After Ike

I've been meaning to give an update, for those of you out of the area.

Things are returning to normal. The piles of branches and leaves and refuse were picked up long ago. Most fences have been repaired (although not mine). The number of houses sporting blue tarp roofs continues to decline, although there are still some in every neighborhood. Some neighborhoods have a lot--it sort of depends on how the wind swirled through the area and how the houses were built.

In the woods across the street from me, there are still plenty of downed trees. This is echoed throughout the city. Most of the trees on paths have been cut, so that at least you can get through when you are walking. But every park we visit seems to have a pile of brush that is yet to be cleared. And I'm not sure if the downed trees will stay. At Memorial Park, the woods look very changed. Large oaks show their roots, just downed easily. But, the park is usable and being in the woods is very soothing. I've started to walk there again and pay attention to my surroundings, marveling at all the changes.

The biggest remaining scar is the signs. Very few of those shattered business signs have been repaired. It is just that there are so many of them and there are not all that many sign companies. Those that are here have been working non-stop since the hurricane, and yet you still don't see that much progress.

Every now and again, you run into a big reminder of the storm. Today, I was at my post office, which suffered a fair amount of damage. The ceiling has been removed and the wires and conduits are all visible if you look up. The front door is still made of plywood, and today was missing entirely.

And of course, there are the still-reported stories of the people who lost everything or a lot of things. Everyone know someone who lost a beach house, or their real house, or had big damage. We have friends living in apartments and waiting for contractors; friends who had trees split their houses in two. And those without insurance, the poor? They're really suffering right now.

Even though we're cutting back on our gift-giving this holiday season, we will be donating to charities helping people in hard-hit hurricane areas. Two we will support are the Lambi Fund, which works in Haiti and the Houston Food Bank, which feeds people in this area.