6:00 - Power has been out for a few hours now. Luckily, the Sprint signal is still available and the Blackberry works as a modem. For a while, since the battery can't be recharged.
Add to rideout list: long-lasting UPS to power electronics.
We are safe so far. There are high winds and rain outside as the eye moves across eastern Harris County.
The Houston Chronicle site reports millions without power. "Two weeks" sounds ominous, but maybe ours will come back faster.
CenterPoint Energy said about 90 percent of its roughly 2 million customers were in the dark before daybreak even as the storm continued to pack a punch with the eye still in eastern Harris County as of 5:30 a.m. That means nearly 4.5 million residents were without power and doesn't include the service area of Entergy Texas, which didn't have updated figures yet.CenterPoint spokesman Floyd LeBlanc said downtown Houston and the Medical Center, both of which have underground power lines, were the only large areas with reliable electricity. He said CenterPoint had braced for more than half its customer base losing service, and full restoration could take "several weeks."
7:25 - Getting light now, which is always a relief. Still high winds; the trees are bent and I see plenty of small debris. The rain guage says almost 3".
8:44 - More fully light and we can open the window shades for a better look at things. LOTS of tree debris. The rain has slowed; there are fewer sheets of water jetting from west to east across our garage roof and yard. But the wind gusts are still whipping the trees back and forth.
The drone of our neighbor's generator continues unabated. I never really wanted one before, but if we did I could make coffee. Hmm.
Posted by Alan at September 13, 2008 06:04 AM