Anyone hear anything about Bolivar Island near Galveston TX? Mass Ike casualties rumored...

[WilliamPitt]

http://humidcity.com/2008/09/17/censoring-a-disaster/

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/18/18539573.php

CNN) -- Workers at a Galveston, Texas, laboratory said to contain dangerous biological agents secured the pathogens Friday ahead of Hurricane Ike, officials said. A patient at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is helped from the building Thursday. The pathogens, which include the deadly ebola virus, were purposely destroyed before the staff left the facility in advance of the hurricane, said Gov. Rick Perry's spokesman, Andrew Barlow. A Department of Homeland Security official concurred that all the samples had been destroyed, and the building was locked down, quarantined and "rendered safe." But a former student who worked at the Level-III laboratory while the Level-IV facility was being constructed and who knows the manager, said she would be surprised if all of the pathogens had been destroyed, since some of them are rare and extremely valuable.

...more...

Youtube video at second link above.

?

[tekisui]

1. Prepare to be called a tinfoiler for asking.

[SmokingJacket]

5. People wouldn't feel so paranoid and tinfoily if there was some

transparency. Instead there's a media blackout. Of course people begin to wonder what the hell they're hiding... even if there's nothing.

I swear, I was not the paranoid type before the Bush years, but we've been lied to so often I don't even know what the truth looks like.

[readmoreoften]

17. Yes it is a little like being called 'paranoid' for fearing your abusive husband.

"Now Mandy, I know he roughs you up a little now and then. But he loves you. He needs you. Fer christ sakes he can't even feed himself without you. He's not planning on killing you. I know he bought a new gun and took out a life insurance policy on you but that's just because he wants to protect you and the kids. He might put you in the hospital, but he's not gonna put you in the grave."

[WilliamPitt]

6. Ah.

I was asked about this by my boss, who wanted me to see what I could scrape up. Baseless?

[tekisui]

10. I think there is something going on,

and lots of questions have been raised. I for one wonder where all the survivors are. But, I mention the media suppression last week, and people went off saying it was a conspiracy theory.

[codjh9]

15. What's a tinfoiler? I need a freakin' translator too often for this site...

[tekisui]

16. this

[intheflow]

41. You need the DU Glossary

DU Glossary :hi:

[fascisthunter]

21. Yeah... and Say Fuck Them

[seemslikeadream]

2. yep

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4027888&mesg_id=4027888

[KoKo]

3. Will...please watch this video or read article link...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4039504

[K Gardner]

4. The HumidCity blog is frightening: "1500 bodies in trees"... whether or not this is true, the reason

there is rampant speculation and "rumor" is that we're hearing, well, not much.

Cue the naysayers that nothing is "out of the ordinary" and those of us who are concerned are conspiracy theorists.

:popcorn:

[Ian David]

11. There's a biohazzard lab there. Those could be genetically engineered body-trees. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. My astrologer says that's untrue.

It's the genetically engineered sphagnum moss that grows in the corpse trees.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. There is nothing out of the ordinanry... and it is all rumor

:sarcasm:

There, you needed the cue to be answered

[K Gardner]

30. OMG... *spew alert*

[Oregone]

7. And 28 days later....

[Ian David]

8. It's been looked into here and pretty much debunked.

I don't doubt the Repukes WOULD do this IF THEY COULD... but this time, I do not think they did.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. It's a real tragedy.

All those dead bodies are clogging up the earthquake machine.

[RB TexLa]

12. It acutally was the Bolivar peninsula. There haven't been names assigned to the three islands it now

is.

[TomInTib]

23. I didn't know that.

But I did know a good many people who live(d) there.

[malaise]

13. William Pitt

prepare to be abused for daring to ask about large numbers of hurricane victims. Some of us have been attacked since Saturday and Sunday when we knew a cover up was in the works. Ironically it was Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel who let on that lots of people were missing.

Thanks for posting this.

[Bluebear]

24. "Another DUer cheering on for more deaths!!!!11" - - just preparing you.

[kestrel91316]

18. As someone with a microbiology background, I can pretty much guarantee you

that no responsible professional microbiologist would allow pathogen stocks at a LEVEL THREE or FOUR lab to be handled so carelessly that they would be lost in a hurricane. They are not mad scientists - they are highly skilled professionals who understand better than most of us the danger their little "pets" pose to public health.

If there's not a specific protocol for autoclaving or incinerating every last germ on the premises in case of hurricane evacuation I would be surprised.

I do think that this is a bad location for this sort of lab.

[TomInTib]

22. The location is what blows me away.

Why in the world would a facility like that be located there?

[kestrel91316]

28. More info on the lab:

http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/09/ike-coverage-galveston-biolab.asp

The Galveston area of Texas that took a direct hit from Hurricane Ike is home to a top-level biodefense laboratory that studies highly contagious and deadly diseases including bird flu, but lab officials are assuring the public that the pathogens were secured before the storm made landfall.

The Robert E. Shope Laboratory is located in the Keiller Building on the sprawling University of Texas Medical Branch campus in Galveston. The basement of the Keiller Building flooded during the storm, but UTMB reports there was no loss of biocontainment or biosecurity. All labs were decontaminated and secured prior to the storm, with all infectious agents stored in proper containers, according to UTMB.

However, UTMB's statement contradicts claims by state and federal officials that the lab's pathogens were destroyed before Ike hit. For example, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's spokesperson told CNN that the lab's pathogens were purposely destroyed before the staff evacuated the facility. Officials with the Department of Homeland Security also told the network dangerous materials were destroyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sounds to me like bureaucratic miscommunication about whether or not pathogens were destroyed or merely secured.

Secured probably means incinerating what they are actively using, and then having all the rest lyophilized and sealed in glass vials and stored securely.

The basement is what flooded. I can't for the life of me imagine that they would locate the storage facilities in the basement, lol, in hurricane/flood country.

[TomInTib]

29. I am familiar with that campus and that building.

Just a few feet above sea level and totally exposed.

Goodness.

[kestrel91316]

35. I predict it and the TX health campus get moved inland within 15-20years.

They'll get smacked a couple more times and rethink the beach idea.

[Barack_America]

33. And if Ebola were spilled in the water?

Would it matter? It needs a host. Sadly, I'm sure that many lab animals were "sacrificed" ahead of the storm.

The real outrage is the waste of money the hurricane preparations required.

[KoKo]

40. Yeah...but we just had an incident with Dr. Ivans and Anthrax whre "improper safeguards" was sort of

the norm... In a US Govt. Lab...where there was such lax control..they got reported..yet little was done. So, how could we trust the Galveston "Bioweapons Testing Lab" to be better than the regulatory agencies that run them? Under Eight Years of BUSH....is ANYTHING being REGULATED?

I don't know.....

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Something's going on, but putting together what is true and not will be hard the

longer they continue to hold off on any news

Cue some personal history... reminds me of San Juanico (A large explosion in Mexico City back in 1983)

Official casualty numbers when all was said and done was about 450

Rumor had it all the way to 3K

After working the site as an emergency worker I got a looksie at how you can possibly disappear bodies

But that is just me.

So yes... I know how it is done... and if they are doing it... it will be hard to find out the truth

Good luck in your nosing around Will

[Junkdrawer]

27. Related to this? Patent 6729247 - Mobile crematorium....

...

BACKGROUND

It is an unfortunate reality that disasters occur which result in large
numbers of deaths. Disasters can be natural; such as hurricanes,
earthquakes, etc., or they may be induced; such as acts of war or
terrorism. When such disasters occur it is often necessary to lay large
numbers of human remains to their final rest.

Mass graves are sometimes used wherein large numbers of human bodies are
entered into a common grave and covered for burial. This is undesirable
for many reasons including the difficulty associated with obtaining
portions of land which are suitable for such mass burials. Cremation is
possible yet this is unpractical since the bodies must be transported at a
high cost and any transportation across borders may require excessive
paper work and administrative expense at a time when most individuals are
not prepared for such efforts.

....

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6729247/description.html

[goclark]

25. Is this an exclusive area or more like the 9th Ward in NO?

Just wondering, they sure are keeping it quiet.

They have learned how to continue their Evil Deeds.

Where is Brownie?

Tears for all the people ~

[liquiddaddy]

37. Galveston

UTMB is in the business district, I think a little SE of the historical district, called the Strand.

There is an eclectic mix of architecture on island, (pop. 60-70K - more in the summer) with deco, gothic ranch house sitting side by side. But the Strand is classic Victorian, and is under 7-8 ft. of water right now.

A witness who rode out the storm state of the 1,500 historical structure in Galveston, he estimated that 75% were damaged or destroyed.

A good book to read is called "Isaacs Storm," about the 1900 hurricane in Galveston that killed 8,000 people under eerily similar circumstance as Ike. He talks about the look of Galveston, a lot of which survived, and how a few thousand people could just disappear.

[goclark]

42. Thanks ~ my heart goes out to the families

Someone mentioned there could be 1500 people that didn't survive.

Wouldn't their families be informing the Media by now?

[Junkdrawer]

26. A whole lot of people are about to be declared "missing"...

It will take a while. Months or years they say.

When asked "where are the bodies", FEMA will say "must have washed out to sea".

Good line, but here's the rub: after the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, officials tried to bury the victims at sea...and the bodies washed right back to shore.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4029245&mesg_id=4029245

[McCamy Taylor]

31. UTMB needs to move their labs to the second floor...

[catnhatnh]

32. Will...all I will say is that there is a bio-lab....

on Plum Island at the extreme eastern end of New York's Long Island which is also in possible storm paths. When you actually approach level 4 and 5 labs, islands are considered a benefit. Level 5 is the shit too crazy to consider like E-Bola and monkey fevers (HIV) and hemmoraeghic fevers...real death-star stuff. Many of these adapt-they can become the "shifting antigen" viruses of the "Andromeda Strain" For what has floated toward common knowledge see books by Robin Cook and oddly enough by Nelson Demille or possibly Michael Crighton (spelling). The thought was that if the genie got out of the bottle, a wipeout in a limited population would be advantageous (hence islands)...What you NEED to ask is whether a level 5 existed there. And then ask if level 4 stuff has been released.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

34. *YIKES* I want more information about that company!!! I'll assume it's a microorg lab,...

,...but, IKE's damage may be NOTHING compared to the release of pathogens into all that water!!!

:scared:

What's the name of the facility?

[catnhatnh]

36. Will-on reread...

To the best of my knowledge, at level 4, any E-Bola would be dead-as in you needn't kill them twice. So my real question becomes, if the facility was level 4, how did it include live E-bola? Because if they claim they killed LIVE E-bola, they are either lying or this was a level 5 facility. You as a journalist might ask...Actually at level 4 from what I read the bad guys are hoof and mouth disease and other cattle diseases with the capability to wipe out huge portions of US meat sources. They are bad but have no possible human transference...
That's the little bit I got from books.

[KoKo]

39. Well...maybe a Hurricane and "Washed Out to Sea" might "Liquify" and "Disperse" many

Bio Agents of Mass Distruction? Dilute them in the Gulf... How many "parts per Billion" would scientists thing might dilute the Biological WMD's? :shrug:

Are those on the Gulf now SAFE? Contained so only West Florida and Gulf Coat through Yucatan are invaded by the biological agents released by Hurrican Ivan? :shrug:

Inquiring Minds plead with you to answer on this...

[KoKo]

38. Who knows what microbes and rest was let loose, there.

Just like what happened with Anthrax "Investigation" ...how will we know...but interesting that there's a "lock down" there. When folks do "Lock Down" that means something...

:kick: