Memorial Cleans Up After Ike

Memorial and the west side of Houston weren't hit as hard by Hurricane Ike as most other areas of town. Nevertheless, the abundance of huge oak and pine trees in the area means that local residents are still digging out of piles of branches, limbs and leaves and attempting to remove the many trees that have fallen onto houses and into streets. Most of the area is still without power and most local businesses remain shut today. All of the schools in the area are closed until next Monday.

Residents in this part of town are taking advantage of the cool weather to clean up their own yards and streets as quickly as possible, embodying the typical can-do attitude seen in so many other parts of Houston. Neighbors are helping neighbors, friends are helping friends, and strangers are helping strangers. Those with barbecue grills are cooking hot dogs and hamburgers for their entire street. Kids roam cheerfully on bicycles and skateboards, helping their parents clean the yards and dutifully helping older neighbors bag leaves and clear debris. The industrious, good-natured spirit seen in Memorial is only one small example of what makes Houston such an incredible city.

On one cul-de-sac, residents in Sherwood Oaks were concerned on Saturday about how to get out: two giant oak trees blocked the street entirely. Before long, two men with a tractor and a chainsaw came along and made quick work of the trees, sawing them up and stacking them neatly on the side of the road. The two lived a few streets up, and were making the rounds in this neighborhood just north of I-10, making sure that all their fellow Sherwood Oaks residents could get out and that Centerpoint trucks would be able to get in. Jo Ann Gonzales, one of the cul-de-sac residents, jokingly commented on their initiative: "I'm sure glad we don't live in River Oaks, because you know those people don't have tractors and chainsaws. And even if they did, you know they damn well wouldn't know how to use them!"

Below are a few pictures that we managed to snap on our way around Memorial yesterday. Unfortunately, without power, we had no way to charge our camera batteries until we came into work today. Hopefully, more pictures from Houstonist staffers will come soon and a more complete picture of the city can be seen.