Galveston, Texas, still struggling to recover, rebuild after hurricane

[n2doc]

By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent
1:46 AM CST, February 16, 2009
GALVESTON, Texas — This month's traditional Mardi Gras parades have begun, even though the revelers are marching past facades of buildings with nothing inside them.

Entire neighborhoods once largely inhabited by poor and working-class African-Americans still lie in ruins, their shattered houses shoved off their foundations into crazy poses in nearby yards.

One major hospital has closed, and another is clinging to life. The city is running out of cash. Tourism, the lifeblood of the economy, is in doubt.

If you blink, you might think you were in New Orleans, surveying the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

But this is Galveston Island, nearly 400 miles down the Gulf Coast, where Hurricane Ike slammed ashore Sept. 13. And residents here feel like the rest of the nation hasn't just blinked but has completely closed its eyes to the devastation.

"The history of these events is pretty similar," said Lyda Ann Thomas, Galveston's mayor. "Once the satellite trucks are gone, it's over as far as the rest of the country is concerned."

This tattered beachfront community — a traditional getaway spot for Houstonians living an hour to the north—was already struggling before the massive hurricane sent a 12-foot surge of water coursing through the streets. Nearly a quarter of the island's 57,000 residents lived below the poverty line, and 60 percent were classified as having low or moderate incomes.

more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-galveston_wittfeb16,0,6649545.story

[jus_the_facts]

1. K'n'R

:(

[snappyturtle]

2. I live an hour north of San Antonio. I never hear anything about

Galveston. It ought to be on the local stations everyday. There are lots of good people in this state who would help but, like the article states, once the satellite trucks are gone.....well. Mr. Snappy and I married in March of 2005 and we went to the beach in Galveston for a short honeymoon. It's an interesting community and well worth saving. Too bad I have to read this in the Chicago Trib.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

3. Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah! Sucks to live there!

Oh wait, I live there...

We went to the opening Mardi Gras parade Saturday night on the beach. We were afraid it was going to rain us out but the weather finally cleared up an hour or so before the parade was scheduled to begin. The city put on a decent fireworks display. The parade was noticeably shorter than last year's, but I was surprised at the size of the crowd--which seemed larger than last year. Everyone caught beads but me, courtesy of the jerk in front who kept jumping up to get ALL of them headed even remotely in my direction. Well, I did "catch" one strand of beads, when I looked over at a friend and they slapped me in the face. Heh, the one time that jerk in front wasn't paying attention...

"The history of these events is pretty similar," said Lyda Ann Thomas, Galveston's mayor. "Once the satellite trucks are gone, it's over as far as the rest of the country is concerned."

Yeah, that's kind of sucked about the whole thing. I did see a follow up report on Dan Rather Reports a month or so ago. He had a crew down to talk about the rebuilding efforts, but the whole segment was colored with this weird kind of "look at these idiots rebuilding stuff in a hurricane zone, how stupid is that?" vibe.

Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, of course, was the person who told us all that Hurricane Ike was headed to Corpus Christi up until the day before landfall, at which point she finally admited what everyone else had already figured out, and told residents of the city to "just hunker down" because "it's too late to evacuate now". She was riding in the second vehicle in the parade Saturday. I noticed that the car wasn't marked to identify her in any way. That was probably a smart decision on her part...

[TBF]

15. The whole thing was awful - I must say I'm not a fan of your mayor.

We're in Brazoria County & evacuated when we heard water was splashing over the seawall on Thursday (we have a baby). There was very little press at that time and I'm not sure many reporters were ever actually allowed on the island. I also read in the Chron that people from FEMA were here days before it hit - and it really looked to me like they were deliberately not letting information out. IMO, New Orleans and Galveston were both victims. It wasn't just the hurricanes hitting, but our government that pretty much did nothing to help the low-income folks in both areas.

[cobalt1999]

4. Same thing after most major hurricanes.

The countries attention span doesn't extend beyond the first few weeks.

There are still destroyed homes in the panhandle of Florida from Hurricanes Ivan & Dennis.

I saw how quickly the nation moved on after Hurricane Opal and Eloise too.

[malaise]

5. Have they found all the bodies yet?

Didn't those Rushican governors boast about their efficiency?

[dogday]

6. The other day on Local News, they showed the Last Houstonian

getting their power back on from the hurricane.. Yes,we were forgotten..

[Romulox]

7. Detroit, Michigan is STILL the poorest city in America. nt

[FarCenter]

8. Galveston should not be rebuilt

This is the second time that a hurricane has destroyed Galveston.

It is on a barrier island in a prime hurricane zone. It should never have been developed.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

9. I'm assuming you don't live here...

We locals are actually aware of the whole hurricane vs. island thing. There's something to be said for investing your life in a place and thinking of it as home, even when doing so sounds irrational. And our history of storms here isn't really all that bad, with the exception of the obvious two. We're also actually one of the very few blue voting areas in Texas, (and by that I mean the city--the county north of us is still pretty stupid/racist/homophobic).

What's disappointing is that from our perspective, the entire world was focused on helping out, and then Lehman Brothers collapsed 2 days later so everyone packed up the camera trucks and went to cover that, or see how Britney was doing without her kids, or whatever.

Should people abandon San Francisco because it was destroyed by an earthquake and is at risk of the same in the future?

[SoCalDem]

13. actually it was the fire..not the earthquake that did in early San Francisco

wooden buildings, all jammed together was the big problem..not the actual quake.. :)

[JeffreyWilliamson]

14. Point well made...

I had a blurb in there about the fire but took it out. That did kind of fudge up the facts.

I guess where I was going with the example was to pick out a "big name" place that most people would find objectionable to abandon because something bad happens there.

Galveston is by no means a "big name" place, but it's a lot of peoples' home, (admittedly a lot fewer people now, however). I've lived here for 13 years as of today, February 16th. I'm a transplant but thinking of this city as my hometown has become so normal to me I can't imagine thinking of any other place this way.

This was something I was alluding to upthread when I commented on a segment I caught on Dan Rather reports, and I admit it's also something I myself am guilty of doing. After Katrina, I thought it was very foolish to rebuild New Orleans. Now having been through something similar where I live, I completely understand. People have a hard time abandoning their homes and lives, and people rebuild and fight on because that's what people do.

It kind of sucks hearing that we're stupid for rebuilding. Thankfully it's something that's heard rarely.

[SoCalDem]

10. Disasters are the indiscriminate "removers-of-the-poor"

The poorest cannot afford to rebuild, so they gather what they can (if they lived through the ordeal), pack it up, and move away.. It's that way, whether it's a tornado in downstate Indiana, a hurricane in Texas, a fire in Tennessee, a flood in Iowa, an earthquake in California, etc.

Poor people live on the "edge"...all the time..forever. They often go without adequate insurance, because they rent, or may own a tumble-down place outright (without a mortgage, insurance is not always required).. . One outrageous electric bill may be enough to send them over the cliff, so imagine their despair when the roof goes..or the whole house goes..

These people cannot afford to "live elsewhere" while they repair their homes. If they rent, the landlord may be glad to finally be rid of the "low income" rentals he/she found impossible to sell, and too costly to repair. They are often in no hurry to rebuild, or if they DO, it's to rent to people who can and will pay a LOT more.

That congresscritter who made the "urban-renewal" comment after Katrina, actually spoke the truth. It was brutal, racist, and obnoxious, BUT , it was the truth as a LOT of people see it.

Poor people are seen as a liability..not an asset, so when a whole bunch of them leave, en masse, it's seen as a "positive thing" for the politicians, and the money-grubbers.

[raccoon]

11. Great post. nt

[raccoon]

12. Dupe, removed. nt

[JeffreyWilliamson]

16. I'll vouch for this...

Downtown there are several low income neighborhoods with more than a few public housing complexes. They were all damaged during the storm and closed down.

The city is debating whether or not to just tear them down. For now they're just standing there boarded up and fenced off.

So at least here the poor were the first to leave. I also haven't heard a lot of outrage over the demolition talk, which probably says a lot of those who have been able to afford to stay and rebuild...

[SoCalDem]

17. You won;t hear outrage, because the people who would be against it, are gone

and they have no power, even if they are still around:(

[TexasObserver]

18. Casinos in Galveston will rebuild Galveston

Time to bring Casinos to Texas.

[Texasgal]

19. It's TEXAS

No one gives a shit apparently. :cry:

[n2doc]

20. another report on Galveston with video

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-214126