Houston rebounds quickly from Hurricane Ike

HOUSTON—On Sept. 13, Hurricane Ike whomped Houston "up side of the head," to use an expression any down-home Texan would understand. It was a body blow that to a large extent put America´s fourth largest city out of commission.

Now, just a few weeks later, the casual visitor would be hard pressed to know a major hurricane blasted through here.

I played a parlor game, "Tell Me Your Ike Story," with cab drivers, hotel clerks, business contacts and others during a post-hurricane visit. Some had lost power for a few hours, others for days (the most egregious was 17 days, and that fellow said his family really, really learned to appreciate hot water and cold air).

Mayor Bill White, whom constituents join on a weekly bicycle ride, played "Tell Me Your Ike Story" by bragging on how Houstonians rallied around each other.

Mostly, it seems, they cranked up their chainsaws and went to work, sort of a "have chainsaw, will cut" frame of mind.

Between the amateur tree surgeons and the professionals, the outcome was staggering: six million cubic yards of wood debris, all of which was to be recycled as two million cubic yards of chips.

Let´s put that in perspective. Two million cubic yards of wood chips would cover 500 football fields six feet deep or, more visually, fill the Astrodome seven times.

White summed up the situation nicely for a piece in The Houston Chronicle. Here´s his takeaway comment:

"We will recall the hardships and the recovery. We will show pictures where the trees fell. We will describe the gasoline lines and the feeling when the AC came back on. And most of all, let us share stories of how we helped each other through this mess."

The great thing now is that leisure travelers can barely perceive that there was a recent mess. Sure, plywood still covers some downtown skyscrapers´ windows, many houses sport blue rooftop tarps and some trails at the Houston Arboretum open to the sky, but that´s about it to the casual observer.

Thelma´s is serving great barbeque again, the NFL Texans are playing at Reliant Stadium, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is dripping with culture, the musicians are hot at the Last Concert Cafe and the birds are chirping in the meadows and woodlands of the Armand Bayou Nature Center.

Who really remembers Ike? He was just a blowhard who didn´t hang around long.

For visitor information about all aspects of Houston, go to www.VisitHoustonTexas.com, and for an economical way to see six major Houston attractions, including Space Center Houston and the Houston Zoo, click on that site for CityPass details.

Closing note: This look at Houston´s visitor scene isn´t meant to diminish the impact of Hurricane Ike. It ranks as the third costliest storm in U.S. history, and it was absolutely devastating and deadly in places. For a bigger look, check out www.Chron.com/hurricane/ike for coverage from The Houston Chronicle.