Gulf Coast States

[SWTXBelle]

The entire island of Galveston is "too close to the beach". You simply cannot make a home that close to the beach that is not liable to damage by wind - or even more deadly, the flooding. Very little of the island is actually protected by the seawall.
That is why there was a MANDATORY evacuation order - everything pointed to a tragedy in the making as Ike came closer. I fear that too many residents thought that this storm would turn at the last minute as so many in the past have done. Many were probably either old timers who thought they had been through the worst, or newcomers who had no knowledge of the 1900 storm, Carla, or the like. The false alarm and nightmare evacuation before Rita also probably lead to many not taking it seriously.
I am really afraid of what they will find as they go through the worst of the island's damage.

[Army Wife'79]

Belle, what's the status now around Houston? Schools? Power? The news has moved on unfortunately and I am following this story.

[lawgal]

I think this one is going to have a long term impact on Galveston and the surrounding areas- since it looks like a lot of the infrastructure may have been damaged or destroyed. Think of all those families, without homes, figuring out where to send their kids to school for an unknown time. Think of all the jobs those people cannot go back to right away. (I am not trying to minimize the impact of food, water, shelter, power, etc.) It is not like they can instantaneously rebuildall that was lost. Having volunteered with the Katrina rebuild through our church, I see all the rebuilding that is still going on and needed years later.

[SWTXBelle]

The BEST coverage I've seen is the NY Times. The local coverage seems to be afraid of hurting any governmental feelings . . .or something.

I am one of the lucky ones. School starts again tomorrow, power is largely restored, and gas stations and grocery stores are due to get deliveries, so we're doing Okay.

They are now trying to get those who rode out the storm and survived in Galveston and other areas with mandatory evacuation orders to GET THE HELL OUT. Sewage, compromised water systems, lack of gas and food, etc. all mean that Galveston is totally uninhabitable. We still don't have official word on how bad things are in the West End, Bolivar, etc.

My brother the police officer is still there 24/7 - and they have to feed themselves, which is proving interesting. He says Missouri Ciy, near Sugar Land, was hard-hit, and that power still isn't on in most of it.

The Calvary in the form of power company trucks from across the nation has arrived and is working round the clock to restore power. That will make a HUGE difference to people. We are fortunate to currently have a cold front in the area, so people aren't having to suffer in the heat, but it won't last forever.

It's gonna be slow-going, I fear. My husband had an appointment today in the Medical Center, and they are actually there, so that's progress. I go back to work tomorrow - I'll be out near Tomball and can report back.

[AGDee]

I just read on CNN that they are asking everybody in Galveston to please leave because it's uninhabitable. They are trying to emphasize that they don't have enough water, etc for all of them but they haven't left.

[srmom]

I'm back!!! Power at our offices, but NO power at home, trees EVERYWHERE, including a 50 foot Oak that came down on my fence and driveway. Neighbor 3 houses down has one through her house so I'm not worrying about my fence

My story is that I was racing in a regatta in Lake Ontario, due to fly back to Houston on Sunday, flight was cancelled, so I flew to New Orleans, rented a Durango, bought a 7000 Watt generator, 4 six gallon gas containers and food for a week, and drove home. The Angel Of Mercy coming with supplies!!

The drive was interesting, tons of damage along the way even into LA, humongous pine trees snapped in half, no billboards, no power, no gas stations open... It was amazing and inspiring to see the caravans of power and tree companies coming from all over the country on I-10, but it made the normal 5 hour drive an 8 hour drive.

I was so happy to be home (I had felt incredibly guilty being away)!!! I cried when I turned on the road to my neighborhood. It honestly looks like a war zone. There is so much debris piled up from the trees that went down. I've never seen anything like it. Then you see the trees resting on people's home or through them, and it seems like a blessing that your house is spared!!!

At the homefront, while I was gone, my 83 year old dad and his wife evacuated to my house. They waited out the hurricane with my husband and 16 year old son.

My husband deserves a medal - besides trying to prepare for the storm, boarding up windows, securing outside furniture and fixtures, etc., he had to deal with a medical emergency - my step mother had a grand mal seziure on Thursday night while they were eating at Pappadeax restaurant, so he spent Thursday night at the Emergency Room with my dad. So, Friday night rolls around, they have power until around 2 am, then it goes out and they are sitting in the dark in horrendous winds. My husband, who is a really BRAVE guy, said it was scary as all-get-out. Around 3 he heard a groan - bad noise - he checked the house and there were no trees through the structure, it was that enormous oak, it completely took out our fence, covered our driveway, but miraculously missed both my car and my son's that were parked up by the garage. So, for about 3 days, my husband had ZERO sleep, and still managed to be a rock for all around him!!!

Morning came and he said it was incredible. Trees all over the roads blocking everything, live power lines down in people's yards, broken glass, carnage... But, the wonderful thing was how the neighbors came together, pooling resources, chain saws, generators, etc. and began the process of clearing streets and securing homes.

So, down at the bay, where my dad's house is... His house has about 4 feet of water, but seems salvageable. Not so his boats He has a 45 foot power boat that is now up on the north jetty at our yacht club, and his sailboat is sunk in the harbor- oh well, that's what insurance is for. He got some help pulling out the downstairs furniture and is planning on staying in the upstairs area, which is kind of set up like an apartment, they have water but no power.

Right now, the center point energy guys that my husband has flagged down have said it could be days (if not a week) before we get power at home. BUT - by the grace of God (NO LIE) an EXTREMELY unusual cold front has come through, so last night it was actually chilly in our house, this at a time when it is usually hot as heck all day and night. So, the Big Fella is looking out for us!!!

Sorry for the long post - pray for the cool weather to remain!!!

Forgive typeo's, I'm a little frazzled...

[Army Wife'79]

Thanks srmom for that update. I wish the news would cover it more but they're back to their political stuff and very little on your damage. Are you in Houston proper or a suburb? (you can PM me if you don't want your location known). Are the cell phone towers back up? Is the interstate thru town still closed?

[srmom]

I'm in west Houston, SBISD - which is closed until next Monday. Cell towers are up and working, but it's spotty, more often, calls go into voice mail, it's the ultimate game of phone tag, every once in a while I'm lucky and a call will go through. The weird thing is, my land line is out. We keep two plug in the wall (no electricity needed) phones for emergencies, but there is no connection at all. We also have no cable or internet (at home) but since we have no power, it's not an issue. I'm just hoping that it's back on before some of my favorite fall tv shows start back up!!

All the roads and hiways are open that I know of, even down at the bay (not the island). There is very little traffic though, which is nice. There is still a curfew in effect, so restaurants and stores are closing early.

It is strange to drive at night from one part of town that has power to another without because you go from bright lights to a vast nothingness of black streets and houses. We are really keeping our fingers crossed that we get power soon.

[agzg]

My friend who lives in Houston checked in with all of us today - he rode out the storm in Houston because his area did not have mandatory evacuation.

He still has no power, but his apartment/car/building is fine. He said he's really bored and sick of peanut butter and jelly but other than that he's fine.

He went to a bar the other night that had power so he could watch the Bills game - gotta love the Buffalo boys down in Houston! I guess he figured since he'd seen blizzards of all kinds he kinda wanted to see a Hurricane! Probably not the smartest thing, but it's alright I guess since he's safe!

[Kevlar281]

Just got power back today…

No major structural damage to the house.

I’m pretty tired; it’s been a long couple of days.

Originally Posted by Kevlar281

Just got power back today…

No major structural damage to the house.

I’m pretty tired; it’s been a long couple of days.

Glad to see you posting Kevlar. Lots of us were wondering about you!

[JennRN]

Has anyone been able to see recent areial footage of Galveston?

[Army Wife'79]

I saw one online of complete destruction except for one lonely, bright yellow house still standing on stilts. It must have been newly constructed of Hurricane proof materials. It is the only house left standing.

[SWTXBelle]

BIG problem on Galveston now. They started letting residents return, but now there are MILES of people in line on I-45 - and in 19 minutes, no one else will be admitted. It could get ugly . . .

[AGDee]

They were saying on our radio stations that they were not supposed to go back to stay, but they said they could go look to see how much damage had been sustained and then leave again. They did say that the traffic jams were so bad that they had to end it again. I can see both sides here.. it's not really safe to have people living there with no water but to have no idea whether you've lost everything or not has to be an awful place to be.