Live blogging Ike

9:50pm Central:

I'm north of the city of Houston so we are only getting winds now. Every family member I have has called tonight (I guess they love me...;-). We are under a tornado watch and that is my main concern.

Tornado's scare the heck out of me.

I am keeping myself amused by watching Geraldo on Fox News slipping down in water and trying to speak with rain spattering in his face.

The flooding is already bad and the storm has even really started yet.

I keep changing to the local stations to watch them interview the people who stayed in Galveston even though an official announced on TV that if they stayed to please write their social security number on their arm in permanent ink so they can identify the body.

But....they stayed. 40% of the residents last I heard.

I have a bad feeling about the whole thing.

9:54pm

CenterPoint Energy is reporting about 300,000 customers are now without electricity this evening. Wow. And the weather isn't even that bad yet as much as I can see on local T.V.

I suppose that means I'll have power only until the storm reaches us.

10:11pm

Local stations reporting that downtown Galveston is under five feet of water and the storm hasn't even hit yet.

10:56pm

I decided I better take a shower since I might not get another chance for a while if things get crazy. Local news reporting several fires in Galveston.

11:00pm

The front of the neighborhood has lost electricity and the wind is hardly blowing! It's only a matter of time for me then. So I might not be blogging for much longer.

I'm guessing I won't getting any sleep tonight.

I will be texting my friend Beth at Yeah, Right, Whatever (she isn't in Houston) when things get bad, so you might check over there if you want an update.

In the news of the wierd there is this from The Houston Chronicle:

The Black Panther Party says it deployed 17 of its members to area gasoline station convenience stores to protect them from theft in the hours before and after Hurricane Ike makes landfall.

Owners asked the group to provide private security for their property, said Major Kenyha Shabazz, chairman of Peoples Party No. 3, the Houston affiliate of the Black Panther Party.

"These are the places that service our communities with food, water and fuel,'' Shabazz said. "We don't want these places torn up.''

During the daylight hours, Panthers were standing guard at boarded-up convenience stores in the East End, North Houston and Third, Fourth and Fifth wards. They planned to spend the night in the stores and be back out front at dawn.

Interesting.

11:40pm

Wow. 600,000 without power now. Still just windy here.