From: dahoov2@cox.net   
      
   Glad you made it through ok; I've been through a blizzard that was   
   really bad (so bad that to get outside, we had to shovel snow INTO the   
   house... as the drifts litterally covered the doors up to the top!).   
   I've been through hurricane Isabelle a couple years back (we were VERY   
   lucky) with only tree down and a couple limbs which damaged fences.   
   Many people lost cars, roofs and some lost their lives.  All of that   
   was nothing to Katrina is still recovering!  You gotta have a plan in   
   place.   
      
   I heard gas was supposed to be 5.00 or so a gallon.  I noticed that   
   the thing people did need the most during the storm was ice; that's   
   because some medications need to be refrigerated.  We've not yet   
   bought a generator. I should put that on my priority list as it seems   
   these storms are getting more and more and worse and worse annually.   
   It almost seems apocalyptic doesn't it?  Hurricanes, Earthquakes,   
   tornadoes, floods, and now all the meltdown in the US with all the   
   major banks etc.  We should have 60-70% more in our 401k and we lost   
   in all our stocks to the point there's almost nothing left.  So time   
   to get back on track; think carefully who'll be the next President and   
   start praying!   
      
      
      
   On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:23:10 -0500, "Gummby3"    
   wrote:   
      
   >To the 98% of you with a conscious of the well being of others, feel   
   >free to read.  To the other 2%, feel free to not read.   
   >   
   >We made it through on this end.  Ike definitely had a LOT of wind.   
   >That's all we can figure out.  The storm has barley gotten through   
   >Houston (I'm roughly 3 hours north) and our power was knocked out 8 am   
   >Saturday morning.  We got it back about an hour ago.  The actual storm   
   >didn't hit us until around 10 am.  That shows how big this monster   
   >was.  No real damage.  Broken tree branches mostly.  The chimney cap   
   >is missing and there still is no sign of it. LOL  For someone that has   
   >never gone trough a hurricane (this is my 3rd), it is so strange how   
   >the winds work in them.  My house was relatively undamaged, but two   
   >blocks over, a tree fell and split a house in two.  Luckily, nobody   
   >was hurt.  I still believe that you have never experienced anything   
   >until you've been in the eye of a hurricane.  2-3 hours of straight   
   >wind and rain and the nothing.  Going outside, there is absolutely no   
   >wind.  No rain.  No sound.  Nothing.  Depending on how big the storm   
   >is, this lasts for about an hour or more.  At this point, you make   
   >sure what is nailed down is still nailed and the windows are still   
   >covered.  Then, you get the nasty side of the storm.   
   >   
   >I will say this, the oil speculators must really be on a tight leash   
   >by Congress, or they're just scared to do anything.  Gas prices here   
   >are $3.79.  That's not much more than it was pre-storm.  This was at   
   >Wal-Mart earlier today.  I have never seen a Wal-Mart with the shelves   
   >that empty before.  With employees still out of the area, this Super   
   >Store had only 13 cashiers.  They were even calling people to work on   
   >their day off, not to mention bringing in employees from surrounding   
   >stores.  There were more stockers than there were anybody else.  They   
   >had the doors on one side locked with a sign directing everyone to use   
   >the McDonald's doors.  There, they had 5-6 greeters to watch for   
   >theft.  All in all, with a storm this massive, the destruction and   
   >injuries could have been considerably worse.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)