What Hurricane?

The news since Thursday was full of Ike, the Category 2* Texas-sized hurricane. This is how it developed and what we did.

THURSDAY: Austin was in the path of Ike. We were sort of welcoming the rains Ike would bring since it has been dry and hot here for sometime. We were not worried because we knew that once Ike make landfall at the Texas coast, its fury would be lessened as it made its way inland to the north, towards Austin.

FRIDAY: Ike changes path. Austin is now in the fringes of Ike's path. Wind advisory of 25-35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph still were in effect. Since we planned to drive Ann to San Antonio Saturday to have her citizenship thumbmarking, we planned to bring the Gigi, the small car, and go through I-35 instead of the usual scenic 290-281 route.

SATURDAY: Not a drop of rain. No high winds. So we took the scenic 290-281 route. It was a bit cloudy earlier in the morning but when we were near San Antonio, the blue skies started showing. It was actually a very good day!

Ann's thumbprinting only took less than 5 minutes and we were done with our "official business".

Of course, a trip to San Antonio is now no longer complete without going to Mekeni Filipino Buffet restaurant. There were a lot of people when we arrived there at noon but we were seated immediately. As usual, the food was oh so delicious! By 1 pm though, there was already a wait. I saw some actually leave before they were seated - perhaps they could no longer wait.

We dropped by the San Marcos Factory Outlet Stores and we were surprised that there were plenty (as in the parking lot was full!) of people. I got a bit excited because I thought there was a big sale. I immediately learned that the people were coming from 2 places:
- evacuees from the east due to hurricane Ike
- Mexicans across the border since it was Mexico's Independence Day

Here in Austin, we got a couple of prayer requests for friends and family of churchmates who were going to be in Ike's path. We got our share of evacuees who attended church last Sunday, too, and the ones I talked to reported that their homes were okay.

In Houston, I heard from my high schoolmates that they were okay, too - power went out (and is still out for some), some boarded their windows, some neighbor's trees went down.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of devastation in the coastal towns of Texas. Galveston, known to be a tourist spot, was badly hit (and we have not even visited it yet!). It's sad that there were a lot of people who did not heed the call for evacuation.

If you'd like to help, this is Red Cross donation page.