Tag Archives: Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike Aftermath Photos from Clear Lake

I returned to Nassau Bay on Wednesday morning. There is no damage at my building. However, here is no electricity here, though on the same block as us the hospital parking lot and the Lockheed Martin building are both teasing us with their electricity. So, it's urban campout time.

Yesterday morning, I went for a bike ride with my camera around Clear Lake, which is only about 100 meters from my apartment. The lake has receded to its pre-Ike level, but not before flooding, smashing, or otherwise causing havoc around its shores.

I have posted all of my photos to Flickr: Hurricane Ike, September 2008.

I felt like a jerk riding through other people's misery, so in most cases I shied away from taking personal photos. The folks in Kemah, on the coast of Galveston Bay at the mouth of Clear Lake, got hit hard. I know that people on the Gulf of Mexico coast were hit harder. The photos below, and the full set on Flickr, are just a small part of what I saw there. Tomorrow I'm going to see if the Red Cross can use a pair of hands -- much more useful than snapping photos, though I wanted to share with you that aren't here what it looks like in my neighborhood.

Storm Parking

Keep Out We Shoot!

Seabrook Marina

Precarious telephone pole at my office

Like a ship out of water

Missing dock at Clear Lake Park

Suck My Balls Ike

Sheared off

Collapsed car park awning at Balboa

Seabrook Marina

Waterways Marine

Now that the storm has passed, Clear Lake is serene again. It's eerie to consider how different -- how powerful -- it can be when it is sitting there so silently.

Compare:

Clear Lake, Ike getting closerBefore Ike, there were three benches

Clear Lake, Ike getting closerClear Lake, serene

I'm in College Station

Well, I changed my mind about staying in Nassau Bay for the hurricane. An old friend from University of Illinois lives in College Station, so I'm up here, hanging out. Hurricane Ike will probably be a Category 1 hurricane when it gets here, but at least the water isn't coming up to meet me.

I've posted a few more photos on Flickr: Hurricane Ike, September 2008. My favorites are the progression of rising Clear Lake photos:

11 September 18:32
Clear Lake, Waiting for Hurricane Ike

12 September 7:53
Clear Lake, 18 hours before Ike

12 September 12:23
Clear Lake, Ike getting closer

Parting thought: Twitter has been an interesting, sometimes even useful, source of information during the hurricane approach. Know what's not useful? The folks who make assertive claims about conditions in the storm or city, without links or citations, and make them from hundreds of kilometers away without any knowledge of what's going on. If you don't know what's really happening and you can't share your source of information, shut up.