Our Hurricane View from Missouri City, TX

This morning just felt different. Knowing of the impending storm, all our thoughts were focused towards preparation.

September 12, 2008 8:30am After breakfast, we headed out to the garage for some "forced" fall organization. We needed to fit both cars in the garage, along with our BBQ, our patio furniture, and anything else that may be harmed by the wind/rain. Our neighbor to the right of us came out saying, "What are you doing?" I bet we looked a little silly as we unloaded our entire garage just to load it back up again. If you look closely you can see our neighbor mowing his lawn across the street in his Indian Garb. At first I thought they were his white pajamas.

Our neighbor to the right also gave us some good advice which we put to use immediately. Her husband is a Police Officer and is doing work at an emergency center for the hurricane. She said as of 11:30 tonight I think they are locking all doors and won't let them out until Sunday. She expects we all lose power for quite a while if it hits where they think it is.
Some of our neighbors even boarded up their windows just in case the winds get that bad. On the other spectrum, you can see some people out for a leisurely stroll with their dog probably thinking everyone is going over"board".
9:30 am The sky was so blue with just a touch of wispy white clouds this morning. Great temperature for being outside. You'd never know something so strong could be coming our way. ( Before watching these video understand that I realize they are nothing special. They are only posted to show just that. I gather my videos will get more interesting as the storm actually hits.)
Jace was a big help. He inspected the lawn mower over and over for us.
Once everything was out of the garage, we swept everything up just for more stuff to be blown back in tonight.
Here is Jace looking back and Daddy making sure he is sweeping right. He would not let go of that broom for anything.

Jace checking to make sure our camping equipment was in good condition as well. He was very thorough and it took him a long time.
10:00am Break Time and Snack Time. I asked him to say "Cheese" and he did without looking at me.
11:14 am More clouds filling the sky. Starting to feel a bit more gloomy.

About 1:30 pm I heard some gusts of winds from our family room and rushed outside to take a video. It is still nothing too bad just some wind, but Ike is coming fast.

More to come......Oh and Missouri City just issued a curfew from sundown to sunrise, effective starting tonight and through sunrise September 15th. Apparently there will be arrests and strict fines for anyone who ignores the curfew. Interesting.....