Galveston's Recovery

We've been making visits to Galveston Island for over 25 years and have owned property there for around 10 years. Part of my heart is there, so I have been following the news carefully about the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. One of the frustrating things to me is the timing of Ike. The national news media covered the landfall and immediate aftermath. But the more urgent news of the financial crisis in the credit markets swept the national consciousness quickly to other news with more national repercussions. The sad thing is that Hurricane Ike did not just do tremendous damage in Galveston and Point Bolivar, it affected an entire region along Galveston Bay. For people living inland, it took 3 weeks or so, but life got back to "normal," but for those living near the waterfront areas along the coast and bay, life is still far from normal.

I was so pleased and proud of our state in the initial stages. Help came to Galveston quickly, very quickly. There was a virtual army of people bringing ice, water, food, military and police making rescues and maintaining order, government people trying to get people settled in some kind of temporary housing with money for immediate needs, and charitable organizations providing much needed assistance.

It has now been four months since Ike hit. The reality of how long it is going to take for the area to recover financially, to rebuild the damaged properties, to demolish and restore the beaches where the houses can not be rebuilt is sobering. It has been three years since Katrina. We visited coastal Mississippi last February. The road at Biloxi that runs along the beach is empty of all but a few houses. Entire neighborhoods in the few blocks near the beach are gone. The buildings have been demolished, the debris piles gone, but very little reconstruction has occurred. Cynically speaking, the casinos are rebuilt and up and running, but the neighborhoods around them have not returned.

Galveston is not only a resort, vacation destination, but it was also a vibrant community populated with people from all walks of life. While the costs of living on the island were pushing middle class families to the mainland, there was still great diversity of income levels on the island. Galveston is a historic city, many residents, both rich and poor, are multi generational islanders with deep roots. They want to restore or rebuild their homes. But the road right now is rocky and filled with obstacles.

I know that there is money being channeled to help not only Galveston families and businesses, but also the other areas - Point Bolivar, San Leon, Texas City, etc. Insurance payments and FEMA have certainly paid out a lot of money. This article from the
Galveston Daily News gives an interesting look at where some of this allocated money goes. On one level, it really makes sense. There is $814 million in federal funding that is being distributed to help the region. There is also $1.3 billion in Community Block Grants. The regional governments have been hard hit in providing services and repairing infrastructure. Their tax bases have been tremendously impacted and future revenues will be much less for a long time.

There are three ways that this money must be split: restoration of infrastructure, housing, and economic development. There is a lot of FEMA money still going to pay for temporary housing. Obviously the sooner you can get people into "real and permanent housing" the money can be more efficiently spent. Economic development is important as well, because area business have been devastated as well. People need jobs not only to pay for their housing, but also to feed their families. The good news is that businesses are reopening in the area. But some major employers are facing obstacles that seem insurmountable. Galveston had a world class medical school and medical center. The Shriners had an important children's burn center. Both hospitals were damaged by the flood waters of the storm surge. The UT medical center has already laid off workers and is downsizing. The Shriners were in the process of repair and reconstruction, but have been forced to halt and lay off workers due to investment losses in the national endowment funds. The HEB grocery store in Galveston will not reopen. The Dillard's in the mall off I-45 will not reopen.

The article above does a good job showing how hard it is to get money into the hands of the families that really need it to rebuild. In rebuiding Galveston in 1900, there was a lot of private money spent to assist the recovery efforts. With the crash of the financial and equity markets, it is going to be harder to get that private money flowing this time.

As I watch this process, I'm realizing what a long term project this is going to be. I'm wondering how long it will take before all the debris through Galveston and Chalmers county is dealt with, how long before all of the people displaced by Ike will be in permanent housing, how many will return to live in Galveston, how many will permanently relocate. I remember the great San Francisco earthquake in 1989. In checking Wikepedia it took 8 years to rebuild the freeway bridges that were damaged. I don't know how long it took to rebuild and repair all of the buildings that were damaged. At the time I had never been to San Francisco, so after the major news of the earthquake, the rescues of people caught in the bridge collapses, etc, it fell off my radar. I know that today, San Francisco has rebuilt. The reconstruction was all done to current earthquake construction codes.

Thinking about how San Francisco, so far from me in Central Texas, fell off my radar, I suspect that the Texas Gulf Coast has fallen off our nation's radar. Like San Francisco, the reconstruction is going to have to meet hurricane construction codes. Some houses will have to be elevated. Some will be bought out. But for houses behind the seawall, buyouts don't seem practical. Any homes that are bought out become public land forever. I don't quite see Galveston island becoming an uninhabited island like Padre Island National Seashore. But the population is going to be smaller for a long time. Before Ike about 57,000 people lived on the island. The estimate is that now it is 40,000 - almost a third have not returned. Even with large sums of money being allocated, rebuilding is going to take a long time.

Let's hope the tourists do come to the island and the other coastal areas during spring break and this summer. That tourist money will go a long way toward helping the area rebuild.

Murdoch's Bathhouse - Demolition Today - Rebuilding Soon!

Leigh Jones blog at the Galveston Daily News reported today that what was left of Murdoch's Bathhouse was demolished today. There are comments from the owners . . . I can't image how difficult it must have been to watch the big machines finish the job the hurricane started. So much work, so many dreams, so many people's happy memories . . .

But the good news - the demolition is the first step in the process of rebuilding! They are hoping to reopen by spring break 2010 - what a great way to celebrate their 100 year anniversary!

Good luck, best wishes for a speedy, uncomplicated construction job!

Galveston Update

I'm still reading the Galveston Daily News almost every day. Sometimes the news is good. (The UTMB hospital opened 200 beds this week - finally.) Sometimes the news is sad. (The Galveston Alternative School that will probably have to close due to lack of funds.)

But sometimes, there is something to good not to pass on. Dolph Tillotson's
101 Reasons to love living in Galveston County is one of those.

There are several things on that list that I have not done . . . you can be sure I'm going to try some of them next time I get to go to Galveston.

I'm finding this to be a wonderful newspaper to read every day . . . but then part of my heart is in Galveston . . .

Ike - Integrated Kinetic Energy and Hurricane Ike

The Galveston County News has an article today by their weather reporter, Stan Blazyk, about the IKE scale - worth reading. Hurricane Ike measured a 5.6 on the scale of 1-6 on the Integrated Kinetic Energy scale. (Another article I read said Hurricane Ike measured 5.4 - still larger than Katrina) Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma only measured 5.1. While I never found the reference in Weatherwise, he mentions that Hurricane Ike was designated as the largest hurricane ever in the North Atlantic Basin. Weatherwise also has an interesting article about a reporter who followed Gustav. Hunting Gustav: A Broadcast Meteorologist's Diary which noted that the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and Hurricane Ike both connected with cold fronts and re-strengthened over the midwest. It is an interesting read.

If you are interested in reading more about the Ike scale, Stan Blazyk's article provided two links. A Google search for the Ike Scale also came up with more interesting articles that have been written since Ike. I suspect that in the future, hurricane forecasters will be using the newer Ike scale in addition to the Saffir-Simpson scale to give a better sense of how much damage a given storm will produce.

Galveston Update

Since Hurricane Ike, I read the Galveston County News every day. It's been almost two months. During that time, our nation has faced an enormous economic crisis that came to a head during Hurricane Ike's visit. We've had a historic Presidential election that was hard fought and demanded everyone's time and attention. When we took our fall foliage photo trip, I heard tales from people in Ohio and Kentucky who were so surprised that Hurricane Ike had brought damage and lost power so far from the gulf.

When we were on the island right after Ike, I was impressed with how rapidly help arrived. Army helicopters were making rescues the morning after. Texas State Troopers were lined up to help keep order. HEB sent semi tractor trailer rigs with water and ice. The state of Texas had contracts with truckers who also brought in ice and water. FEMA vehicles, Wal-mart Emergency Team, fire departments from all over Texas had come to help. People who had remained in Galveston were having bar-b-ques to use the meat in their freezers. We could hear generators running at some homes. Some people had already pulled out the wet carpet and padding and they were on the street ready to be hauled away. Some of the historic houses already had water remediation contractors checking things out. National Guard soldiers were checking homes for victims and engineers were already assessing damage. When we left as we drove up I-45, we saw the army of utility cherry picker trucks that had come to restore electricity. While there were complaints (aren't there always), I left Galveston knowing that already things were getting going.

Of course, the bad news was that the Mayor had decided not to let residents return to start their own cleanup. Yes, port-a-potties are unsightly, but . . . I can't help but wonder if people had been allowed in (as was the norm before) quicker, if the damage costs would have been less for a large number of people. Some of the less affluent folk were not even allowed back into their units to salvage belongings that might have survived (plates, jewelry, things that don't mold, mildew or rust.) I know the army has big trucks that carry potable water - I think it would have been possible to let people back in so that they could at least inspect their property and do damage control quickly.

As I've read the news every day, I'm impressed by the strong will that many businesses have to get their business cleaned up, restocked, and open again. Many businesses are open, there are grocery stores, restaurants, hotels that are ready for business. The hotels are full, but as the FEMA vouchers run out, that may not continue.

But Galveston is out of sight, out of mind. People either think that everything is "back to normal" or they think the entire city was wiped out. Neither is true. At the time, I was amazed at how many residences behind the seawall looked so normal. I am amazed now that there was so much damage that was not easily visible in just a casual drive through. I wonder how many homes will be torn down either due to the amount of damage or because they were more than 50% destroyed and cannot be repaired without being elevated to the new flood guidelines. I was glad to hear that homes older than 50 years may qualify as "historic" and will be able to rebuilt even if the damage is over 50%. I grieve and worry about homeowners whose damage may have been 60%, the insurance will pay 60%, but the building codes for the flood insurance require that they be destroyed. Some of those homeowners will only receive the 60% which may not pay off the mortgage. They'll have a mortgage with no home to live in. The Small Business Administration may provide loans, but now is not the time to be trying to get a mortgage.

The picture is really mixed right now. I've heard that Murdoch's Bathhouse will be allowed to rebuild (Hurrah!!!!), but the cost seems astronomical to me. Some folks are working hard and trying to get on with their lives. For others, they are caught in a nightmare. Their homes are unliveable. FEMA assistance is running out. Some having been living in a communal tent for the last few weeks and have been moved from one tent to another. Temporary housing trailers ahave been delayed because no one can figure out where to put them on the island. In an ideal world, the this type of housing would be temporary and would need to be removed before the next hurricane season. This is not an ideal world. So . . . the temporary trailers have not yet arrived to alleviate the housing shortage.

The University of Texas Medical Branch was heavily damaged from the storm. They have just announced the loss of 3800 jobs. They are talking about downsizing the hospital and perhaps moving many of the functions of the medical branch to Austin.

The taxing authorities on the island are worried about the loss of tax revenue. While they could have reappraised based upon the value for the months before the hurricane and for the value of the property after the hurricane, they are not going to reappraise for this tax year. However, next year, they will have to reevaluate based upon the current value or lack thereof.

There are valid concerns that over the last few years that the rising property values and rising taxes, that the middle class were being priced out of Galveston. Galveston's low income housing was hard hit. It will still take time for the business to reopen and provide the job that these folks sorely need. Low income families lack the resources to replace their lost belongings, to relocate, or to afford the hotel rooms after the FEMA money runs out.

Galveston has been a unique place because it has been a living community will all incomes represented rather than just a resort community. Only time will tell if that will be true after Ike.

I have not been back to Galveston since Ike, but Bill Crider has been down there and posted some photos. When we were there the streets around the Strand were empty, when Bill was there they were filled with debris from the businesses.

Martha Wells has also blogged about the current state of affairs. Not a pretty picture.

Now, I realize that this has been a long blog, but this article from the Fort Worth Weekly is a must read.

I don't know what my little blog can do to help keep Galveston and its issues in people's hearts and minds. Perhaps the people who think we should not have towns on barrier islands are correct. But I've been visiting Galveston island for a very long time. It is a special place. I think we need to find better ways to help the people who are trying to rebuild.

Galveston Island State Park

I can't remember the first time I visited Galveston Island State Park, but I suspect it was when my kids were very little. I do remember that we visited before Hurricane Alicia in 1983. I'm pretty sure we stayed there in our van camper. The first time we went, I remember thinking how tall the dunes were, you could not see the beach or waves from the camping and picnic areas. However, I vividly remember going back to Galveston Island State Park after Hurricane Alicia. The storm had swept all the dunes away. There was a beautiful view of the waves and beach from the campground! The dunes were totally gone! That was amazing to me at the time and something I didn't forget.

When I was thinking about the "before" pictures I wanted to take, Galveston Island State Park was high on the list because I did remember what Alicia had done. Unfortunately, we had been running the air conditioner in the car as we drove from the east side of the island to the park on the West End. My camera lenses kept fogging up, giving these photos a dreamy look. It may be appropriate . . . Hurricane Ike did a lot more damage than Alicia!

When I got to the park the morning before Ike, it was already closed. Maintenance workers were emptying trash and cleaning up. I ducked under the barricades and walked over to get my photos. You can see the shelters on the right.



Here is a closer view of one of the shelters. Note how high the dunes are behind them. You certainly can't see the water. However, when you look at the photos after Ike, there is not only a clear view, the shelters have been badly damaged.



There were two dune fences used to help keep the dunes in place - one on either side. The dunes were covered with vegetation that also helps keep dunes from shifting and being washed away. The flowers were blooming, it was a pretty sight.



I walked over to the walkway over the dunes. You can see part of the dune fence.



The Texas Parks and Wildlife department has posted photos of Galveston Island State Park after Ike.

Here are some of the ones that really give you a good idea of what this powerful storm did:

The "new" beach

Damaged shelters

The new view

Debris piles

More debris

The bathhouse

This park is close enough to the Houston metropolitan area, that hopefully it will be rebuilt . . . but for now the the official Galveston Island State park site says the park is closed until further notice. According to the October 1st Texas Parks and Wildlife Press release most of the state parks affected by Hurricane Ike are back up and running. Obviously, Sea Rim and Galveston Island sustained severe damage. It will take longer to rebuild. I've also heard that Sea Rim may not open back up as a state park become a state wildlife area instead. That makes me sad . . . I hope that the state will find the funds to rebuild the facilities at Galveston Island State Park. We need our state parks!

P.S. Ike Storm Chasers

One more link: more storm chaser reports and photos.

This link takes you to a page where several storm chasers who came to Galveston for Ike reported. Amazing . . .

Several of them also weathered the storm in their vehicles. Not my cup of tea, but they do collect data to help predictions for future storms.

Hurricane Ike's Science Researchers

It took awhile for me to relocate the article about the storm researchers who braved Ike's wind and storm surge.
This Galveston Daily News article about Rachel Humphrey who had come from Colorado to do storm research has just amazed me. I can not imagine weathering a storm like Ike on a truck (however large and sturdy) on the causeway. While I did think it wise that they parked where they could get to higher ground, the life raft as a last resort sounded very scary to me in the midst of a hurricane with such a powerful storm surge. The other reports say the truck was 35 feet above sea level - that's a little better, but still, talk about being in harm's way!

I'm sure that we took photos of one of these big research Doppler on Wheels trucks, but I did not bring my master set of photos from Ike with us on our current trip. Here is a Photo of Doppler on Wheels from the Center for Severe Weather Research site.

Here is a link to the Information gathered by the DOW as well as another article about the storm researchers in Galveston

This link to the Storm Chaser website has another set of dramatic storm photos and stories of storm chasers - including photos of the rescue of the men who weathered the storm at the very damaged fishing pier.

Inaccurate Ike headlines

The Associated Press has an article today that talks about people who died due to Ike. While I am more than glad to read and grieve with the families over this loss of life - I hate the headline:"Islanders who insisted on staying died in Ike." For one thing, the death count from Ike is still officially very low given the size and unusual strength of this Category 2 storm. On Galveston Island, the count of people who stayed has been put in the wide range of 2000-15,000 people. Most of these people survived. However, I've seen a report that said there were 940 rescues made the morning after the storm. But I do find this headline to be very misleading.

However, there are still a number of people who are missing throughout the most severely damaged areas and many may never be found. This story does an excellent job of telling the story of some of the people who did die because they either did not evacuate soon enough or because they did not evacuate at all. And it is a good warning for people to be more careful the next time a major storm heads ashore.

USS Flagship Hotel - Pleasure Pier

The earliest roller coaster near the future site of Pleasure Pier seems to be one built in the 1880's. News reports talk about complaints made because it frightened horses pulling carriages with ladies and children. 6000 feet of lumber, one ton of railroad iron, 200 lbs 6 and 7 inch bolts, and four cars all in working order was mentioned in an advertisement when it went up for sale. The final report, the City Railroad company removed the roller coaster because it was never a success and was always an eyesore.

I think this link is an old postcard from the early 1900's showing the roller coaster that I think is Mountain Speedway. It was said to be " lit up at night like a city blazing in the darkness." Here are two other links to a different postcards of the Mountain Speedway and the Galveston seawall.

I found still another roller coaster photo supposedly from 1909.

Back in 1912, forward thinking city promoters dreamed of an amusement pier similar to the one in Atlantic City. Time passed by, but in 1931, plans were drawn up for a 700 foot pier with an auditorium. Construction did not start until right before World War II.

Pleasure Pier
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was started by Herbert Hoover in 1932 (think shades of today's financial chaos.) From 1932 until 1941 it disbursed $9.465 billion. I can't imagine what that dollar amount would be in today's currency. The RFC loaned $1,100,000 that was combined with $350,000 from the city that began construction. World War II caused another delay. By 1944, the pier was almost completed, but it did not fully open until after the war in 1948. The new pier was four blocks long with a ballroom, an outdoor theater, a snack bar, and a T-head fishing area. This post card of Pleasure Pier ca 1945 gives us a glimpse of how grand it was.

Unfortunately, it was not profitable and Galveston defaulted on its payments earning the name: "Galveston's White Elephant."

Hurricane Carla damaged the buildings but not the structure of the pier in 1961.

Houston businessman James E. Lyon negotiated for the pier in 1963, paying the government $179,000 for the defaulted bonds (amazing with the accumulated interest these bonds had a face value of $2,300,000.) I don't quite understand the financing here, but Galveston gave Lyon $2,000,000 in new bonds in exchange for those old bonds and issued another $1,800,000 bonds to Lyon. Lyon agreed to pay Galveston $185,000 annual rent for forty years which would pay off the bonds. When the bonds were paid off, Galveston would own the hotel. With these funds, the Flagship Hotel was built. (Information from "Galveston A History" by David G. McComb)

Each room had an ocean view with great sunrise and sunset vistas . . .

The hotel has fallen on some hard times. In 2004, the operator of the hotel, Daniel Yeh filed for bankruptcy. He has been convicted for fraud with regard to lodging for Hurricane Katrina victims. The more recent reviews are not that favorable siting the hotel as dated and in need of renovation. But even so, many reviewers enjoyed their stay in spite of the poor conditions because of the great views and the pleasure of being over the ocean.

The damage to the Flagship from Hurricane Ike was worse on the eastern side. It is quite possible that when the Balinese Room, Murdoch's and Hooters were demolished that there was a lot of flying debris - or that the structures or large parts of them were airborne and hit the Flagship. Note the damage to the front facade and the entire first floor. To my laymen's eyes, the pier structure still looks sound and the damage seems to be to the facades of the hotels rather than the internal supporting walls.



The auto ramps were completely washed out. I am guessing that the wave action hitting against the seawall and bouncing back would be more damaging than just the incoming waves. Hopefully the pilings under the hotel are still structurally sound. I believe that one of the other hurricanes also damaged these ramps.



While there is damage to the sidewalk area of the seawall here and the rip rap, (the large boulders used to protect vertical walls like Galveston's seawall from being undermined by wave action) most of the seawall itself is intact. (There was damage to the seawall on the far west end of the island from the storm surge. That has happened in other hurricanes and is repairable.)



Tilman Fertitta bought the Flagship Hotel and pier from the City of Galveston. Before Hurricane Ike, the plan was to restore the hotel and the pier. Planned improvements included a wooden roller coaster and a Ferris wheel. The transition of management of the Flagship Hotel from Daniel Yeh to Landry's should happen shortly if it has not already.

According to their website, the Flagship hotel hopes to reopen in January. I've been a property owner at the San Luis, one of Fertitta's properties in Galveston for about ten years. His demand for quality, high levels of customer service, and his history of success make me think that the Flagship Hotel will rise to new levels of greatness under his management. I look forward to seeing what he does with this amazing property.

Hurricane Ike - Why They Stay?

Newsweek's article, Riders on the Storm, has some interesting points on why people chose to remain in spite of the mandatory evacuation order.

As I've said before, I suspect that there will be people who evacuated from IKE this time that will stay next time because it took so long for the officials to allow them back on the island to start dealing with the muck and to minimize mold damage.

Many of the folks who stayed through the storm are glad they did - while they may have had water in their home, they themselves were safe in upper stories. I personally would have been terrified if strong waves of water was swirling under my home, if I didn't know how high the water would rise in the dark, or if I was in a wood frame home where the sound of the howling winds would have terrified me wondering if the house could take it. Certainly the high rises seemed to have been "safe" places. And the seawall did its job sheltering the city from the high, strong waves. However, there are certainly stories of people whose places were not "safe" whose survival is miraculous. And, while the death count is still extremely low given the severity of this storm, they are still searching for bodies in the wreckage and finding some.

I can hope it will be another 25 years before another storm this powerful hits the Texas coast. The survivors of Ike won't forget which lesson they learned - better to evacuate or better to stay.

Sea Rim State Park

My husband first discovered Sea Rim State Park on one his loops back from a science fiction convention back in the 1980's. He could not wait to bring the rest of the family. And we were truly charmed.

We came to Sea Rim from the Galveston ferry when highway 87 still existed. It was a cool route because the waves came up so close to the road (eventually washing it out). Sea Rim is out in the "boonies" far from the city lights. We loved the hermit crabs that were present in so many of the shells. The bath house was great for rinsing off the kids after their romps in the sand and in the waves. (I have not ever been successful in keeping sand out of my bathing suit when swimming in the ocean.)

One of the unique aspects of Sea Rim State Park was the marsh unit. Crabbing near the boat ramp provided several meals for us. I have always wanted to go back with a canoe and explore the marshes across the road from the beach unit. I also remember the great nature trail, the Gambusia - a boardwalk through the marsh.

Henry has visited Sea Rim more recently than I. At that time, with a four wheel drive jeep you could still drive from High Island to Sea Rim, but it was a very deserted drive. It seems to me he ran across some skinny dippers in the surf and on the beach. But they were so far from "civilization" that they really weren't expecting visitors.

Hurricane Rita did sufficient damage that Sea Rim has been closed the last three years. The reports I've heard are that it was just getting ready to reopen.

From my Texbirds digest last night, I found links to see photos of what happened at Sea Rim.

Aerial of Sea Rim Headquarters

Sea Rim State Park Headquarters

The bathrooms This one is really sad, because when the kids were little and we were in a truck camper, the shower area was large, with plenty of stalls for getting everyone clean after a day at the beach.

I suspect that the boardwalk through the marsh has also sustained extensive damage as well as the bird blinds and camping platforms. What a shame!

With today's economic crisis, I fear it will be a long time before Sea Rim is rebuilt. If we really are headed into a new "Great Depression," I think that it would be a great idea to take public money and fund new jobs rebuilding places like Sea Rim. But Texas has had a hard time funding its state parks in recent years. I'm glad I have the memories and I'll pray that some day other young families will get to experience Sea Rim.

Galveston's Gaido's Seafood

I am glad to say that Gaido's Seafood Restaurant and Casey's Restaurants fared pretty well during Hurricane Ike. While Gaido's Seaside Inn had significant roof damage, the restaurants escaped with only minor damage. Even the giant crab clung tightly to its perch.

Gaido's was able to host a shrimp boil for the emergency responders last week. Their goal: " to boost morale one plate at a time." From firefighters, policemen, electricians, soldiers from the National Guard and city officials, they all enjoyed music, spicy shrimp, potatoes, and corn-a blessed respite from the hard work of cleaning up and caring for Galveston. I hear that they even served with all their white tablecloths!

We first learned about Gaido's from one of Debra's riding teachers. It has become one of our "must" restaurants when we go to Galveston. I love the menu that gives you automatic multiple course menus with your choice of fish or shrimp. We have salad, gumbo, fish (of our choice of type and preparation) with crab meat sauce, and chocolate mouse. They even have two portion size choices!

Gaido's first opened in 1911 at Murdoch's Bathhouse. Still family owned, the recipes are family recipes. Today, beautiful tables with white tablecloths set formally give you great views of the gulf while you dine.

Casey's Seafood Cafe boasts a 50 year history. Less formal, but still great food.

Casey's is already back open with a limited menu. Gaido's reports that it will reopen on Saturday!

Galveston - Why They stayed?

There seem to be about 15,000 people still on Galveston Island. The numbers have shifted as to what percentage stayed. At one point I heard there were 2,000 people left on the island. A native (BOI - born on the island) thought that 80% had stayed. I talked with quite a few people before and during the hurricane. We have also been asked several times why we were in Galveston.

The morning before the hurricane came in, I talked with a man who was enjoying the sunrise at the east end of the island where I was doing sunrise photos. He had lived along the coast all his life, weathering Carla and Alicia. He and his wife evacuated for Rita. He lived in a neighborhood near the causeway and believed that his home sat high enough to be out of danger from rising water. When I talked with him he was not planning to evacuate for several reasons. First and foremost, the miserable experience he remembered from evacuating from Rita. His wife is handicapped and he felt that the evacuation would be hard on her. I mentioned that they were doing a lot better with the evacuation this time. Fuel trucks were providing fuel. We had been through Biloxi, Mississippi in the spring. I told him about the mansions that had been entirely demolished by the storm. His last comments were that he would ask his wife, and if she wanted to evacuate he would take her.

I hope he lived here:



rather than a block away here:



The area where he described where his house was was on Offut Bayou which was certainly hit hard. I find myself hoping that he and his wife did evacuate.

While waiting in line at the Subway for lunch, I overheard a young woman talk about why she wasn't evacuating. She felt that she could not afford to do so. I knew there were buses taking people who could not afford to evacuate, but I don't know why she did not consider this an option. To evacuate, you have to put gas in your car, figure out where you're going to go, where you're going to stay, and look at how much it is going to cost. If you have family in an area that is out of harm's way, then you're just looking at gas. However, you may have to find a hotel. Those get booked up fast, so you may have to drive for a long way just to find an available hotel. For lower middle income families this is a real issue. Depending upon how long they will have to stay gone, an evacuation can easily chew up 300-500 or more. Small price to pay if your home is going to be wiped out and a death trap. But if you have already weathered several storms in your location safely, then the costs of evacuation are going to be very real.

These houses behind the seawall probably had water in them, but people probably survived in houses like these. There is probably mud and silt in these homes and mildew and mold will be issues. It was difficult in many places to find a high water line. However, had Ike hit Galveston differently these houses would have had more damage from the water.



People who have already lived through hurricanes have an idea how to prepare. They fill their tubs with water. They stock up on non perishable food items and water. Some had generators ready to power their refrigerators and freezers. Their houses are well boarded up with plywood or storm shutters. Some of these hardy souls stayed behind so that they could begin the clean up immediately after the storm - minimizing the damage to their homes and businesses. Within a couple of days, they had the carpets and padding out on the street ready for trash and debris pickup. They were helping their neighbors remove trees and tree branches. They were cooking outside on their grills the food that would soon go bad without electricity. I saw men checking the historic boats in the port for damage and others inspecting some of the large historic houses. I hate to say it, but some stayed behind to protect their property from looters. We saw a few signs on garage doors: "Looters will be shot!"

I heard one lady interviewed on TV who seemed to believe that the storm would not come in. She believed that prayers would keep the storm from hitting Galveston. I have to say I do believe that God heard prayers because this storm could have done so much more damage behind the seawall. But the storm did come in, many people's homes and businesses were destroyed. The coastal areas without a seawall for protection had areas of total destruction. I hope she was in a safe place.

Some people tried to ride out the storm in places that had survived other hurricanes. The 91st street fishing pier was higher than the projected storm surge. It had survived other hurricanes. Three people "thought" this would be a safe place to take shelter.



It was a two story building, the bottom story is gone. Yes, these people survived the storm. I understand they were rescued the next morning. But I know the emergency workers had to make tough decisions during the storm. Was there a safe way to rescue these people without putting other lives at risk? I can not imagine hearing the building being ripped apart and hanging on upstairs, knowing I had made a mistake in my choice of shelters. The reports say these people were rescued the next day after the hurrincane had past. I don't think anyone died, but what an ordeal to live through.



All of the pier structures were severely damaged. The Flagship Hotel was badly damaged but survived. This fishing pier only partially survived the storm.

Some people stayed behind to do their jobs. A newspaper reporter stayed behind in her 2nd story apartment in the Strand. The story below them was flooded, but their apartment was not.

One block still looks "normal;"




A block or so over shows debris from the flood waters:



I know that some of the people who stayed behind got scared as the waters began to rise in their homes. Some were able to ride out the storm in their second floor rooms or their attics. Some had to call for help and faithfully, police and firemen risked their lives to bring these folks to safety.


City workers stayed at the San Luis to be ready to start the clean up. Firemen, policemen, paramedics and life guards stayed behind to rescue people in distress, deal with emergency issues, patrol the streets, etc. A small number of employees of hotels like the San Luis stayed behind to serve - their few guests and the police and emergency workers. Reporters and other journalists flocked to the island to report the story for the national news media. Scientists who research these cyclonic storms came to take measurements to understand these gigantic storms better.

There were many rescues the morning after the storm. Ambulances and fire trucks kept coming and going along the seawall. So far the death count is low - more people seem to have died after the storm from such things as running a generator indoors. But in the worst hit parts of the Galveston area - the West End and Point Bolivar, it is too early to know what the truth death count is. They have completed the search for survivors.

There were many reasons people stayed on the island. Some seem more valid than others. Some regretted their decision to stay and will probably choose to evacuate the next time. Some who evacuated are regretting their decision because they have not been allowed back on the island to see what happened to their home and business or to start the cleanup.

P.S. I've been reading the descriptions of the areas on the West End of Galveston Island and Bolivar Penninsula and High Island. These are areas that did not have a protective seawall to protect against the tremendous storm surge. The debris piles from Bolivar are inland and have yet to be searched for human remains. We saw the large numbers of dump trucks and front end loaders of all sizes that were headed to the West End. While I do have a better understanding of why people stay for some of these hurricanes, not all locations are equally "safe." My hope and prayer is that the final death count for Hurricane Ike does not rise dramatically from people who stayed in locations that were truly in harms way.

Hurricane Ike's Aftermath

I've been mainly focused on the Galveston area because that is where I have the most intimate knowledge - we've spent time there regularly over the last 30 years But Hurricane Ike hit far more than just Galveston. There was storm surge as far south as Corpus Christi and as far east as Louisiana. The storm surge around Galveston Bay did a lot of damage. In the news this morning are complaints because there is still no electricity after 5 days in a community in Ohio!

Hurricane Ike is going to have some long term economic impact on the Gulf Coast. Half of Galveston's tax base was wiped out in this storm. Because most of the damage was caused by the storm surge, much of the damage will not be insured. Windstorm policies do not cover damage from the storm surge and flooding. Many property owners who were closest to the beach will have other issues. Depending upon how much sand is redeposited over the next 12 months, many land owners will lose their land as well without compensation because of the 1959 Texas Open Beaches Act.

It may be easy to say things like: They should not build next to the ocean anyway . . . they're rich, they'll rebuild anyway . . .
The reality is that these are resources that are permanently lost. Economic wealth provides jobs, spends money that support local small business companies. I suspect that more mortgages that will not be repaid adding to another national crisis.

In the affected coastal communities, each day that businesses must stay closed removes dollars from the economy.

Farm and grazing land near the coast will be impacted in addition to the fishing and shrimp industry.

The Dillards at the Mall of the Mainland is already reporting that it will not reopen that store which sustained millions of dollars of uninsured damage.

Far too many people will have lost everything they own. It may take months before their jobs are restored or before their business can reopen. I hope and pray that in spite of the national financial crisis, that we as a nation will find ways to support these people until they can get on their feet again.

I truly believe that humans are resilient. I do believe that these coastal communities will rebuild. But this is a blow that will take years to recover from.

United Way's After the Storm

The Greater Houston Area United Way has put together an excellent After the Storm Resource Guide.

I went through it and think it has some excellent information. It includes how to deal with the emotional aftermath as well as how to get the physcial resources - food, shelter, etc if your home was damaged or destroyed.

If you or your loved ones went through this storm, evacuated, or had homes destroyed, this is an excellent resource.

Ways to Help Ike Evacuees in the Austin Area

From the Austin American Statesman

How to Help in the Austin Area

Volunteer Opportunities Austin Area

Galveston's Murdoch Bathhouse

People who live and work in coastal cities along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic know that hurricanes and hurricane damage are just part of life there.

The history of one of the structures totally destroyed by Ike is testimony to the tenacity of coastal dwellers. The first Murdoch's Bathhouse was constructed in the late 1800's dirctly on the sand. The famous 1900 hurricane totally destroyed the first one. Quickly rebuilt in 1901, it provided rental bathing suits and showers for the tourists. However, storms in 1909 and 1915 necessitated rebuilding each time.

William J. Guyette Sr. began his business, the Guyette Gift Shop in 1910 inside Murdoch's providing souvenirs. The original Guido's Seafood started in the 1910 Murdoch's Bathhouse building.

Fifty one years later, Hurricane Carla struck the Texas coast between Port O'Conor and Port Lavaca. Carla was classified as an unusually large Category 4 hurricane, the largest hurricane on recored in the Atlantic basin. Port Lavaca had 170 mph wind gusts. Of the 26 tornados spawned, an F4 tornado ripped through downtown Galveston. Even though the eye of the storm was 100 miles away from Galveston, buildings unprotected by the seawall were severely damaged by the storm surge. Near the heads of the bays the storm surge was measured at 22 feet and in places penetrated 10 miles inland. Murdoch's Bathhouse was demolished. When rebuilt, it was raised several feet above the seawall and moved over the Gulf of Mexico on sturdy wood pilings.

1983's Hurricane Alicia caused minor repairs to the pier, but Murdoch's continued operating by members of the extended Guyette family. It was enlarged in 2005 using original piling that once held Murdoch's Bathhouse following State of Texas rules that do no allow new piers to be built in Texas.



From the Murdoch's Pier website you can get an idea of what was destroyed in only a moment of time. I talked with someone who had actually witnessed the destruction. He lives a block away from the seawall. He heard a noise and looked out the window to see the Balinese room rise off its pilings and roll over onto Murdoch's and the Hooter's Restaurant. Apparently Hooter's exploded because he saw a blue glow as it was demolished.

IKE - Integrated Kinetic Energy

I find it to be almost spooky that a new system of rating the strength of hurricanes has the acronym "IKE" Integrated Kinetic Energy, Dr. Mark Powells measuring system. When you read the Wunderground's Jeff Masters blog about Hurricane Ike, this system that measures the energy of the storm beyond just the wind speed would have been a better predictor of the damage that was likely from Hurricane Ike. Under the Category 1-5 Saffir-Simpson Scale, Hurricane Ike was only a strong Category 2, but the damage was much worse than a "normal" Category 2 storm would produce. Plus the damage area is much larger geographically than a "normal" Category 2 storm.

The weather forecasters issued good warnings about what this storm could do. But I bet that this new "IKE" system will gain popularity for more reasons than one after the passage of Hurricane Ike.

Bolivar

Neither Henry or I have gone to bed. I'm ready the stories of the people on the Bolivar Penninsula. Henry is trying to post his pictures - I think so that maybe some people who have evacuated can get a better idea what happened in their part of town.

The hurricane came in quicker than expected - and Bolivar is devastated. People who were planning to evacuate waited too long. The people in small towns in Texas tend to be really close to each other. When an entire community loses their homes - it amplifies the grief.

Being insulated from the news, I had not heard the stories. I'm just now reading them. Most people in Galveston don't have a way to find out what has happened much beyond their own block or neighborhood.

Henry and I were truly in a "safe" place. But so many others weathered a night of terror from the high winds, the rising waters, and the force of the storm surge.

But we have heard the stories of rescues made during the storm.

I so hope the death count does not rise over the course of the next few days.