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Residents haul, burn trash after Ike
  
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By ROYCELYN BASTIAN
Still without power, residents in East Montgomery County are finding ways to get rid of the huge mess left by Hurricane Ike.
In most areas around East County, residents were either chopping up their trees to make wood for the winter months or were burning them and other trash in their yards.
“A few days ago, this neighborhood looked like a war zone,” said Janie Goodrum, a resident in Northcrest Ranch in New Caney.
While raking up her front yard, Goodrum recalled her experience during Hurricane Ike. At 1 a.m. Sept. 13 she began to hear the wind.
“My husband and I went to bed early that night so that we could sleep through the storm, but the howling winds woke us up,” she said.
The next day, when she was able to assess the damages, she noticed that many of her trees had fallen over, there were a lot of leaves, trash and other debris in her yard. Approximately four days later, she began the tedious process of putting her property back together.
“We have been burning leaves, limbs and other debris for the past two days, which is why it is starting to look a lot better,” she said.
With plenty to clean up, Goodrum and her neighbors also found themselves without power and water. Fortunately, the resident was able to purchase a generator from Lake Jackson and was able to restore some of her power. The water came back on five days after the storm.
With a lot to be grateful for due to the lack of structural damage to her home, Goodrum’s neighbor was not as fortunate. Looking at the damage to her home, Lovie Henderson found herself in shock and disbelief.
“I stayed with neighbors during the storm and once it was safe to assess the damage, one of my neighbors came into the dining room that I was in and began to tell me the bad news,” Henderson said. “I began to cry, which is a natural reaction.”
Henderson’s roof was ripped from her home due to the high winds of Hurricane Ike. In addition, her large tree in the front yard along with several others were uprooted from the ground. With the roof gone, Henderson sustained water damage inside her home.
“I am in the process of bringing things outside to let them dry until my power comes back on to wash them,” she said. “I have already filed a claim with my insurance company and the adjuster along with a contractor is scheduled to be here tomorrow (Sept. 18).”
The aftermath of Hurricane Ike brought a lot of neighbors together as they helped one another cleanup and rebuild their living environments. Shortly after daybreak Sept. 13, at least 10 people were at Henderson’s home with tarps to cover her roof.
“We have all helped out one another to help clean up yards and our neighborhood,” she said. “The worst part of this ordeal is going without water.”
Henderson and others have hired help to clean up the debris and with no power, entertaining oneself using the television, power-outlet radio or other means has been placed on the back burner. It is forcing many of the residents to go outside, hang out with their neighbors or find other non-electrical activities to occupy their time.
While some residents are on generators like Goodrum, others are trying to combat the heat as they wonder when electricity will be restored to their homes.
According to Entergy’s website, some areas of East Montgomery County will be out of power until early October.
The area, hit severely by Hurricane Ike, as of Sept. 17 is almost all out of power, but comments on the energy company’s website estimated that 80 percent of the customers in the New Caney area, which includes Porter, Roman Forest, Patton Village, New Caney, Woodbranch, Splendora and Porter Heights, should have power restored by Sept. 25.
“We were told that we will not have power back until Oct. 5, but so far with the cool weather, it has not been that bad,” Goodrum said.
The statement went on to say that Entergy expects 100 percent of its customers in the New Caney area to have power safely restored by Oct. 5.
“It may take longer for those customers in the hardest hit areas or customers with damages to their electrical facilities,” the statement said. “We appreciate your patience as we continue to restore power.”
The Conroe Courier reported Sept. 17 that Joe Domino, Entergy Texas’ president and chief executive officer, said during a press teleconference Monday morning that New Caney’s service isn’t expected to have full restoration until Oct. 6.
Residents who are in need of water, ice and other supplies can pick those up at the point of distribution located at the Montgomery County Precinct 4 County Barn on Roberts Road.
Entergy INFO
For more information or to keep up with energy restoration, visit www.entergy-texas.com.
In most areas around East County, residents were either chopping up their trees to make wood for the winter months or were burning them and other trash in their yards.
“A few days ago, this neighborhood looked like a war zone,” said Janie Goodrum, a resident in Northcrest Ranch in New Caney.
While raking up her front yard, Goodrum recalled her experience during Hurricane Ike. At 1 a.m. Sept. 13 she began to hear the wind.
“My husband and I went to bed early that night so that we could sleep through the storm, but the howling winds woke us up,” she said.
The next day, when she was able to assess the damages, she noticed that many of her trees had fallen over, there were a lot of leaves, trash and other debris in her yard. Approximately four days later, she began the tedious process of putting her property back together.
“We have been burning leaves, limbs and other debris for the past two days, which is why it is starting to look a lot better,” she said.
With plenty to clean up, Goodrum and her neighbors also found themselves without power and water. Fortunately, the resident was able to purchase a generator from Lake Jackson and was able to restore some of her power. The water came back on five days after the storm.
With a lot to be grateful for due to the lack of structural damage to her home, Goodrum’s neighbor was not as fortunate. Looking at the damage to her home, Lovie Henderson found herself in shock and disbelief.
“I stayed with neighbors during the storm and once it was safe to assess the damage, one of my neighbors came into the dining room that I was in and began to tell me the bad news,” Henderson said. “I began to cry, which is a natural reaction.”
Henderson’s roof was ripped from her home due to the high winds of Hurricane Ike. In addition, her large tree in the front yard along with several others were uprooted from the ground. With the roof gone, Henderson sustained water damage inside her home.
“I am in the process of bringing things outside to let them dry until my power comes back on to wash them,” she said. “I have already filed a claim with my insurance company and the adjuster along with a contractor is scheduled to be here tomorrow (Sept. 18).”
The aftermath of Hurricane Ike brought a lot of neighbors together as they helped one another cleanup and rebuild their living environments. Shortly after daybreak Sept. 13, at least 10 people were at Henderson’s home with tarps to cover her roof.
“We have all helped out one another to help clean up yards and our neighborhood,” she said. “The worst part of this ordeal is going without water.”
Henderson and others have hired help to clean up the debris and with no power, entertaining oneself using the television, power-outlet radio or other means has been placed on the back burner. It is forcing many of the residents to go outside, hang out with their neighbors or find other non-electrical activities to occupy their time.
While some residents are on generators like Goodrum, others are trying to combat the heat as they wonder when electricity will be restored to their homes.
According to Entergy’s website, some areas of East Montgomery County will be out of power until early October.
The area, hit severely by Hurricane Ike, as of Sept. 17 is almost all out of power, but comments on the energy company’s website estimated that 80 percent of the customers in the New Caney area, which includes Porter, Roman Forest, Patton Village, New Caney, Woodbranch, Splendora and Porter Heights, should have power restored by Sept. 25.
“We were told that we will not have power back until Oct. 5, but so far with the cool weather, it has not been that bad,” Goodrum said.
The statement went on to say that Entergy expects 100 percent of its customers in the New Caney area to have power safely restored by Oct. 5.
“It may take longer for those customers in the hardest hit areas or customers with damages to their electrical facilities,” the statement said. “We appreciate your patience as we continue to restore power.”
The Conroe Courier reported Sept. 17 that Joe Domino, Entergy Texas’ president and chief executive officer, said during a press teleconference Monday morning that New Caney’s service isn’t expected to have full restoration until Oct. 6.
Residents who are in need of water, ice and other supplies can pick those up at the point of distribution located at the Montgomery County Precinct 4 County Barn on Roberts Road.
Entergy INFO
For more information or to keep up with energy restoration, visit www.entergy-texas.com.
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