Galveston Pictures, Post IKE. ***DIAL-UP WARNING***

[JeffreyWilliamson]

Here are a few pictures I took this morning after my first night back home on the island.

The Flagship Hotel, (Chunk Missing From Top, Bridge Washed Out):



This Used To Be Hooter’s:



Murdoch’s Bath House, (In Between Hooter’s and The Balinese Room):



The Historic Balinese Room:



Seawall Debris:



Beach Debris:



The Strand 1:



The Strand 2:



Workers Cleaning Up Yaga’s Cafe:



Strand Lofts:



FEMA Truck In Front Of The Island Community Center:



Most Street Lights Don’t Work:



The City Is Taking Debris To A Yard In Front Of City Hall For Removal:



“State Farm Catastrophe Service”:



“We Have Generators”:



A Building On 61st Street:



My Boss’ House:



Street Debris, (People Emptying Out Homes, Etc.):



More Street Debris:



This Was A Huge Two-Story Overlooking The Back Bay:



Burned Out Cars and Home:



“Owner With Gun”:



Gas Station Leaving The Island:



A Parting Shot:



It will be a good year for refrigerator producers if what I saw this morning is any indication.

More later when I can take another ride around.

Jeffy

[glowing]

1. Wow, bailout these people first, then we'll talk about bailing out wealthy

asshats.

[librarycard]

4. exactly

[ColbertWatcher]

27. Got it in one! n/t

[crickets]

28. Yes! -nt

[LonelyLRLiberal]

2. $700 billion to bail out speculators - how much for hurricane recovery and rebuilding?

It's a disgrace.

Good luck down there - I hope you get the help you need. How ARE things going re: getting help?

[MadrasT]

3. Thanks, JW!

Thanks for making it so much more real to us. "The Historic Balinese Room" egad... I'm speechless. Take care.

[babylonsister]

5. Thank you, Jeffy. How did you find your home?

I live in SE Houston; scenes of carnage are everywhere here, too, but obviously not like near the seawall in Galveston. The Strand looks pretty bad, too. What an economic blow-

I hope you take care of yourself and stay safe. Thank you for the eyewitness account.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

6. Home was hot, but was very glad to be back...

My friend Joey, my dog Sam, and I stayed the night last night. He took the dog with him earlier in the afternoon, and I met them at the house after work later in the evening. I was hopeful that the electricity was going to be restored because the neighbors had said that the Centerpoint Energy had trucks in the area and were telling them that they hoped to have it up by evening. When I got there, the power appeared to be on but as I drove down the street towards my house I realized that the power stopped right at my block.

We hooked a power inverter up to Joey's truck battery and lit up the house with floor lamps and set up 2 box fans and a small tv with DirecTV box. It worked all night and the truck started just fine this morning. We cooked on a Coleman portable stove on the porch. We wanted to grill but the city has imposed a "no open flame" rule on the island. Police are everywhere there.

It's amazing that all the neighborhoods around us flooded, but my block and the two on either side didn't, and our houses are all practically at ground level. The stray cat and kittens that lived under my house weren't there this time, (they were there when I went back after the storm and were all doing fine). Not sure if animal control picked them up or if they finally moved on, but the food I left was almost gone, and it looked as if they had been there recently--or at least some cat had.

The mosquitos are insane!

[babylonsister]

8. I'm so glad you had some good news. It's amazing how

people can adjust when necessary; sounds like you did okay. And it's just going to get better. Keep the faith; you seem to have a great attitude. :thumbsup:


An older friend in Corpus Christi called me last night to let me know her 'kids' were being interviewed on CBS. Talk about a disaster story, and they also mentioned the mosquitoes.

"Riders On The Storm"

'Kids' (my age) of a friend of mine live in an unincorporated area in Houston. On September 13, during Hurricane Ike, a humongous tree fell on their trailer, almost killing one son.

They are still living there because they have no help, from anyone. The trailer is cut in half, they had water but that was cut off tonight.

What do people do? Their 'home' isn't gone but it is. I can't even imagine.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

11. It is hard to stomach it some times...

I guess I have a good attitude because life happens to play out this way sometimes. And when it does you can go along for the ride and see where it takes you--hopefully to a brighter tomorrow if you work for it--or you can let it devastate you or just give up. I have a good degree of survior's guilt. My home was okay in the end, but every one I know lost theirs'--my boss, his daughter, his renters, his neighbors, my cousin, all my friends.

I lost my car but a car isn't a house with everything you own inside. My boss was thrilled that he got the pictures off his hallway wall before the mold got them. I went to his daughter's house when I went back the first time last Monday and got her little girl's baby dress from a frame hanging in her bedroom. She came back Tuesday and got some Christmas lights from her attic--those things and a laptop is all she owns in the world now...

Very sorry to hear about your friends' trailer. I wish I knew who they can contact for help, but I don't. Very relieved to hear that their son was spared. How did their water get cut off? If it was the city, and because a bill wasn't paid, whoever ordered that during their time of need should be fired.

[slackmaster]

7. Thanks Jeffrey!!!

Owner with gun's lawn looks surprisingly healthy, but it sure needs to be mowed.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

9. It was bizarre in some instances...

When I turned into my boss' neighborhood the first house had automatic sprinklers going, but in front was everything they owned piled up for the debris trucks to hall away. A Dollar General store practically exploded, as if it filled with water and then the water pressure blew out the pane glass windows in front, sending the water and everything in the store pouring out into the parking lot.

There is a neighborhood along 61st street that I saw last night, (but was blocked this morning so no pics from there), where every house was either totally destroyed down to the timbers or turned on their sides--on their sides! There were many buildings that look like like they collapsed on cars sitting underneath.

Strangely, after giving up on my own lawn a few months ago and just letting it die like everyone else, when I got there last night it was green and needed a mowing. I thought, "Yeah, I'll get right on that".

[moriah]

10. You know that megaretailer on Seawall Blvd?

No one should ever plug a muddy power cable into brand new computer equipment after the originals had been drowned.

Fire is pretty but destructive.

And amazingly, the idiot who did this lived to tell the tale.... he was standing in water at the time.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

12. When did this happen?

Hadn't heard about that one.

[moriah]

14. I probably shouldn't talk about it much...

... it was only a small fireball and put out quickly, and The Retailer Whom I Support was up and running for business the next day.

But, it is a good moral lesson. Abusing computers should be met with extreme prejudice, and the person who did this was not a trained professional, so he wasn't truly the person responsible for the abuse. He was just trying to help. I don't believe there was any injury to him.

Still, though, computer equipment gives big fireballs.

The store is lucky to still have a roof from what I've been told from the tech who was out there all night.

It was not cursed like another store a Store Planner told me about ... was just about to open, and someone lost control of a forklift and both blades of it went through the computer rack, piercing servers.

They got new servers, and then a truck forgot its breaks and gravity remembered him, the unmanned vehicle struck the outside wall and crushed everything in the computer room, ruined all of the freshly run cables to the room.

I asked, when I heard this, if they turned all of the corpses upside down in the Indian Burial ground before they built over it.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

15. From your description...

...and since my friend Joey works there, it sounds like you are speaking of the fine folks over at Wal-Mart.

"...a truck forgot its breaks and gravity remembered him..."

Great line.

[moriah]

18. If he asks about it...

He'll likely be met with one of two responses:

"Oh, I wasn't there for that...."

or

"I'd rather not remember."

[krispos42]

13. 10th "Must Read" and a kick n/t

[Subdivisions]

16. Thanks, Jeffy, for being a font of inspiration and information on

what's happening in Galveston. And, thanks for getting out when you did.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

19. Thanks...

It hardly feels like 2 weeks ago that I posted that first thread about riding it out, but in a lot of ways it feels like years ago.

Seemed like an easy proposition at the time, since the storms that track in our direction seem to have a habit of taking a hard right at the last minute, preferring to take a bite out of the TX/LA border instead, (ie Rita). I figured I'd just wait it out and then go help at a shelter or aid station, or help any neighbors or friends dig out. And I really was going to sit it out, until the next morning when I heard that The Strand was underwater already, and decided to drive downtown and have a look for myself. That sparked one of those "Holy Sh%&" moments and so I ran home and got my rear out of Dodge.

I guess in the end I actually could have stayed and ridden it out, but I had no idea the kind of Hell on Earth scenes I would see when I did go home.

[malaise]

17. Great pix - what devastation

I thought you said you returned home last week.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

20. Yup, went back for the afternoon last Monday...

But the city made everyone leave by dark. This was the first night I stayed there. Decided to take the drive above this morning before heading north to Houston to our new offices here.

[uppityperson]

21. Thanks for posting, please continue to do so. k&mr

We need to keep some attention on this, not let it drop while bail-out/recession/mccainbs interest remains high. Thanks for posting, was wondering how you were doing and how it was going.

Now that it is later, do you have suggestions for us to help? Our local RedCross here in rural NW WA is asking for people to help work shelters there, but I can't spare the 2 wk time right now due to aging parent issues, but perhaps others can, or have you other ideas to pass on?

[JeffreyWilliamson]

22. I have heard that the Red Cross...

...needs all the help it can get, in whatever form it can. Monetary donations and blood as well. I heard they are worried people are suffering from disaster fatigue for a couple of years now.

One of the best ways to help may be to just plan a vacation here, for anyone that is close enough to do so. This island has, (much to the disagreement of many locals like myself), turned itself into a huge tourist trap. The city's entire economy is based on tourism. Right now it's emptying its coffers to save itself. By next Summer I'm sure they'll hope there are high numbers of tourists here to help bring cash onto the island.

If I had to personally recommend something, it would be to volunteer locally or donate to the Humane Society or SPCA. Many, many people left and didn't have the heart to take their pets, or thought that they'd be fine since everyone would be back in a day or so. The city has been combing the island looking for animals in back yards, etc. They are taking rescued pets to shelters in Houston, but they won't have the resources to care for them forever. This has been a tragedy that these pets didn't deserve, just as the people didn't.

[uppityperson]

23. Donating for pet help is a really good idea. Thanks for the thoughts here.

Here is link to Humane Society. http://www.hsus.org/
Here is link to Houston spca- http://www.houstonspca.org/


My problem with RC is I have seen how they misuse the money they get, and the volunteers, after Katrina and I don't think the High Office Policies are right yet. That said, I also met and know some really good RC people. I give to Salvation Army for USA disasters, even though I disagree with a bunch of their policies, they seem to get help out fast.

I live in a small community that is based on tourism, paper mill, county seat. If/when the big earthquake hits, we are going to be in trouble also. I am one of those in agreement with many that being primarily tourism is a bad idea, our community has been suffering recently with the recession/depression.

[Lisa0825]

24. Thank you for continuing to update.

I am still waiting to get back to work. I work for UTMB, but my office is at the Island Community Center. I am hoping my office is OK, since I know they are using that building for services now. I don't know how much recruiting UTMB will be doing in the near future though, so I sure hope I'll still have a job.

Good news is that many businesses are reopening to provide goods and services to islanders who have returned. The attitudes I have heard from even those whose homes were heavily damaged is that they are determined to rebuild, so I am hopeful that the island will recover.

[MilesColtrane]

25. Oh, man. the Balinese is gone!

Good thing ZZTop got to immortalize it:

Deep in the south of texas
Not so long ago,
There on a crowded island
In the gulf of mexico

It didnt take too much money,
Man, but it sure was nice.
You could dance all night if you felt all right,
Drinking whiskey and throwing dice.

And everybody knows
It was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
It was down at the balinese.

Yeah, I remember ruby,
She always dressed in red
Wearing skintight pants, lord, and how she could dance
With a rag wrapped around her head.

And everybody knows
It was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
It was down at the balinese.

And everybody knows
It was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
It was down at the balinese,
It was down at the balinese,
It was down at the balinese.

[SeattleGirl]

26. The Balinese was a great place.

I stayed in Galveston for a few days back in the mid-70's, and I've never forgotten the fabulous food and service I got there. How sad that it is gone.