Ike destruction: picts getting out(media blackout?) awful all along coast, communities are gone

[uppityperson]

I am focusing this on areas other than Galveston and Houston since it seems they are already being covered. If anyone has an area you want to know about, please let me know and I'll search as am hanging out here for a while.

Crystal Beach
http://blogs.fayobserver.com/weather/2008/09/14/the-day-after-ike


Photos
http://www.khou.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=282603


Bolivar and High Island
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080913_mh_.72b5bca9.html

Bolivar couple 'floated on staircases' to keep from drowning

06:46 PM CDT on Saturday, September 13, 2008

By Chris Paschenko / The Daily News

TEXAS CITY ­— Bolivar Peninsula communities were covered by the storm surge from Hurricane Ike’s early Saturday landfall, and residents told harrowing stories of how they survived by floating until the waters receded.
(clip)
”We got a late start to get out Friday, and there was two feet of water,” Kathi Norton said. “There was no way we could get out, because rollover pass was flooded.” As the waves pounded on the Nortons’ home standing on 14-foot stilts, they felt the floors buckle. About midnight, the couple left the home and they watched as it rolled over onto their flagpole. ”We floated on staircases, anything we could get a hold of,” Kathi Norton said. “We floated until about 4 a.m. Roofs were coming at us. It was not a pretty picture.”

As the water receded, the Nortons, who lived on Gulf Shores Drive, waded in waist-deep surf to the Crystal Beach post office. They said few homes and none of the businesses withstood the storm. ”My husband made me wear a life jacket inside our house,” Norton said. “Thank God for that or I couldn’t be here.” The Nortons boarded Texas National Guard helicopters, which flew them to the Brazoria County airport, but there were no evacuation buses set up there, Paul Norton said. ”Then they flew us to Texas City,” he said. “They did a great job.”

Nigel Heinrich, one of the evacuees, said he endured the storm from his Gilchrist home on the peninsula. ”It’s all gone,” he said. “We lived on the bay side, and we walked to High Island. There are only about two or three houses left. Everything’s totally wiped out. High Island’s in pretty bad shape, too.”

From LBN (barbtries) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3488376&mesg_id=3488376
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/259812/Hurricane_Ike_The_Untold_Story

Thousands of Texans watched TV all day Saturday in quiet desperation hoping for just one word about their loved ones and their homes on Bolivar Peninsula, Texas.
...

By early Sunday morning stories and photos were trickling out over the internet through message boards and blogs.

Here are three unconfirmed stories about the fate of Bolivar:

This afternoon, my mother called with a report. I could tell she had been crying, or at least very depressed. She called to tell me that her neighbor had called, and their friend had flown his plane over the peninsula. He said it was so flooded he couldn’t find anything. He finally found the school, a two-story building on very high stilts, which helped him get his bearings. He used the school to find his way to my mother’s street, and all he saw was one of the two palm trees that used to stand next to the neighbor’s house. The house was higher than the palm tree, yet all that remained was the tree. All of the houses on the street were gone, including my parents’ dream house....

http://www.swedesrealestate.com/News/tabid/86/ctl/ArticleView/mid/832/articleId/770/Default.aspx

Edited to change title, hoping someone takes time to look, maybe kick. I don't think there is a media blackout yet, just that the info is just getting out, but will be watching to see. Actually I read that the media had been asked to not photo "sensitive" things like dead bodies.

[uppityperson]

1. More...

KOGT photo gallery
http://kogt.smugmug.com/gallery/5953607_Nn2hu#371134406_jLgnE

SW Louisiana
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080913/NEWS01/80913075

STORM UPDATE: Cameron devastated, coastal Acadiana flooded

More than 100 people reportedly tried to ride out the storm in Cameron Parish and there was no immediate word of their fate. A 16-year-old boy drowned Saturday after falling overboard from a fishing boat in Bayou Dularge in south Terrebonne Parish.

As Saturday wore on, one grim report came after another:

# In Terrebonne Parish, a breached protection levee allowed water into some 26,000 homes, many of them in Houma.

# Water approached the second floor of homes at Cypremort Point.

# Rita-like flooding again filled Delcambre and Erath, including the campus of Erath High School.

# A nursing home in Franklin was forced to evacuate overnight due to rising water.

More than a mile of levee was overtopped in Plaquemines Parish.

# Tides pushing across Prien Lake caused major flooding in the Cypress Point subdivision in south Lake Charles....

[uppityperson]

2. Ike evacuees face long stays in makeshift shelters

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hniQL5XBrue0_gN_b2VnTdvAyYsAD936ITO80

Hurricane Ike's deadly surge has kept thousands of evacuees holed up in cramped quarters — shelters, RVs, even a warehouse — as they face the prospect of returning to flood-ravaged neighborhoods left without electricity.

Others huddled in motels in the hopes that they had enough money to stay until it was safe to return — that is, if they had homes to return to.

"We don't know if it's floating through the Sabine Pass right now or not," said Clint Matthews, worried about his house near a canal in Port Arthur. The ex-Marine and his wife hunkered down in a Tyler motel, and he said they would stay until their money ran out. But that could come sooner rather than later....

[nichomachus]

17. Just like a nice camping vacation, according to Barbars Bush

This is the Bush vacation home, where they "camp out" during the summers. You'll notice the resemblance to a FEMA shelter.

[DemoTex]

61. Texas flag in Maine.

Tackey.

[Vickers]

71. Those Bushies are pure class, huh?

:eyes:

[uppityperson]

3. Lack of cooperation vexes rescuer in Terrebonne

http://www.nola.com/hurricane-ike/index.ssf/2008/09/lack_of_cooperation_vexes_resc.html

DULAC -- Gunning his rescue boat down the inundated main drag in the fishing village of Grand Caillou, state Wildlife and Fisheries agent Joe Arnaud can overcome anything Hurricane Ike throws his way.

But there's one thing he says he can't get over: people who aren't willing to be saved or to cooperate with rescuers.


On Friday night and Saturday morning, Arnaud and his boat saved 33 people from Ike, which caused more destruction in lower Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes than 2005's Hurricane Rita, the last major hurricane to pass to the west and bring devastation to the two parishes. ...(much more on LA bayou country)

[Ilsa]

4. No blackout. The emergency crews have enough to worry about without having

media all over the place. the Galveston Seawall has almost been destroyed, for example. Really, the police are trying to keep cars, etc off the streets to make way for emergency responders and disater relief personnel. I'm watching this on Houston's NBC affiliate which is on the air and on cable. I am one hundred miles from Houston. There is debris all over the roads around Galveston, Seabrook, Clear Lake, etc. Roads and freeways in Houston are flooded in may low areas.

[uppityperson]

6. I don't think there is a media blackout, info is just getting out.

Yes, I put that in so maybe someone would kick this, or reply or some such. I hope you are inland, hoping you are ok. I'm just searching for news of elsewhere than Galveston/Houston.

[Ilsa]

10. I'm okay, thanks. My sister is in worse shape. She didn't

make adequate preparations for the aftermath. I'm 100 miles away, originally in the path, but it shifted to Houston the day before it hit. We were prepared for about a week of no power, but we've only had rain related to the coming cold front.

Galveston is just a huge mess right now. Seabrook, too. They don't want anyone driving. It is okay to ride a bike or walk through the rubble, but they don't want anyone getting hurt. Furthermore, it is still possible for wond gusts to blow down something that is hanging by a thread. We had two people killed by head trauma from falling objects five years ago after Claudette where I live.

[uppityperson]

14. Hurricane survivors forum link. Hasn't gotten much use recently.

Not sure if anyone is interested, but might be a place to talk, or post links or thoughts of what we can do to help.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=360

[Ilsa]

19. Thanks! I might find something useful there! nt

[EFerrari]

7. Yesterday, restricted airspace which is a defacto black out.

I'm just up so I don't know if that ban has been lifted.

[Ilsa]

11. The airports are closed until further notice. Houston has tv stations are

up and broadcasting and on cable for anyone on their cable system who has power. If the reporters can get there, or if they were already there, they can broadcast.

[uppityperson]

12. Don't photograph corpses

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-ike_14met.ART0.State.Edition2.26d57b6.html

...Only with Ike's passing could rescue crews begin the grim search for survivors. The big storm caused at least $8 billion in damages, according to industry estimates. Officials in Galveston, where an estimated 40 percent of the population refused to leave their homes, pleaded with the media not to photograph corpses.

While many of the areas worst-hit by Ike remained unreachable Saturday, many of those who stayed behind appeared to have survived the storm. Only four Ike-related deaths had been confirmed – a woman killed when a tree fell on her home outside Houston; a 16-year-old Louisiana boy who drowned in his flooded house; a 57-year-old man who broke his neck in the storm's winds; and a 65-year-old Galveston woman who died when a generator powering her oxygen equipment failed. Officials are also searching for a 19-year-old who slipped from a jetty near Corpus Christi and was swept away.

"We've heard some unconfirmed reports of a few deaths," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "We hope it's as small a number as possible, but we're going to have to wait and see."...

[Igel]

27. That's just respectful.

The intent probably isn't to avoid pictures of dead people being in editors' offices, but in the newspaper.

How'd you like to be watching tv and find out that your sister was killed, not by having her name mentioned, but by seeing an unidentified half-rotted corpse on your screen? While not knowing is bad, that, arguably, for most people, is worse.

As far as I'm concerned, it trumps my "right to know".

[uppityperson]

29. I understand the reason for not publishing, but they need to be taken

I'd rather know.

I don't think they would be half rotted yet, at any rate.

[intheflow]

40. Ilsa, I have to disagree.

I think it's Rovian to "request" the press not take photos of corpses. I saw many, many photos of corpses from Katrina, but only one or two where faces were shown--and even those faces were so disfigured it would probably have been hard to a family to id the person. I'll repost what I wrote yesterday in another thread:

If they don't own up to the scale of disaster, they can control what we the people see of it. I heard a report that they asked reporters not to take inappropriate photos -- that would be photos of dead people. Same strategy as not letting the press take photos of war funerals.

Then, too, New Orleans was a liberal city with in a state with a Democratic governor. They could allow more to be seen of New Orleans' and blame at least the initial disaster on inept Democratic leadership. Houston has an awful lot of Republican connections (oil money, for sure) and a Republican governor; after seeing the long-term bad PR FEMA got after Katrina, it is very much in this administration's best interests to keep as much of the devastation under wraps for as long as they can. This is true not only about finding bodies, but also with regard to the amount of environmental damage done by the country's largest concentration of oil and petrochemical facilities in the country having been directly in the storm path. It's a mess down there and people have died and are dying still, I'll warrant. :(

Newspaper editors and tv directors showed pretty good judgment, imo, publishing shocking-yet-discreet photos after Katrina hit New Orleans. I lived in Mississippi for two years after Katrina, but never saw a photo of a corpse from there--I think because it was a Republican-controlled state. It was MUCH worse on the ground than we'd been led to believe by the press there. We still don't have a reliable final death count for Katrina, either (both in NOLA or MS). If no one in the public "sees" bodies, it'd be much easier to hide how may people may have been lost. They'll say, "Thousands evacuated, we know not where, and they're not coming back." No shit--that's b/c they may not have evacuated but died. To me, it's more respectful for the deaths to be acknowledged by someone, instead of the possibility that hundreds of deaths may go uncounted.

[alfredo]

46. It was OK to show the dead in New Orleans.

[readmoreoften]

65. Really? Imagine if there was a blackout on photos of the concentration camps.

Photo documentation is essential so that history isn't rewritten. I'm not concerned about your "right to know" I'm concerned about human history's "right to know."

[uppityperson]

5. Crytal Beach

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/09/hurricane-ike-a.html

After rescue, woman says 'it's total destruction' in part of Galveston County..."The whole island is under water. It's total destruction. Everything that was on the ground is washed away," she said. "That was the scariest night of my whole like. I'm still shaking."

Travis, of Dallas, her husband Doug, 58, a general contractor, and Nez had traveled to Crystal Beach to board up their house, stayed too long and were trapped there by rising water around noon Friday, she said.

As the storm came in, the water kept rising. The family stayed in their house, which sits on 17-foot stilts.

"Somebody's house slammed into mine," Travis said. "I called 911 -- 'what do we do?' She said 'Don't go outside whatever you do.'"

http://weatherblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/crystal-beach-hit-hard.html

...``Everyone's talking about Houston, Houston, Houston,'' he said. ``We're going to need help on the coast.''

[uppityperson]

8. Humane Society

http://humanesociety.org/hsus_field/hsus_disaster_center/disasters_press_room/help_descends_on_texas_091408.html

Help Descends on Texas

September 14, 2008

Three years after leading the humane response to Hurricane Katrina that rescued and cared for more than 10,000 animals, and just two weeks after deploying to Louisiana to assist in Hurricane Gustav recovery, The Humane Society of the United States has returned to the Gulf Coast to care for animals evacuated or abandoned during the massive flooding caused by Hurricane Ike.

Moving In

Early Saturday, as the storm drew a bead on the Galveston–Houston region and roared ashore, several of the 20-member HSUS core disaster response team arrived at the Nacogdoches animal shelter some 100 miles to the north to help prepare for the expected influx of refugee pets.


HSUS Responder Kelly Coladarci with two pitbull puppies, Ox and Zeek, at the Nacogdoches shelter during Hurricane Ike. © Chris Broughton

On Sunday, with recovery efforts moving into high gear, HSUS staff and volunteers in Galveston began receiving calls for rescue, evacuation, and shelter of pets, farm animals, and wildlife.

They also received calls for help from elsewhere in the striken region...

HSUS Responder Kelly Coladarci with two pitbull puppies, Ox and Zeek, at the Nacogdoches shelter during Hurricane Ike. © Chris Broughton (OMG pitbulls!)

[Ilsa]

13. FEMA is trying to get in with 5million MREs, but they need the roads cleared.

Announcing now on tv/radio.

Oops. Should have posted as a reply to OP.

[uppityperson]

15. Good. More on Bolivar rescue...

I hope they get them to where they are needed soon.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/28368279.html

Rescue crews fanned out for a second day Sunday to search neighborhoods inundated by Hurricane Ike’s storm surge in a race against time to reach those who spent a second harrowing night Saturday trapped in the wreckage of flattened houses, strewn debris and downed power lines.

One team of paramedics, rescue dogs and structural engineers headed out under a nearly full moon on the Bolivar Peninsula, near Galveston.

To the northeast in Bridge City, a Coast Guard crew also worked until early Sunday morning before rescue missions were suspended for the night.

So far, Gov. Rick Perry's office says some 940 people have been saved, but the fate of thousands more is still unknown....

[flvegan]

20. HSUS has an agreement with many of these communities

to be part of the first responders (Galveston is one of them). In many cases, they get to the disaster zone before the Red Cross does. No red tape. Their NDART volunteers are top notch and carefully screened. They don't let just anyone on the team.

[alfredo]

56. Maybe they should teach FEMA how to respond.

[northernlights]

62. god bless them!

I never, ever, ever want to see starving, abandoned animals like Katrina. And I never, ever, ever want to read about rogue cops shooting people's dogs during mandatory evacs. :mad:

We *still* get NO dogs at our shelters up here in Maine, I think mostly now it's litters from the abandoned strays.

Pit pulls make wonderful pets when raised properly. It's in the wrong hands that they are a problem.

[malaise]

9. I was watching KHOU and rescuers were picking up

people from Bolivar hours before the hurricane hit land. That said, if I was living on a fugging sea front, I would have left before the first notice was publicized.

[uppityperson]

16. 3 deaths in Galveston, 1 in a submerged vehicle

http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=9005858
The death toll from Hurricane Ike has now reached seven, and officials fear it could climb.

Authorities today day three people were found dead in Galveston, including one person found in a submerged vehicle near the airport.

That's after four fatalities were reported yesterday, two in Texas and two in Louisiana.

[Ilsa]

21. A young man was washed off the jetty down in Corpus Christi a day or two ago.

He was a victim of the storm surge. I don't know if his body has been found yet.

[uppityperson]

18. other GD topic on this...

Hurricane Ike: The Untold Story
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3997516&mesg_id=3997516

The fun in Texas is just beginning
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3996839&mesg_id=3996839

[uppityperson]

22. Not community but oil related...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.rPLbKihqn0&refer=home
Ike Shutters 20% of U.S. Refining Capacity; Reserves Released

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Almost 20 percent of the U.S.'s oil refining capacity was shut after Hurricane Ike slammed into the Gulf Coast, limiting fuel deliveries and prompting the Department of Energy to release 309,000 barrels from its strategic reserves.

At least 13 refineries in Texas including plants operated by Exxon Mobil Corp., Valero Energy Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut 3.64 million barrels a day of refining capacity as Ike approached Texas. Exxon and Shell said yesterday they would begin assessing damage of Gulf facilities as soon as weather permitted. Gulf refineries and ports are the source of about 50 percent of the fuel and crude used in the eastern half of the U.S. Analysts predict gasoline prices may again reach $4 a gallon.

``If these refinery outages go three weeks or more, most of the nation could see $4 gasoline again,'' Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said in an telephone interview. ``If they are back up in a week, it may be a 15- or 20-cent-a-gallon increase.''

The U.S. Department of Energy said today it released a total of 309,000 barrels in crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve because of shortage in refineries owned by ConocoPhillips and Placid Oil along the Gulf Coast.

``The oil was requested because of disruptions in supply caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike,'' the Department said in an e-mailed statement. Deliveries will begin today, it said. The deliveries are for the ConocoPhillips refinery at Wood River along the Capline pipeline system and Placid Oil's Port Allen refinery, the statement added.

[uppityperson]

23. Damage reports from area counties, cities (great list!) and Forums, Jamaica beach pict

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080912_mh_Ike_damage_reports_.6df11e08.html

Forum
http://www.khou.com/forums/

Jamaica Beach

[uppityperson]

24. Tiki Island

http://www.guidrynews.com/story.aspx?id=1000011928
Tiki Island Damage Assessment
by Jim Guidry
Saturday, September 13, 2008

photos by Tim and Cindy Cullather

Tiki Island Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Cullather and Mayor Charles Everts talked to GuidryNews.com after they assessed damage on Saturday. Listen: RealPlayer MP3

"There is a tremendous debris field from the Texas City Wye to the Galveston Causeway," Cullather said. "It's basically impassable. TxDOT is working to clear it. They will be able to clear perhaps one lane, one or two lanes, to be able to enable emergency traffic only to between Galveston City and the rest of Galveston County."

Cullather is discouraging residents from returning at this time.

"There are snakes, three is nails, debris; it is not anything to sight-see on," he stressed. "It is still a dangerous situation."

The good news is that the majority of the houses on Tiki Island have survived because of new building codes, suffering most of the damage to the lower levels.

"I am devastated," Mayor Everts said. "Tiki Island took a hard hit."

However, Everts was impressed that most of the structures survived because of the adherence to strict building codes

[uppityperson]

25. Kemah video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDc2Qnt0JM4

[malaise]

30. Keep this kicked n/t

[KoKo]

26. Thanks for doing this. Cables don't seem to be focused on this today...

Early this a.m. they showed some new helicopter footage of an area near Galveston..they said a "resort island" that had many huge homes up on stilts...all looking like they were floating in the Gulf. Much distruction to some homes and there were gaps as if some of the homes had washed away...others were off stilts and lying partially collapsed. Wealthy area that seems to be engulfed with no land in sight.

But, that was it.

[Igel]

28. Look at the roads.

Reporters would have trouble getting into a lot of places. Those areas we've seen have been overflights--which require helicopters.

And you know reporters are getting anxious. There's a Big Story and they can't do much about it except show pictures of glass from a downtown parking structure/office building, show streets flooded, etc., etc. "Power outage" makes for poor pictures at the best of times.

There are crews going door-to-door in Galveston and other areas; as they find people, they go in and get them out, which usually means "airlift". The devastation will be there tomorrow and the next day and the next day, I can be patient in having my curiosity satisfied, since, well, my curiosity matters for little, sitting here in my air-conditioned apt. They're not going to suddenly rebuild everything and disguise it somehow.

The storm-surge damage is stunning. It'll be more stunning. And it's much less than expected, which is still something to be grateful for.

[uppityperson]

31. Reuters has pictures, can't figure out how to copy to here, here's link...

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN9645380320080914

[HCE SuiGeneris]

32. Here are some...

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=USN9645380320080914&channelName=newsOne#a=10
http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20080914&t=2&i=5985284&w=&r=2008-09-14T175412Z_01_N96453803_RTRUKOP_0_PICTURE8

[uppityperson]

34. Yup, that's the problem I was having, with yahoo picts also.

Am not savey enough to figure out how to make the address work for slide show things.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

35. Me neither, yet...

Will share if I figure it out. :hi:

[uppityperson]

33. Seabrook

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IKE?SITE=OHCIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Residents of the tiny community of Seabrook, Texas, near Johnson Space Center, were met by a roadblock as they tried to return home, and police officers standing in the rain turned them away. At times the line was six to 12 cars deep.

"It's gonna be a while," an officer shouted to one man as he made a U-turn. "Just listen to the news."

"Seabrook is a disaster area: no sewer, no infrastructure. It really isn't safe," said officer Charlie Skinner. "It's making residents pretty upset. I understand, but ... There's an order signed by the mayor. We can't let anybody in."

[Dirty Hippie]

36. I'm Sorry... My sympathy is limited for people who choose to live on sand bars.

As a life-long Floridian, it does not take a lot of sense to know how stupid it is to build on barrier islands.

If you choose to do so, it is only a matter of time before we see your face boo-hoo-ing on TV about how you lost everything.

Meanwhile, those of us who know better have to pay outrageous insurance premiums.

[uppityperson]

37. You do know that Ike was very wide, affected a large area, right?

Looking for info on the rest of the coast that was hit also.

Most people aren't boohooing on TV about how they lost everything. I guess you have no sympathy for people who build where there are tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, fires, riots, etc, either? How about just expressing interest in a disaster? Thanks for your compassion and understanding and the kick.

[Dirty Hippie]

44. Look, I've been through many hurricanes

and the vast majority of the catastrophic damage is on the coast, or barrier islands (unless it is an Andrew).

I've suffered damage to my home but living inland makes all of the difference.

After Opal, I drove through along the coast and saw the devastation. Barely 1/2 mile inland, the damage was minimal.

Building on the coast, is like building on an active volcano. Your house will get destroyed eventually.

[uppityperson]

49. So how about having a bit of compassion and not just mocking people?

boohooing and all. Of course some people will do that, but the majority of them are just like you and I. There are all sorts of disaster possibilities, most of us live in one or more. Still, we can help each other.

[tnlefty]

69. Well, Opal arrived in TN a as tropical storm, and there was flooding

that caused my oldest child to miss a couple of days of school (kindergarten). Since that time hurricanes are affecting those of us miles away with more frequency. The winds and rain from Katrina smacked us up here in SE TN, and have you looked at the path of Ike?

You can complain about people building on the coast as much as you'd like, and I might agree with part of that, but dayuum, these storms are affecting people miles away, and perhaps that should be your more of a concern.

[knitter4democracy]

70. We live in Michigan, and our basement almost flooded yesterday.

The remnants of Ike hit us hard up here, too, and if the city hadn't come in with the pump and brought in more sandbags, we would've lost everything in the basement (especially the new carpet the city paid for from the last flood in July).

Ike damaged a lot more than just the coast. Granted, they got the worst of it, but Houston's underwater, and the flooding in the path of Ike all the way up to Michigan was really, really bad. It's not just those on the barrier islands who are worrying about cleaning up Ike damage.

[tammywammy]

39. Not everyone that lost their home lived on a sandbar

:eyes:

My family lost their homes yesterday and they don't live on a sand bar.

[uppityperson]

41. I edited my comment also. What an uncaring thing to post, isn't it?

How is the family? I think I asked elsewhere but getting posters confused.

[tammywammy]

45. My family is safe

And that's the most important thing. They all evacuated.

Except for one aunt and uncle, everyone else lost their homes yesterday. Flooded up to the roof line.

[intheflow]

50. I'm sorry to hear that, Tammy.

I hope your family had adequate insurance to cover the losses--or at least enough to start rebuilding their lives before FEMA gets around to financially helping people. :hug:

[tammywammy]

53. They'll be up here (the DFW area) for at least 3 weeks they said

I think there's a lot of shock and they don't know what exactly is going to happen next.

[malaise]

59. I'm glad they left

but really sorry to hear about their loss. :grouphug:

[Dirty Hippie]

48. I apologize for being so crass.

It is a sore subject with me.

[readmoreoften]

66. So what about the people who lived near lakes and creeks. Assholes all, right?

I have family in La Porte and SE Houston. Are they stupid for buying a home in a city 50 miles offshore but 10 miles from the bay outside a floodplain?

[uppityperson]

67. I think you meant to reply to #36. To answer, no. They are

boohooing stupid people. I mean, really. They SHOULD have KNOWN!!!1111 :sarcasm:

[Phred42]

47. AGREE

One of my best friends lives on St Augustine Beach and about 11 feet above sea level

I ream him a new one every chance I get

[marions ghost]

63. Building on barrier islands

I don't blame the people who are tempted to live there but it should all be protected from development.
It's the big picture that's missing.

Maybe that will happen if these storms keep wiping everything out.

[jus_the_facts]

38. K'n'R...and THANK YOU for all this info...

...it's much appreciated. :thumbsup:

[texpatriot2004]

42. I'm looking for info re: San Leon and the area S of 517 on TX 146.

If anyone here at DU hears any info about this area along the coast please let me know. Thanks.

[uppityperson]

51. I found a forum...Link to San Leon part, couple bits copy/pasted

http://www.khou.com/forums

Galveston county:
http://www.khou.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=57&sid=7b6c32d86722700004f8278333234cbb

San Leon
http://www.khou.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25813

Hey Folks, I made it in yesterday afternoon and from what I have seen in just trying to get to my house on Broadway is not pretty.
If you lived from 24th toward 1st street and your house wasn't at least 15' above sea level, then you got damage! The closer to the water the more damage.
There are homes off foundations, some are just gone, all are flooded.
Maranatha Church was pushed off it's foundation then broken in half--that was some surge.

My parents live on 14th street (off 517)- Krustchinsky family. My DH who's a ff in TX City managed to get to their house via 146 then 517 from TX City. Said water is still under maroon house on the water located at 14th and Avenue K but mom's house (a few houses down from their maroon one...about one - half block from water) is okay. Massive Debris everywhere and power lines are down. Damage unknown but just to know their houses are there and still standing is a relief. They didn't know if they'd have a place to go back to. Nobody to contact to find out anything. Wish the news media appreciated the smaller areas of Galveston county and would report on them not just the big $$ areas of Kemah. Sorry. That's my POV. Thanks to News 11 for having this blog/forum and all the medias for staying on and giving us something even though it wasn't our neighborhood.
PS I am in Deer Park and we got electricity late last night.TG
PSS American Legion Hall is very damaged...off its blocks!


A friend of my mother's was able to get in and take a look at her house on 27th. She told my mom they were letting people into some areas but not all...as some streets are more flooded then others. Possibly contact the police or possibly ODOT to double check. From what my mom said, her friend was able to get down Bayshore as far as Gingers (O Henrys)
Not sure how much that helps anyone but thought I would share. As far as I have heard 26th-27th is somewhat flooded still but the damage (as far as we have heard) doesnt seem to be as bad there as the lower numbered streets were.

[alfredo]

43. What about the oil platforms? Any word on them? If anything bush

would not want word of any leaks. It would hurt their "drill baby drill" mantra.

[intheflow]

52. Bloomberg story said up to 20% of US oil production has been shut down

due to Ike. (See uppityperson's post #8, above.) The part that disturbs me most about the article is this quote:

Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, which is home to three refineries, reported "widespread'' power outages and flooding in Ike's aftermath, Tom Hoefer, the parish's public information officer, said in an interview. Hoefer said the refineries likely escaped damage.

"There has been no wind damage to any of them, and none of them are in flooding areas,'' he said.

This is probably complete and utter bullshit. They said the same thing in Mississippi about the Gulfport SeaBee base (which was later reported to have leaked agent orange into the community water supply when flood waters found their way to a dump site) and the Dupont chemical facility (the area around which showed exceedingly high levels of dioxins after Katrina).

[alfredo]

55. I've learned that if they say it, the opposite it true.

[uppityperson]

54. I'm off to do some mundane things. Will check back in later. Forum...

I found a forum for people on the TX coast, seeking people & posting info. http://www.khou.com/forums

[eppur_se_muova]

57. Some pix and video from BBC ...

more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7615028.stm

ETA: video at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7614706.stm
I can't get the audio to play; not sure why.

[rainbow4321]

58. Someone had sent pics to KHOU --no houses left, just the pylons

that the houses were once on. The caption the guy usd was "sticks on Crysal Beach". The news anchors filled in the rest "those sticks are the pylons that the houses were on. The houses are gone". Row after row after row.

[eppur_se_muova]

60. CNN now has a "slide show" ...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/14/hurricane.ike/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCPhoto

These are Schlockwave Flash, so can't post here ...

[uppityperson]

64. Thank you. Clear ake Shores, Baytown, Seabrook

Not to downplay Galveston (city proper) or Houston, but I am glad that other outlying communities are getting photo'd too. I'd like to see some of further out places, but those will eventually come in as they are contacted I guess.

[Imagevision]

68. asked to not photo "sensitive" things like dead bodies"