Update on Ike

There is no dollar amount yet for damage in The Woodlands. There were 697 major damage incidents, two homes destroyed, 70 out of 111 parks had minor damage, 25 parks suffered heavy tree damage and 15 parks were closed due to damage. The overhead cover at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion was destroyed. Repair estimate for the pavilion is $2 million. The stage was pushed back several feet. The rest of the performance season has been cancelled.

We are so grateful that we had no damage other than losing our patio umbrella ... and we did that ourselves. The wood had swollen in the heavy metal stand and we couldn't get the umbrella out. Ted and Jason tried twisting and walking it out but it snapped. I'm sure if we had left the umbrella in the table attached to that stand, the whole thing would have gone flying, possibly into our family room or bedroom windows. So we're looking at it as an ounce of prevention. We'll never know for sure.

On an even better note, Galveston schools are reopening on Monday. Since 90% of their school buses were destroyed, Harris County (Houston) is lending them buses until they can get new ones. Moody Gardens is also scheduled to reopen. Ya gotta love the ol' Texas spirit at work down here. It's what made us fall in love with Texas.