We’re getting our first rain of the storm just in the last 30 minutes. The wind has knocked out power to both hospitals, but the generators are working great. We brought in an extra generator this week that is able to run the AC in the main hospital, so my office is cool and comfy. I’m going to take a nap here shortly because things will start hopping in a couple of hours.
I walked the crosswalk over Medical Center Boulevard just a little bit ago, and the lobby in the heart hospital is half-full of people hanging out and watching the storm in the 3-story glass lobby. The rain is whipping the trees – the oaks and maples more than the palm trees, whose branches are definitely all pointing in one direction but which still seem to be taking it all in stride. Walking back across the walkway, Ike growled at me. Ok, maybe not AT me, but he growled most assuredly. The noise he made wasn’t loud or sudden, like thunder. And it wasn’t a high-pitched sound, like wind rushing through a narrow space. It was a low, angry growl. It sounded like an enormous amount of air and rain, slashing and expanding into noise. Ike is probably already howling at Galveston and those lost souls who decided to “ride this one out”.
The hospital is full of paramedics, firefighters, cops and guardsmen who having been working their butts off for the last 72 hours and finally get to rest until the danger of the storm passes. Then they will be the first-responders to God only knows what. They have had the effect of making our employees and guests feel a lot safer.
Sleep sounds very good to me now. Love to all.
I walked the crosswalk over Medical Center Boulevard just a little bit ago, and the lobby in the heart hospital is half-full of people hanging out and watching the storm in the 3-story glass lobby. The rain is whipping the trees – the oaks and maples more than the palm trees, whose branches are definitely all pointing in one direction but which still seem to be taking it all in stride. Walking back across the walkway, Ike growled at me. Ok, maybe not AT me, but he growled most assuredly. The noise he made wasn’t loud or sudden, like thunder. And it wasn’t a high-pitched sound, like wind rushing through a narrow space. It was a low, angry growl. It sounded like an enormous amount of air and rain, slashing and expanding into noise. Ike is probably already howling at Galveston and those lost souls who decided to “ride this one out”.
The hospital is full of paramedics, firefighters, cops and guardsmen who having been working their butts off for the last 72 hours and finally get to rest until the danger of the storm passes. Then they will be the first-responders to God only knows what. They have had the effect of making our employees and guests feel a lot safer.
Sleep sounds very good to me now. Love to all.
A Quick Note
Power is beginning to flicker on and off, so I’m not going to try to say much right now since it is highly likely my computer will shut off. Hate to leave you hanging with half an anecdote or the set up to a joke but no punch line…
It is getting windy now. Heavy cloud cover is moving in overhead, and they are some of the fasting moving clouds I believe I have ever seen. Gusts of wind feel very strong, but the sustained wind does not feel that threatening. I keep passing by TV’s with pics of Galveston, and it just looks the same to me. It’s starting to get dark.
Not much craziness to report, people are generally on good behavior. Tonight will be interesting when the turf battles start over rooms which are supposed to be assigned but have been taken by squatters. That will all happen about the time the weather gets nasty, which will be a discomforting soundtrack.
National Guard trucks are parked in our parking lot up front – quite a few of them. It comforts me that we are on a high spot for the city, but is strangely alarming at the same time. My job is a breeze compared to what those guys and gals will be doing over the next 24+ hours.
Do not worry about me – everything here is fine.
It is getting windy now. Heavy cloud cover is moving in overhead, and they are some of the fasting moving clouds I believe I have ever seen. Gusts of wind feel very strong, but the sustained wind does not feel that threatening. I keep passing by TV’s with pics of Galveston, and it just looks the same to me. It’s starting to get dark.
Not much craziness to report, people are generally on good behavior. Tonight will be interesting when the turf battles start over rooms which are supposed to be assigned but have been taken by squatters. That will all happen about the time the weather gets nasty, which will be a discomforting soundtrack.
National Guard trucks are parked in our parking lot up front – quite a few of them. It comforts me that we are on a high spot for the city, but is strangely alarming at the same time. My job is a breeze compared to what those guys and gals will be doing over the next 24+ hours.
Do not worry about me – everything here is fine.
The Big Guy With the Clipboard
Well I can tell you already this is not going to be like Rita! The activity level here is intense - the pace frenetic, (a word which here means wildly excited or frantic). We had a meeting in the cafeteria at 11:15 to brief visitors and family members on their responsibilities while they are visitors here, and it was a little overwhelming seeing how many of them there are! Something like 500 visitors, and going up!
We have plenty of staff in house for the patients, plenty of supplies and plenty of food, but too many extra people! Oh, and pets! Do not get me started on pets. We have a warehouse in our heart hospital that is filled from one end to the other with pets in kennels. We had to assign extra staff members to sit outside the kennel to check people in and out, get information about what pet belongs to whom, etc… You know the folk wisdom which says animals can sense when a storm is coming? Well this whole warehouse sounds like it’s full of anxious pets before a hurricane is about to make landfall.
We’re watching – you probably are too – the live footage of the storm surge in Galveston. It is strange to recognize all the landmarks they show, and stranger still to think my boys were playing on those beaches two weeks ago. It is also important to note that the eye of the storm is still 160 miles out and the hurricane force winds have not yet made it to Galveston. They are going to get nailed.
30 minutes ago I went outside for the first time since 6am this morning, and it had gotten noticeably cooler and the wind was gusting. But I think I’ve played golf in stronger wind than that when we lived in Amarillo, so I not ready to say the conditions are “deteriorating”.
Highlight of the storm so far: the nurse manager and nurse supervisor who stopped me this morning in the lobby to tell me all about their first ever helicopter trip, escorting patients to a hospital on the far west side of Houston. They were like kids who had just gotten off a ride at the Kemah Boardwalk!
We have plenty of staff in house for the patients, plenty of supplies and plenty of food, but too many extra people! Oh, and pets! Do not get me started on pets. We have a warehouse in our heart hospital that is filled from one end to the other with pets in kennels. We had to assign extra staff members to sit outside the kennel to check people in and out, get information about what pet belongs to whom, etc… You know the folk wisdom which says animals can sense when a storm is coming? Well this whole warehouse sounds like it’s full of anxious pets before a hurricane is about to make landfall.
We’re watching – you probably are too – the live footage of the storm surge in Galveston. It is strange to recognize all the landmarks they show, and stranger still to think my boys were playing on those beaches two weeks ago. It is also important to note that the eye of the storm is still 160 miles out and the hurricane force winds have not yet made it to Galveston. They are going to get nailed.
30 minutes ago I went outside for the first time since 6am this morning, and it had gotten noticeably cooler and the wind was gusting. But I think I’ve played golf in stronger wind than that when we lived in Amarillo, so I not ready to say the conditions are “deteriorating”.
Highlight of the storm so far: the nurse manager and nurse supervisor who stopped me this morning in the lobby to tell me all about their first ever helicopter trip, escorting patients to a hospital on the far west side of Houston. They were like kids who had just gotten off a ride at the Kemah Boardwalk!
Safely In the Hospital
Got to the hospital this morning about 6:00am. There were not many cars on the road, but a pretty steady flow of traffic heading north on I-45 from closer to Galveston. The gas stations and fast food places that are usually open that time of morning were closed, but lots of lights were on so it didn’t seem too strange. Businesses and houses are intermittently boarded up, some looking like they were done by professionals and others with sheets of plywood slapped up haphazardly covering parts of windows and doors but leaving other parts exposed. The real serious businesses have the roll down metal storm shutters fastened tight against whatever Ike is bringing us.
Woke up this morning to news media saying the National Hurricane Center had issued a warning for residents of Galveston Island to evacuate or face, and I’m quoting here, “certain death”! Wow. I guess if you combine a 16 foot high sea wall with 20 foot storm surges (and 10-15 foot waves on top of the surge) you get “certain death”. Their big problem – as is ours frankly – is Galveston Bay, which sits between Galveston Island and the Clear Lake area.
If you look at all the little cities that surround Galveston Bay, you will get a pretty good idea which areas were under a mandatory evacuation. They are saying that a 16-20 foot storm surge could push into the bay, which will cause major flooding all around our area, but also will push up the backside of Galveston and meet the storm surge coming in from the seawall side. That’s roughly what happened in 1900, which cause such massive loss of life and property.
On the map above, the little “A” marker is where the hospital is located. We are at 29 feet above sea level, which makes us one of the highest spots in the Clear Lake area. In fact, several of the local governmental agencies have requested use of our parking lot to park their vehicles since we are at such an attractive elevation compared to our surroundings. Our house is roughly where the “a” is in the word “League City”. Are biggest risk is from wind damage, but since our house is only a few years old, it was built under pretty strict requirements to withstand such a thing. I can remember the inspector pointing out some of those things to me, like extra stabilizing bars on the garage door, and special sealant around the edge of the roof shingles. We’ll see.
It was only a little breezy when I got to the hospital, with the palm trees rustling but not give any clues that were a few hours away from 50 miles an hour winds, and less than a day away from 100 mph winds. We got down to 143 patients as of midnight, with staff and family in the hospital until Saturday morning. I’ll keep you posted.
Woke up this morning to news media saying the National Hurricane Center had issued a warning for residents of Galveston Island to evacuate or face, and I’m quoting here, “certain death”! Wow. I guess if you combine a 16 foot high sea wall with 20 foot storm surges (and 10-15 foot waves on top of the surge) you get “certain death”. Their big problem – as is ours frankly – is Galveston Bay, which sits between Galveston Island and the Clear Lake area.
If you look at all the little cities that surround Galveston Bay, you will get a pretty good idea which areas were under a mandatory evacuation. They are saying that a 16-20 foot storm surge could push into the bay, which will cause major flooding all around our area, but also will push up the backside of Galveston and meet the storm surge coming in from the seawall side. That’s roughly what happened in 1900, which cause such massive loss of life and property.
On the map above, the little “A” marker is where the hospital is located. We are at 29 feet above sea level, which makes us one of the highest spots in the Clear Lake area. In fact, several of the local governmental agencies have requested use of our parking lot to park their vehicles since we are at such an attractive elevation compared to our surroundings. Our house is roughly where the “a” is in the word “League City”. Are biggest risk is from wind damage, but since our house is only a few years old, it was built under pretty strict requirements to withstand such a thing. I can remember the inspector pointing out some of those things to me, like extra stabilizing bars on the garage door, and special sealant around the edge of the roof shingles. We’ll see.
It was only a little breezy when I got to the hospital, with the palm trees rustling but not give any clues that were a few hours away from 50 miles an hour winds, and less than a day away from 100 mph winds. We got down to 143 patients as of midnight, with staff and family in the hospital until Saturday morning. I’ll keep you posted.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Ike Chronicles
Greetings from the boarded-up study of our humble house in League City. We are about 48 hours from Hurricane Ike making landfall - as of 4pm today he was headed straight for Galveston. The hospital is busily evacuating patients in an effort to get down to no more than 80, which will allow us to care for all our patients in the new heart hospital, which was built to stand up to a Category 5 hurricane. I thought that sounded like an extraordinary plan personally.
Our next door neighbors were here this afternoon, so Shane helped me finish getting the 2nd floor windows covered. He just came by to tell me they had changed their minds and were evacuating to Cypress tonight, and possibly further north tomorrow. They didn't see the reason to stick around for a possible category 3 hurricane, and I can't blame them.
My plan is to take my cot, sleeping bag and supplies to the hospital tonight, come home for a decent night's sleep, and then go to the hospital early Friday morning with clothes to last 3 days. Probably won't need to spend the night more than Friday and Saturday night, but can't be sure at this point. I am heartened by the prospect that three different guys asked me to be sure to bring my poker chips when I come for the storm. With any luck, I'll win a little cash money over the next few days.
I'm peaceful knowing the windows on the house are boarded up and my family is all safely north of harm's way.
Check back from time to time for updates on Webster, Texas. I can't access this website from my hospital - darn filters! - but will be emailing Austin updates to keep everyone current.
Our next door neighbors were here this afternoon, so Shane helped me finish getting the 2nd floor windows covered. He just came by to tell me they had changed their minds and were evacuating to Cypress tonight, and possibly further north tomorrow. They didn't see the reason to stick around for a possible category 3 hurricane, and I can't blame them.
My plan is to take my cot, sleeping bag and supplies to the hospital tonight, come home for a decent night's sleep, and then go to the hospital early Friday morning with clothes to last 3 days. Probably won't need to spend the night more than Friday and Saturday night, but can't be sure at this point. I am heartened by the prospect that three different guys asked me to be sure to bring my poker chips when I come for the storm. With any luck, I'll win a little cash money over the next few days.
I'm peaceful knowing the windows on the house are boarded up and my family is all safely north of harm's way.
Check back from time to time for updates on Webster, Texas. I can't access this website from my hospital - darn filters! - but will be emailing Austin updates to keep everyone current.
Monday, August 25, 2008
School Pics - 2008
No matter how negligent I am about updating this blog with family information and pictures, I feel compelled to post "back-to-school" pics (as well as Halloween costumes). So twice a year - at least - you can count on something new.
Here are my big boys - an 8th grader and a kindergartener. Enjoy!
Here are my big boys - an 8th grader and a kindergartener. Enjoy!
Friday, January 11, 2008
"Dad, My Goldfish isn't Swimming"
One of Braden's favorite things to do is punch me in the stomach. I'm not talking about a pat or a slap either - I'm talking about a Popeye-after-eating-his-spinach punch that starts as far back as he can reach and ends in my belly. If the mood strikes him, he will head-butt me in the gut instead, usually with a running start of several steps. And I have to be paying careful attention if I ever find myself lying on the floor while Braden's awake, because he will jump into the air and land on my midsection with legs bent and malice of forethought. The only response to all of this is, of course, to roughhouse and tickle him until he begs for forgiveness.
Yet life goes on. Yesterday, he spent a part of his Target gift card - also a Christmas gift - on a "Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em" robot game, a smaller version of the same toy his father owned as a child. True to his personality, he has re-named it his "Whack 'Em, Smack 'Em" robots.
Finally, he paid me a remarkable compliment on Friday after we had lunch at the hospital (the Subway in our cafeteria had a grand opening special, and Subway is the boys' favorite place in the world to eat). He was getting a haircut, and talking to his barber about this and that. He mentioned that it was almost his Dad's birthday, and the barber asked him what he was going to give me. He couldn't really think of anything to tell her, so she asked him what I liked to do in my spare time. She mentioned golf, sports, hunting. He shook off her suggestions, then told her "he likes to play with his boys". When Sheila called to tell me that story, I felt for a moment like I might just be getting something right...
It will come as no surprise then that he is a charter member of the "Bad Boys Club". This is the name he and his friend Landon have taken for themselves at their preschool, and their primary functions appear to be chasing, and subsequently being chased by, girls during recess. One such child - Jordan - recently caught him and kissed him on the back. The whole affair left him forced to name her his "arch-enemy" (his words.) His teacher says he is smart and well-behaved, and he earns a green check mark every day, but beneath that sweet exterior lies a bad-boy, don't you doubt it.Braden looking good at his Christmas program.
Tuesday night we sent him upstairs to put on his pajamas and brush his teeth in preparation for bed. Shelley and I were visiting on the couch in the living room when we heard him call from the door of his bedroom, "Dad, my goldfish isn't swimming". He got a 2-gallon aquarium for Christmas, and we set it up and bought some fish over the weekend. We arrived at his bedroom to assess the scene, and I told him after a brief investigation that his goldfish was dead. "I'm sorry buddy" is the comfort I offered as he leaned into my leg. With a pat on the back of his head, I turned to go downstairs to get the fish net. But before I'd taken two steps, he was leaning into his mother, his face buried deep into her shoulder, and he was crying. Not a loud, wailing cry, but the soft, heartbroken sobbing that loss brings. It sounded like a little of his innonence, rising in sad waves, gone forever. When he could finally speak, he protested to Shelley "but his eyes are still open". So death was added to the palette with which my youngest son will color his life.Braden and Landon (The Bad Boys) on their school float for the Christmas parade.
Yet life goes on. Yesterday, he spent a part of his Target gift card - also a Christmas gift - on a "Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em" robot game, a smaller version of the same toy his father owned as a child. True to his personality, he has re-named it his "Whack 'Em, Smack 'Em" robots.
Finally, he paid me a remarkable compliment on Friday after we had lunch at the hospital (the Subway in our cafeteria had a grand opening special, and Subway is the boys' favorite place in the world to eat). He was getting a haircut, and talking to his barber about this and that. He mentioned that it was almost his Dad's birthday, and the barber asked him what he was going to give me. He couldn't really think of anything to tell her, so she asked him what I liked to do in my spare time. She mentioned golf, sports, hunting. He shook off her suggestions, then told her "he likes to play with his boys". When Sheila called to tell me that story, I felt for a moment like I might just be getting something right...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Halloween - League City Style
Our first Halloween in our new house in League City proved to be quite a party! The weather was the most cooperative Sheila and I could remember since moving from Amarillo - mid to low 60's with no wind or rain. A bright moon shone down over the busiest night our neighbors could ever remember in our neighborhood. We carved our pumpkins before having a baked snake dinner with swamp juice and witches brew. Then the boys got dressed in their costumes.
The neighbor a few houses down borrowed a small trailer, bought some bales of hay, and volunteered to drive the kids around the neighborhood from section to section. The kids had a blast, as you can see.
At about 8:30 the sprinting from house to house had turned into "Da-ee will you go trick or treating for me? I'll wait here on the trailer..." Home for a quick inventory, bath, reading our expanding collection of Halloween books ("Thanks Grandma and Grandpa") then off to sleep -- though no need to dream tonight. The day was already filled with princesses and ninjas and superheroes, and getting candy from friendly neighbors for no reason whatsoever...
The neighbor a few houses down borrowed a small trailer, bought some bales of hay, and volunteered to drive the kids around the neighborhood from section to section. The kids had a blast, as you can see.
At about 8:30 the sprinting from house to house had turned into "Da-ee will you go trick or treating for me? I'll wait here on the trailer..." Home for a quick inventory, bath, reading our expanding collection of Halloween books ("Thanks Grandma and Grandpa") then off to sleep -- though no need to dream tonight. The day was already filled with princesses and ninjas and superheroes, and getting candy from friendly neighbors for no reason whatsoever...
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Back to School
Thought a couple of pictures of the boys on their first days of school would be in order. Austin is off to 7th grade, and Braden off to 5-days-a-week, 3.5 hours per day pre-kindergarten.
(More pics will be posted now that we have replaced the camera someone stole out of Shelley's car in the parking lot of Braden's Mother's Day Out school in Cypress. Story for another time, I'm sure...)
(More pics will be posted now that we have replaced the camera someone stole out of Shelley's car in the parking lot of Braden's Mother's Day Out school in Cypress. Story for another time, I'm sure...)
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