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Dennis Jenkins recounts experiences during hurricane Ike
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| Assistant Fire Chief Mike Maerz and firefighters J.W. Guy and Chance Nye leave the Bethany Baptist Church, 227 N. Sixth St., Keokuk, this morning to confer about a smoldering area in the sanctuary. |
By Steve Dunn/Gate City Managing Editor
The landscape was doing “a wild dance” when he woke up on the morning hurricane Ike hit Houston, Texas, says former Keokuk resident Dennis Jenkins.
Jenkins, his wife, Carolyn, and their 1-year-old twins, son Price and daughter Grace, were at home when the storm hit.
“At 2:30 a.m. as I was listening to the wind outside we lost power. I got up and looked out the front door and could see only leaves. Obviously, we had lost some large branches from our 40-foot sweet gum tree,” Dennis said. “As I looked out our kitchen window, I realized that our eight-foot cedar fence was gone. A 24- foot section along with the gate to our back yard had been blown over. It was still raining very heavily and our gutters were overflowing.”
After waking up at 6 a.m., he went outside as soon as there was enough light.
At 7 a.m., he and his wife called their parents and other family members, fed their young children and listened to news reports on the radio.
“It continued to rain heavily most of Saturday. We watched our street begin to flood. I went out and attempted to clean the debris out of the storm drains. The water seemed to fluctuate as debris accumulated and then was flushed down the sewer. One concern in Houston is always localized flooding. (Houston was built on a swamp and some places downtown flood often),” he said.
“On Saturday afternoon I decided to go out and start cleaning up the mess that was our yard. Reports of 90 degrees Sunday made me think working in a cool 80-degree rain wouldn't be half bad,” he added. “In about four hours I had our small yard cleared and all the debris piled along the road. It was a good time to meet your neighbors. Everyone was either walking around looking at the damage or working in their yards.”
After grilling hamburgers that evening, the Jenkins tried to watch a DVD on one of their laptop computers, only to have the battery go dead.
“The temperature in the house wasn't that bad Saturday night. Probably the most difficult thing was the humidity and the dead air. We got a much better night sleep because we were so tired from the night before,” Dennis said.
When they got up Sunday morning, they decided to head to relatives in Oklahoma City, Okla.
“We opened our refrigerator and threw away most of what was inside. We packed some items for our trip and gave some more to neighbors that had generators running their fridges. Before we left I gave all my full gas cans to a neighbor who had a generator because there was no gas to be had in our area,” he said.
“We took off and were amazed at the damage we saw. Some areas there were hundreds of tall pine trees snapped off about 20 feet up in the air. Signs were torn apart, roofs were torn off and many frontage roads were flooded. What amazed us the most as we drove up I-45 toward Dallas was the large number of evacuees that were returning to Houston,” he added.
As they drove along the freeway, they noticed there were hundreds of motorists lined up looking for gas. As they drove into Oklahoma City, there was a large marquee over the freeway that welcomed Houston evacuees.
On Wednesday, the Jenkins' neighbor called them to say power had returned to their neighborhood. Mail delivery and regular trash pickup resumed Tuesday.
The Jenkins plan to return to Houston today.
“We plan to take home two new full five gallon gas cans strapped to the top carrier of our Explorer. With the gas shortages around Houston and the chance of congested highways, we want to make sure we have enough gas to get us home. There may not be fuel to be had in the Houston area,” Dennis said. “The big worry is that our eight- or nine-hour drive might end up being 12 to 15 hours. We just don't know, but if the aftermath of hurricane Rita is any indicator, we are in for a long, miserable drive home. It will just be good to get home.”
Classes in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District are now scheduled to resume Monday. The fifth largest school district in the U.S. is expected to have 100,000 students by Jan. 1, 2009.
Jenkins, his wife, Carolyn, and their 1-year-old twins, son Price and daughter Grace, were at home when the storm hit.
“At 2:30 a.m. as I was listening to the wind outside we lost power. I got up and looked out the front door and could see only leaves. Obviously, we had lost some large branches from our 40-foot sweet gum tree,” Dennis said. “As I looked out our kitchen window, I realized that our eight-foot cedar fence was gone. A 24- foot section along with the gate to our back yard had been blown over. It was still raining very heavily and our gutters were overflowing.”
After waking up at 6 a.m., he went outside as soon as there was enough light.
At 7 a.m., he and his wife called their parents and other family members, fed their young children and listened to news reports on the radio.
“It continued to rain heavily most of Saturday. We watched our street begin to flood. I went out and attempted to clean the debris out of the storm drains. The water seemed to fluctuate as debris accumulated and then was flushed down the sewer. One concern in Houston is always localized flooding. (Houston was built on a swamp and some places downtown flood often),” he said.
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After grilling hamburgers that evening, the Jenkins tried to watch a DVD on one of their laptop computers, only to have the battery go dead.
“The temperature in the house wasn't that bad Saturday night. Probably the most difficult thing was the humidity and the dead air. We got a much better night sleep because we were so tired from the night before,” Dennis said.
When they got up Sunday morning, they decided to head to relatives in Oklahoma City, Okla.
“We opened our refrigerator and threw away most of what was inside. We packed some items for our trip and gave some more to neighbors that had generators running their fridges. Before we left I gave all my full gas cans to a neighbor who had a generator because there was no gas to be had in our area,” he said.
“We took off and were amazed at the damage we saw. Some areas there were hundreds of tall pine trees snapped off about 20 feet up in the air. Signs were torn apart, roofs were torn off and many frontage roads were flooded. What amazed us the most as we drove up I-45 toward Dallas was the large number of evacuees that were returning to Houston,” he added.
As they drove along the freeway, they noticed there were hundreds of motorists lined up looking for gas. As they drove into Oklahoma City, there was a large marquee over the freeway that welcomed Houston evacuees.
On Wednesday, the Jenkins' neighbor called them to say power had returned to their neighborhood. Mail delivery and regular trash pickup resumed Tuesday.
The Jenkins plan to return to Houston today.
“We plan to take home two new full five gallon gas cans strapped to the top carrier of our Explorer. With the gas shortages around Houston and the chance of congested highways, we want to make sure we have enough gas to get us home. There may not be fuel to be had in the Houston area,” Dennis said. “The big worry is that our eight- or nine-hour drive might end up being 12 to 15 hours. We just don't know, but if the aftermath of hurricane Rita is any indicator, we are in for a long, miserable drive home. It will just be good to get home.”
Classes in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District are now scheduled to resume Monday. The fifth largest school district in the U.S. is expected to have 100,000 students by Jan. 1, 2009.
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