I'm Fine Thanks for asking

[Gerald Creasy]

Ike tattered remains of Ike roared through Louisville last Sunday with 80 mile an hour winds.

A quarter million people have been without power.

We were out of power until late Tuesday and Internet was out until today.

This city had more damage than the legendary Tornado outbreak of 74 (which was a city Disater Milestone).

60% of the city was without power and many parts still have none.

Planes were flipped at the airport, The roof of my old school gymansium blew away and many business lost signs and the local Sonic lost it's carhop canopy.

Trees are down everywhere. Thousands of lines down.
The city has established Limb and tree cutting drop off zones. There's a 20 truck line at all times of day.

National Guard is directing traffic. Red Cross and various organizations are distributing food and trees are down everywhere.

Green leaves are piled in heaps like summer leaves. Where they were shreded by the winds. They smell of fresh snapped green beans.

Other than losing a fridge full of groceries and a couple of large limbs in the yard we are okay.

Local News

[dolfan]

I had no idea. I'm glad you're okay.

[Sherry]

Wow Gerald, this storm has been so wierd! Where we are, west of Fort Worth, we didn't get anything other than some rain and winds, nothing major. The only thing that really bothered me was the barometric pressure, it triggers my migraines.

Of course the Texas coast was demolished, and even East Texas was hit really hard. My friend in Chicago emailed me the other day about the flooding they are having. It's been a horrible storm.

I'm glad you are doing well and you didn't have much damage! Hang in there!

[deb]

Glad you're okay Gerald. Don't recall hearing that Kentucky was hit so hard. Sometimes the remnants from the hurricanes are as bad as the actual hit - I know we got one of those from Fay (I think it was).

[pastorables]

Glad you're okay. I hadn't heard about Ike up North.

We were blitzed in north Alabama by the remnants of Katrina in 2005.

pa

[one love]

Wow I had no idea that it hit that hard way up there. As I have previously mentioned I am so amazed that this storm covered such a large area and even after hitting land kept on going and causing such damage.
In Virginia beach we would get hurricanes a lot but it usually calmed down a lot when it hit, this seemed to keep on going.

I am sorry Gerald I was wondering where you were, I am glad you are ok!!! May the Lord bless you

[Tracy]

We are south of Louisville and were without power for 19 hours. Some wind speeds reported around here were 74-75 or so if I remember correctly, which is hurricane strength isn't it?

[TW]

We are south of Louisville and were without power for 19 hours. Some wind speeds reported around here were 74-75 or so if I remember correctly, which is hurricane strength isn't it?

Tracy, the threshold for hurricanes is a sustained wind speed (at least one minute in duration) of 74 mph. So you were getting gust that were hurricane force, but the storm's sustained winds were somewhat lower so the storm was no longer classified as a hurricane. Even if it wasn't a hurricane, 70+mph winds can do a great deal of damage.


TW

[Jennifer Smith]

Our schools finally reopened today... It took the schools that long to get the fallen trees removed, power restored, and their kitchens restocked...I know it threw a lot of people here for a loop!

We have one tree to chop up and a blown away metal shed to deal with, but having weathered several major Florida hurricanes, this was no big deal!

(Do you think somebody on craigslist would want that shed for scrap metal?)

[Jennifer Smith]

I have to add something I have hesitated to note... but hurricanes, gale force winds, all those things really get people's attention...it makes you wonder what God is up to... why is this happening? But that can be a very good thing.

As our shed was blowing over the fence into the neighbor's yard, it brought back to me everything that happened around the time of Hurricane Charlie, which will never leave me. But God is so good, after that hurricane I was amazed to see people in church who had not been there before or recently...that is why I am so so grateful for storms, so grateful that God gives us wake-up calls, that a place where people love God but are complacent, asleep, merited a wake-up call from the Lord who loves us all so much and died for us. That is exactly how I would describe Kentuckiana, a part of the Bible belt where the church loved people and loved God but somehow forgot to stay awake and before they knew it they drifted. I pray that this little disturbance in our daily life for about a week gave us all pause to stop and reflect on the meaning of it all, that God would use it for His glory and good purposes and that we would live with a holy reverence and awe of Him in our daily lives.

[Tracy]

We are south of Louisville and were without power for 19 hours. Some wind speeds reported around here were 74-75 or so if I remember correctly, which is hurricane strength isn't it?

Tracy, the threshold for hurricanes is a sustained wind speed (at least one minute in duration) of 74 mph. So you were getting gust that were hurricane force, but the storm's sustained winds were somewhat lower so the storm was no longer classified as a hurricane. Even if it wasn't a hurricane, 70+mph winds can do a great deal of damage.


TW

Thanks, TW. We are in a drought here, and you should have seen the dust blowing around! It made me think of the dust bowl!