Oak Forest Hit Hard by Hurricane Ike

Media reports we've heard indicate that Ike's strongest winds were felt on the Northwest side of town. This seems to be confirmed by our tour of Oak Forest, which is situated just outside the loop between Ella & TC Jester and 34th & 43rd.

The Oak Forest neighborhood dates back to the post-war development boom of the 1950s. Although some of the homes have been transformed into McMansions, most of the area still dominated by the original wooden and brick ranch homes. The lots are big and very wooded.

Unfortunately, many of those trees are down now having crushed houses and vehicles as the crashed to the ground. Many of the enormous pines have toppled into residences causing significant roof damage. Several oaks were also felled by Ike's powerful gusts taking out their own fair share of utility lines and pick-up trucks.

Streets are blocked by down power lines and the trees themselves. Power is out across the neighborhood. However, some homes in Candlelight Estates do have electricity.

The limbs and other debris have clogged the drains which has led to surface street flooding, but the water has not reached into homes from the ground. Fortunately, White Oak Bayou seems to be flowing well in this area. The water level has crested roughly five feet below the underside of the bridge at TC Jester & 34th.

We'll post additional photos as our bandwidth improves. By the way, there's a car under the oak in the accompanying photo.

Hang tough, Houston.