An image from the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory showing the maximum sustained winds of hurricane Ike. Click on the image for the non-cropped view.

I also have a kmz file depicting the maximum sustained winds of hurricane Ike that you can download to Google Earth.

Boards on the east side windows and the backyard cleared. Fortunately, I already had boards marked and cut to fit from our Rita preparations in 2005. We cannibalized our climbing wall in our garage to cover up some of our windows in 2005. Most of the boards can be put back on the climbing wall and have climbing holds reattached via bolts.

The plywood on the climbing wall doubles as hurricane protection for the east and north side downstairs windows. Here, with plywood removed, you can see the frame of the climbing wall.

North side downstairs windows boarded up.

7:37pm CDT in Sugar Land. Taken looking WNW from our backyard.

Part of our fence was blown over, along with a Bradford Pear tree that was actually dead before the hurricane. So it wasn't a surprise that it too was blown over.

The overflow canal for Oyster Creek roughly ten feet higher than normal.

Alex and Heather out in front of our house on Saturday morning at 11am. The winds were finally calm enough (and I had surveyed the trees to check that nothing else would come down).

Downed Bradford Pear trees and downed limbs from Live Oaks on the west side of the intersection at Three Rivers and Riverbend Crossing.

Same place, but nearer Nails Creek (the cross street to the west).

At least Alex was having fun... Some of us cleared the street near the storm drain later that day.

In front of our house.

Our spa was empty before the hurricane.

A limb broken in one of our elm trees in the backyard.

My contraption to reinforce the garage door. It worked.

A downed limb at the end of Riverbend Crossing.

A downed tree at the end of Riverbend Crossing.

A downed tree and limb near the park on Nails Creek.

The park on Nails Creek.

Snapped Hackberry trees along the canal between Nails Creek and Medio River.

Myron Brown, Pastor Rich Wolf, and Sam Maultsby repair a section of roof where shingles were blown off at New Hope Lutheran Church.

Myron Brown, Rich Wolf, Todd Hahn, and Sam Maultsby. Photo by Eric Baur.

We had to repair about 15 places where shingles were blown off. There was water in the church and other rooms as a result. Photo by Eric Baur.

An uprooted tree that nearly hit a house at the corner of Sugar Crossing and Alice Drive, near Lexington Boulevard.

This is a house in our subdivision on S. Gabriel River Circle.

In addition to some other nice services, Texas Instruments provided its employees (me!) with ice.

Note arcing line (look for the blue light). This was too bright to look at. This occurred when turning on the power to our subdivision. They shut the power back off for a couple of hours to fix this. I have video of this and intend to eventually post it.