My hometown (Houston) was hit by Hurricane Ike over the weekend. Some of my family voluntarily evacuated before the storm hit, but the majority of my friends and family stayed to ride the storm out (the local govt did not order an evacuation for central Houston). The storm seems to have knocked down a lot of trees, blown out windows, and left nearly everyone without power. Everyone I have spoken with is OK. My buddy emailed me and told me his entire neighborhood was outside all day working together to clean up the area. Houstonians are compassionate people and I suspect they will work together to get everything back to the status quo as quickly as possible.

I wish you all the best,