Wednesday, October 8, 2008

HistoricIKE

"To suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none."

Finally i am writing my story with ike.From long time i was thinking about sharing the most historic event of my life which has jus shaken me from inside as well as outside.Infact i still feel that i am swinging in my bed with hurricane winds and whistling trees...

"Calamity is the test of integrity."

Before that let me tell u that hurricane is not just violent storm, characterized by extreme fury and sudden changes of the wind, and generally accompanied by rain, thunder, and Lightning but far more wreckage which can bring mass devastation and slump in ones life.

I had heard this name HURRICANE many times through discovery channel and always feel that it must be a momentous event but things are not what they seems.We recently moved to houston from pittsburgh where i was between snow and nature while houston is just the reverse of that no snow and not so much nature.

"There is no calamity that right words will not begin to redress."


In houston the hurricane season starts from july till november every year so you just have to cross fingers and pray that u dont get any hurricane this year..
You can see the flash messages on road "HURRICANE IS FORMING IN GULF FILL UR GAS TANK",store can food and water as much as u can but we often dont take things seriuosly in life untill we face it.
Mandatory evacaution was issued in our area because of IKE and a sudden agitation what to do,what to take and where to go??
When you were asked to pack ur things and leave ur house it make u wonder that you have to leave ur home,things,memory and many more overnight.these things make u think that what happened to the people who dont get this 12 hours and every things ripe out in a fraction of seconds.....

"Calamity is the perfect glass wherein we truly see and know ourselves."

I was asking my husband that i will carry my wedding cloths,jwellery,documents,shoes and all and he was trying to make me understand that its not easy to move ur house so u have to make choices...

“There are moments when you have to just walk away and cry.”

Finally i listen to his words and packed just 2 suitcases along with documents, jwellery and what u think that i will leave my wedding dress no way i love them alot so i packed them.To be frank i hardly wear any of them but still if u have any memory linked up with things you have,you will never be ready to leave it..

“Life gives us brief moments with another...but sometimes in those brief moment we get memories that last a life time...”

We rakishly kept most of the stuff in closet and bathroom as we want to leave the area as soon as possible. We had seen a documentary on discovery sometime back and it helped us that how to keep ur things safe when storm is on the way.

Early morning we had our brunch and all set to leave the place.On the way we saw people all around.
We reached our friends place and stayed there for 3 days.
Next day we got the news water and electricity both are gone so nothing to do jus play game and enjoy..We had played each and every game they had at there place and were waiting for the storm to pass away.

Storm was its on full swing with winds of 100 MPH and Ike made U.S. landfall at Galveston, Texas, on September 13 at 2:10am CDT (07:10 UTC), as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph (177 km/h) and a central pressure of 952 mbar (28.11 inHg).
During the day of September 13, Ike began a slow turn to the north and then northeast. After losing strength to Tropical Storm force winds, it passed 100 miles (160 km) to the east of Dallas, Texas; and west of Little Rock, Arkansas. It became a Tropical Depression and continued northeast, passing near St. Louis, Missouri. It brought heavy rainfall all along its path, but moved more quickly the farther north it went.
Early on September 14, Ike merged with a large cold front moving from west to east across the central United States, and became extratropical. This deep low pressure continued toward the north-east spreading heavy rains throughout the Midwest. It crossed into Canada on the night of the 14 to the 15th, giving strong winds and large amounts of rain in Southern Ontario, and most regions of Quebec, before exiting into the Atlantic at the latitude of the Labrador Sea early on the 16th.

Finally storm said bye to houston and we went out to see the after effects.Every where water and trees it was a perfect pictures to be drawn on canvas for an artist like me...:):):)
Luckily, since the storm system moved rapidly and did not linger over Houston, flooding wasn't a major problem for most of the city, as it normally is as a result of the geography.
Hurricane Ike's winds and giant waves caused by Ike's low pressure destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage is massive. At least half a million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas. During the days both before and after the storm, companies and residents reported around 448 releases of Gas, Oil and other substances into the environment in Louisiana and Texas. The hardest hit places were industrial centers near Houston and Port Arthur, Texas, as well as oil production facilities off Louisiana's coast.

We got news that HEB(grocerry store in houston)is open we went see the scene and what we saw was allot of people waiting to go in.We came back home and on sunday morning left for san marcos.
As there was no power and water back in houston so its better to move to a new place where we can work and atleast get some water..
After 2 days we came back to our home things were much better and with gods grace nothing was damaged in my community which brings a big smile on our faces.
Still we didn't have power for 2 days so we cooked our food at pool side on grill and enjoyed my 2 days with cleaning,reading books and painting on canvas..

It was rightly said by someone that :-

"We are never ripe till we have been made so by suffering."

So thats my part of story..
Hope to see ur comments which will boost a tyro like me.
Thanks
Aditi

7 comments:

Shailja said...

Its interesting to read your part of the story. I do have a little critical comment to make - but not sure if you are Ok with that. :-)
And I would have prob done the same with my wedding lehnga if given the choice :-D
-Shailja

Aditi joshi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ash said...

very interesting read aditi ,u write very well .

BG said...

HEY VERY WELL WRITTEN....

U HAVE REALLY, NICELY DEPICTED THE FEELINGS ..

Unknown said...

Betu,
Actually i am very much frightened
to know that our little doll have
gone through such conditions very
very far from our shelter.
but betu we r also proud to know
that our little doll is now no more
a simple girl of birlagram,she have
developed herself very much.your
paintings,writing all are excellent.
betu keep it up.
love to u both.
pappa-mummy

Shilpa said...

Great work Aditi, you depicted so well, that I could feel, through which situations you guys have gone through.
I would like to praise you not only for writing, but more to face that scene.

And lastly I would like like to mention that, you parents comment on this blog brought tears in my eyes.

God bless, take care.

Aditi joshi said...

@All
As it was my 1st blog so may b i had made many mistakes but ur words will help me to improve more
Thx alot for comments.......

@papa,ma
Luv u.....:)

@shilpa
Thx a ton for ur words....