We like (?) Ike

Actually, I think most of us didn't like Ike at all.

Somewhere around Henderson, Texas Hurricane Ike was downgraded to a tropical storm. I don't recall hearing of a hurricane actually making it that far north before but Ike did.

I was at work Saturday when the weather started deteriorating but I managed to get a few short videos with my digital camera. By the time these vids were taken a good portion of Longview had no power and the store where I work was on back-up power, which means some of the lights worked and the registers worked but most of my equipment didn't. I couldn't make any emergency lattes but did serve what was left of the coffee I'd brewed before the power went out.

Amazingly, in the middle of this horrible weather, people were coming into the store, many with their little children. I have to admit to wondering whether or not those parents should even have kids. Who in their right mind goes shopping and takes their kids in wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour? Truly, I wonder about people at times and Saturday was definitely one of those times.



The winds start in, not too bad but gusting at high speeds now and then.



Now the wind is blowing like this all the time.



The wind and rain got worse than this but I could take only so many videos.

Our office was without power for only about 18 hours and the store where I work was without for less than that. As of this morning, 60,000 East Texas residents were still electricity-free but crews are hard at work trying to restore power.

If you'd like to read more about damage done in our area and see some great photos and videos, go to the Tyler Morning Telegraph's site.