Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike made U.S. landfall at Galveston, Texas, Sept. 13 at 2:10 in the morning. Reporting in from the Houston area are these three Shocker alums: Stan Schaefer, Sheryl Foland and Katherine Stoner. Their comments follow. 

Give me a good ol’ Kansas tornado any time! –– Sheryl Foland ’03/03, an adult probation officer with the Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department in Houston

Although there was a lot of tree damage in my neighborhood in Friendswood, Texas, we were extremely fortunate. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures from Galveston, Clear Lake and other communities along the water. Many of those homes were flooded, damaged by trees — or just plain blown away. –– Stan Schaefer ’87, a chief in the Mission Operations Directorate at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston

We picked up my Mom last Wednesday (Sept. 10) and drove to my daughter’s in College Station/Bryan Wednesday night. We had intended to wait until Thursday to leave but heard that Brazoria County, our county, would have a mandatory evacuation order Thursday morning. My son says we had a “hurrication” at my daughter’s.  
–– Katherine Stoner ’83, who is an attorney for AIG in Houston.

Most people don’t realize the land mass that was affected. Harris County, which includes Houston, is approximately 800 square miles. As the fourth largest city and county in the United States, we have a population of approximately 3 million. –– Foland

Staying in town was a difficult decision, but previous storms gave us confidence that our house could take the winds and we are well above the flood plain. I’m glad we stayed put and didn’t clog the freeways for those who really needed to evacuate. However, we’ve found our limit. We will be getting out of the way of any storm much stronger than Ike.  –– Schaefer

My husband Michael and I and our 8-year-old boxer, Alley, and 2-year-old cat, Izzie, live in southeast Houston, and the furthest southeast part of Harris County. We live in the Clear Lake area. We are approximately one mile from the Johnson Space Center and a quarter of a mile from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. –– Foland

It was a rough week for me because work has been very busy due to AIG being in the news so much. I had my laptop with me and my aircard, thank goodness, so I had no trouble putting in full days. I sure hope things settle down soon. –– Stoner

Michael is an assistant superintendent for Pasadena Refining System Inc., which is located on the Houston ship channel next to the Washburn Tunnel. Twenty percent of the refining capacity of the United States was directly impacted. –– Foland

Our house is fine, minimal damage — water, shingles, limbs, etc. At work, numerous windows were broken by debris and water came in several places. Allen Parkway is still flooded in places. –– Stoner

Michael went back to work on Tuesday to get the refinery up and running. I’ve been working from home. There’s not a lot of gas and I have to commute to and from downtown, which was closed Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 15-16).  –– Foland.

My son Justin’s school has been closed since last Thursday (Sept. 11), and we found out today (Sept. 19) that they won’t be open until next Thursday because of facilities damage. I’m not sure how the kids will make up the two weeks. We’ll just wait and see. –– Stoner

We’re doing fine. We’re tired, but fine. Our house sustained roof and fence damage. We’ve been extremely blessed. We evacuated to Michael’s boss’ boss’ house in The Woodlands, north Houston. Our block has had water and power through it all. –– Foland

Justin is 11 and a half. He has to go back to school tomorrow, so he is all set to spend one last day playing on the computer all day or having some fun with neighbors. -– Stoner

Kemah and Galveston sustained horrendous damage. The good news is that most everyone is determined to rebuild in as short a time as is possible. But there are examples of people leaving. There is a young woman who owned a pet grooming business in Galveston. She lost her home and her business — nothing left. She has been denied assistance from FEMA and the SBA because she made “too much money” last year. She and her family are moving somewhere else so she and her husband can get jobs. How tragic is that? –– Foland.