Aberdeen oil man tells of hurricane hell
North-east man at home as hurricane hit
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DRIVING through the “ghost town” of Houston, an Aberdeen dad today told of the hurricane-hit city’s devastation.
Skyscraper windows had been blown out and some buildings lost roofs and walls.
Neighbours helped each other remove broken trees and fences or mop up flooded homes.
And while thousands of residents remained without power or water, radio station DJs advised them where to get free ice.
Offshore firm boss Kenny Mackie chose to sit out Hurricane Ike at his home in Katy, just outside Houston.
The Bridge of Don dad-of-two was with Diane, 46, Angela, 20, and her boyfriend Scott Robb, 19. They were joined by Aberdeen friend Marie Vermeulen and her daughter Hannah.
But Kenny described the category one storm as “horrible” and said he would never sit through another.
The 47-year-old said: “It was really noisy, you were just expecting the windows to come in.
“It really got bad at 3am until about 8am.
“The windows on the front of the house were taking such a buffeting.
“You expect them to pop and if the wind gets into the house then the walls are going to start falling down.
“Scott and I had to go outside to get the generator fired up after the power went out, that was scary.
“The rain was typical Aberdeen rain but the wind was whirling round, it was really difficult.
“Trees were dropping round about, there were seven trees in my neighbours’ garden came down.”
When Rotech Subsea president Kenny visited his office, he found it without power and flooded.
And America’s fourth-largest city was a “mess”.
“The whole city has just ground to a halt,” he said.
“It’s like a ghost town.
“It’s a mess, the whole place has got trees down everywhere. It’s just a disaster zone.
“The DJs on the radio keep saying to go and get free water and free ice. “There are buildings five miles from our house that have part of the roof off, part of the walls off.
“All the traffic lights are out, there are trees blocking the roads, where do the authorities start?
“One of the guys that works with me has got four inches of water in his house and another guy’s garage has blown away.”
As he passed popular restaurant Joe’s Mesquite Grill, Kenny, who is also dad to Suzanne, 22, saw its tables and chairs – but without a roof or walls to house them.
And landmark eatery Brennan’s of Houston, which had been an institution in the city for more than 40 years, was also a victim of the storm.
It was destroyed by flames when firefighters were beaten by high winds.
The Mackie family stocked up on food, water and batteries before the storm hit.
They were well- prepared in case of an emergency evacuation, making sure cars were filled with fuel and having important documents like passports and insurance details to hand.
Kenny shut his office on Thursday morning to give staff time to make arrangements and get ready.
Authorities have blamed at least seven deaths on the storm – two in Louisiana and five in Texas – and were worried the toll could rise.
A week-long curfew from 9pm to 6am was announced because most of the city was still without power, making driving conditions difficult.
