Has Houston recovered from...um, cant remember the name of the last hurricane...?

[bostoner]

Originally Posted by UrbaneAspects

So other than the surface appearance, are things really ok? I mean, are people not going to resturaunts, stores, etc?

I know this is a silly question coming from someone who lived on the atlantic and gulf of florida...and the fact that things usually get back to normal within 1-3 weeks after a hurricane (depend on severity)...but the news made it seem like Houston turned into an underwater ghost town

So I assume its back to lively

Some people only lost power for a day. Life was pretty much back to normal within a couple of weeks once power was back on most places. Except for debris piled up here and there, and the blue tarps on some houses, you wouldn't know Houston was hit at all. Downtown never lost power and was cleaned up pretty quickly. Galveston and points closer to the coast are another story.

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by tstone

It's fine. Except for the downed fences and the occassional blue tarp, you may never notice anything happened. It wasn't the armageddon the media wants you to believe. Also, please be 100% clear on this one: We are not Louisiana or Mississippi.

However, the coastal areas such as Galveston and up the bay towrads Kemah, Seabrook and the waterfront areas of La Porte were hit hard. I'm in the Clear Lake area of Houston... the area of Houston proper that was told to evacuate and everything is fine here. However many of our nightlife type hangouts here that made our burb unique are pretty much gone for now.

It was pretty much armeggedon down around Bolivar and High Island. I was down there 2 weeks ago, what was beach is now down to the Beaumont clay underlayment, don't want to talk about houses. Galveston, while better is pretty much devestated too and FEMA is being pretty much useless at helping anybody IMO. San Leon, Shoracres, and parts of Seabrook look kinda like a warzone. Lotsa homeless folks at the moment (literally). It does kinda tick me off that since Houston is buzzing along happily, the folks in those areas have been kind of ignored (just my impression). I could go on about my experiences trying to help a sick, elderly friend down there but it is an exercise in frustration.

Houston is fine, everything is open. Just stay away from the coastal areas and everything should be fine.

[jd433]

When you drive through Houston you still see a lot of boarded up windows even 2 months after the hurricane. The williams tower looks like a chess board with all the boarded up windows and so does a lot of the towers downtown. Plus theres all the bill boards that are still unrepaired. If you did not know about the storm you might think it looks a little ghetto.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by UrbaneAspects

but the news made it seem like Houston turned into an underwater ghost town

blublublublub blub blublublublublub blublub blublublublub blub blub blublublub. blub blublublub blub blublublublublub.

(above-water translation: "New Orleans didn't get hit by a hurricane this year and back in September reporting on every time Sarah Palin picked her nose or Barack Obama farted didn't quite match the gripping drama that is death and mass destruction. They made it where there was none.")

[texas7]

Kemah Boardwalk had 3 restaurants open at last check Saltgrass, Babins and Chart House. Everything in Houston though is pretty much business as normal so if you are coming to visit mainly Houston - you'll be fine.

[texas7]

Ate at Boardwalk last night - now have Cadillac Bar, Joes Crabshack, Charthouse, Babins & Saltgrass open. People can walk along the boardwalk behind those restaurants again. A couple of games open, no rides.

[CherryMagic]

I am really proud of how this city put itself back together after IKE. I was so impressed with how many folks came down from other areas to get us back to some sort of normality.

It is sad to see all the businesses that I frequented over 30 years - gone.

Poltracker earned a rep for saying: Houston is fine, everything is open. Just stay away from the coastal areas. (Also, I agree, FEMA IS useless!)

I think our new motto should be, Land Of The Blue Tarps.

[Poltracker]

The only good coastal areas right now are the boardwalk (limited), the galveston seawall (and very little else down there), and Sylvan Beach in Laporte (minus the fishing pier and avoid the household hazwaste pick-up location). The rest is still in quite a disarray.

[txstate]

The H is fine this is Houston home of the Hustle and Hardwork no wanting around like New Orleans get er done