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A short time ago (Sunday evening) we arrived home after a 6 hour drive from Dallas. The mandatory evacuation order was lifted at 6am Saturday, and the boil water order was lifted last night. Pal, our 12 year old Husky-mix was a good traveler, and likes long car rides, and did well during the evacuation.
We saw a lot of damage on the way home, with many areas looking like a war zone.
We arrived home to a front yard full of debris, including downed limbs and branches. When the city workers came through to clear the streets, they also cleared the way to the driveway (on the city right-of-way). The top of one of our 60+ year old pine trees was blown off, along with most of its limbs. The tree suffered a lot of shock, and appears to have died; we will have to have it cut down.
We were puzzled to find one of our cats, Trouble, on the roof of the house! We knew she was locked in the house when we left, along with Sammy and Maddie, the other two cats. We left them plenty of dry food and water, and some was still left when we got home. But Trouble is a calico cat, very smart, curious and a great huntress, who is always good at both mischief and exploration.
Walking to the back of the house was a different story. Lots of limbs and debris, and one of our China Berry trees, which had burst into flames several years ago after being struck by lightening, but survived, was blown down by Ike. Some sheets of siding were blown off of the back of the house, and a falling limb broke one of my bedroom windows. It was through this broken window that Trouble went outside.
Inside the house the only casualty was the food in the refrigerator and freezer. My wife Donna spent a lot of time cleaning out the food, and scrubbing the refrigerator.
About an hour after returning home to a powerless house, we were pleasantly surprised to get power. With lights and air conditioning, our quality of life improved greatly. We have had some power flickers since, but it is nice to have electrical power.
We are home safe and sound.
Ira Wilsker
APCUG Director
Iwilsker [at] apcug [dot] net