ATL: IKE Discussion

[Brent]

Something you don't always think about as the water starts to recede... this is from Orange, Texas - east of Beaumont.




Dozens of caskets that surfaced from grave sites sit along a fence line at the Hollywood Community Cemetary, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, in Orange, Texas. Dozens of caskets floated to the surface due to the flood waters caused by Hurricane Ike.
Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press

Yikes.

[Steve]

>>Matt, I don't want to turn this into something political, but Washington has the right to do whatever they want to do once it's ratified by Congress and the Supreme Court says its Constitutional...

While I understand the sentiments, we don't live in a nanny state. Washington should never take a step to demand where anyone comes and goes (realizing the libertarian in me is speaking out here). At the same time, no one should be whining if they got caught with their proverbial pants down. They'll have to lump it for a while.

>>Your rights end where mine start.

This is a cliche' that belies the fabric of what is Americana. Your rights are the same as mine. JMO and off the politics.

Steve

[CrazyC83]

The southwest side of the Houston area seems to have taken the least amount of damage. Not surprising since tall pines begin to grow north of I-10, while the SW region is naturally a prairie.

Also the western suburbs were outside the eyewall, so they probably only got about 60-70 mph sustained winds.

[N2Storms]

[quote="Steve"]>>Have the military come in and kick everyone out... it's about life or death. Especially where you see families with young kids defying common sense. Basically have buses come into the locations before it strikes and make everyone board them and get out

1) No. This is America. You are free to do as you please even if that means you make an occasional stupid decision.

2) Chertoff has been in way over his head since his first promotion. The guy is terrible.

3) For those of you bagging on people for not leaving, there is a thread I haven't yet looked at as to why some people don't evacuate. Top of that list should be economic reasons. I had the wherewithall to cruise around for a week on either end of Gustav. Many people do not. The economy overall is terrible. Foreclosures are in unchartered territories. Credit debit is still really high. I recommend you speak and act for yourselves rather than complain about what other people did or didn't do. I fully understand the mindset of not wanting to leave when it might take you 10 hours to go less than 200 miles, you might have an old car or truck, perhaps someone in your house is sick, work won't let you off, etc. You've got to make the best decision you can. Sometimes in hindsight, that decision was a mistake. However, just like the majority of people in SELA and SWMS weren't looters or drags on the economy, I'm sure it's pretty much the same for the Triangle and Galveston areas. People work hard, pay their taxes, keep their insurance and play by the rules. These are the people who deserve a little break especially after the misfortune of a devastating tropical system regardless of the strength.

JMO, but the right one.

Steve[/quote]


People certainly have the right to make the decision whether to stay or evacuate, I understand the mindset of some of those who stay but I was under the impression that there was plenty of free transportation available to evacuate those to Shelters where there is food, drink and medical care available. If someone chooses to stay that's their prerogative but I'm sick and tired of hearing people chastise the Local, State and Federal Govt. Agencies for not being more effective in their relief efforts. What about those brave volunteers who risk their lives to rescue those who excercise poor judement. FEMA is perfect and there is no way they will ever be because after a catastrophic event like a Hurricane, Earthquake etc. it's just not possible to be able to react to all of the emergent situations that occur. They have gotten much better in the last couple of years and there is still probably room for improvement but I doubt they will ever be able to measure up to your expectations.

[Sanibel]

Matt, I don't want to turn this into something political, but Washington has the right to do whatever they want to do once it's ratified by Congress and the Supreme Court says its Constitutional. When the government said that a "mandatory evacuation" was in effect, everyone, every single person should have left Galveston and the surrounding areas. If that had happened, now the areas affected by the hurricane would have already started the clean up and not the search and rescue. Your rights end where mine start. No one has the right of disobeying the law and then put the life the rescue workers in the line when they have to go under bad weather conditions to save your life.

Um, have to disagree. The reason America is America is because after all is said and done the American people rule Congress and the Supreme Court and have the ultimate final say. It's what makes us different form parlimentarian authoritarian states. While I think it is extremely stupid to ignore the obvious danger involved in ignoring such a warning sometimes the price we have to pay for living in a free country is things like this. Too often authoritarian countries use safety as an excuse to enforce non-democratic powers. I'm wary of those who stress the responsibility of the individual to take care of themselves while denying social services yet then call for draconian punishments when people actually do exercise those given freedoms and independent responsibilities.

[HURAKAN]

USA: Texas struggles to recover from Hurricane Ike

- Relief supplies arrive after delays

- Texas launches biggest rescue effort in its history

- U.S. crude oil prices hit 7-month lows

By Chris Baltimore

HOUSTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Ice, bottled water and other vital supplies poured into storm-struck Texas on Monday as the nerve center for the U.S. energy industry struggled without electricity to recover from Hurricane Ike's mighty punch.

About 2,000 people had been plucked from flooded areas by helicopters and boats in the largest rescue effort in the state's history as searchers scoured hard-hit places like the devastated island city of Galveston. That city was shredded when the hurricane made landfall on Saturday morning.

More than 4 million people, several refineries and many businesses and gas stations remained without power but government agencies will distribute ice, water and packaged meals from tractor-trailers at eight stations around Houston.

The relief roll-out appeared to defuse tensions that flared between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local officials after Houston Mayor Bill White pledged to hold FEMA accountable for delivering on its commitments.

Widespread power outages were the key hindrance to the region's recovery. Electricity is the lifeblood to Gulf coast refineries that process about a quarter of the nation's fuel.

Power provider CenterPoint Energy reported it had restored power to 500,000 customers but about 1.6 million remained in the dark, including big Houston-based corporations. Authorities urged residents to boil water after Ike compromised the area's water distribution system.

U.S. President George W. Bush will view storm-damaged areas in Texas on Tuesday. He still is trying to rebuild his image as a disaster manager after he was widely criticized for a botched relief effort in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

On the barrier island of Galveston, which took the brunt of Ike's impact, a once-quaint historic downtown area -- where celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Howard Hughes once held court -- lay under a layer of foul smelling mud laced with sewage.

'LIKE A WAR ZONE'

"It looks like a war zone. Everything is gone," said Susan Rybick, a retiree driving the sea front with her husband. "It's heartbreaking."

Ike killed at least three lives on Galveston -- scene of the worst U.S. weather disaster in the form of the 1900 hurricane that killed more than 8,00 people. Reports of fatalities around the region trickled in as rescue workers arrived. Ike also killed one person in Pasadena, the suburb's mayor said.

Other news agencies reported about 30 storm-related deaths as Ike weakened but continued through the nation's midsection, but those were not confirmed by government agencies.

Houston, the fourth biggest U.S. city and home to a booming economy thanks to energy demand, was still under a dusk-to-dawn curfew due to lack of power.

White said all city employees were expected to show up to work on Monday but most corporations were telling people to stay home.

The city's two main airports were to resume partial operations on Monday but with debris still littering its streets and windows blown out of office buildings, it could be weeks before a city of more than 2 million people returns to business as usual.

The U.S. crude oil market shrugged off supply concerns connected to Ike and dropped about $7 to a seven-month low of $94.13 a barrel on Monday. Turmoil on Wall Street and early signs that Hurricane Ike had spared key U.S. energy infrastructure were behind the fall.

Ike caused minimal damage to oil refineries along the Gulf coast and companies are preparing to restart operations at the 14 oil refineries in Texas and Louisiana that remained shut due to Ike, the Energy Department said on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor on Galveston, Erwin Seba in Port Arthur, and Eileen O'Grady, Anna Driver and Bruce Nichols in Houston; Editing by Mary Milliken and Bill Trott)

[Steve]

>>If someone chooses to stay that's their prerogative but I'm sick and tired of hearing people chastise the Local, State and Federal Govt. Agencies for not being more effective in their relief efforts.

I hear you and wouldn't deny there is a merit to your argument. I didn't stay around for Katrina, so I wasn't in that boat. I did, however, have a problem with figuring out what I was supposed to do with a family of 5 without a whole lot of extra cash and insurance companies who were stonewalling you at every turn. Finally got flood and hazard adjusters out in early October with proceeds receieved just before Christmas and a camper on my front lawn by December 21st. FEMA was inept at bringing bottled water to New Orleans, but again, I wasn't there and certainly wasn't complaining about my own misfortune because I had opted to stay.

>>What about those brave volunteers who risk their lives to rescue those who excercise poor judement. FEMA is perfect and there is no way they will ever be because after a catastrophic event like a Hurricane, Earthquake etc. it's just not possible to be able to react to all of the emergent situations that occur. They have gotten much better in the last couple of years and there is still probably room for improvement but I doubt they will ever be able to measure up to your expectations

Props out for all volunteers who are able to make a difference. As for FEMA, I don't have a lot of expectations. What I do expect is that they'll be ready to answer the proverbial call on behalf of the United States Government in conjunction with charities, church groups, civic organizations and everyone else taking part in the relief effort. I don't expect their director to be dining at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and unable to be disturbed by one of his field-mice who just so happened to be dining on an MRE in the Superdome. Like all facets of government, I just want to see some efficiency. I'm paying plenty of tax dollars to feed and rebuild Iraq without a whole lot of red tape. Why it's not better here is a mystery. Again, American taxpayers who play by the rules and find themselves in harm's way should be able to look to the monster they are feeding for a bag of ice or case of water. It doesn't seem that complicated to me.



Steve

[Ivanhater]

>>If someone chooses to stay that's their prerogative but I'm sick and tired of hearing people chastise the Local, State and Federal Govt. Agencies for not being more effective in their relief efforts.

I hear you and wouldn't deny there is a merit to your argument. I didn't stay around for Katrina, so I wasn't in that boat. I did, however, have a problem with figuring out what I was supposed to do with a family of 5 without a whole lot of extra cash and insurance companies who were stonewalling you at every turn. Finally got flood and hazard adjusters out in early October with proceeds receieved just before Christmas and a camper on my front lawn by December 21st. FEMA was inept at bringing bottled water to New Orleans, but again, I wasn't there and certainly wasn't complaining about my own misfortune because I had opted to stay.

>>What about those brave volunteers who risk their lives to rescue those who excercise poor judement. FEMA is perfect and there is no way they will ever be because after a catastrophic event like a Hurricane, Earthquake etc. it's just not possible to be able to react to all of the emergent situations that occur. They have gotten much better in the last couple of years and there is still probably room for improvement but I doubt they will ever be able to measure up to your expectations

Props out for all volunteers who are able to make a difference. As for FEMA, I don't have a lot of expectations. What I do expect is that they'll be ready to answer the proverbial call on behalf of the United States Government in conjunction with charities, church groups, civic organizations and everyone else taking part in the relief effort. I don't expect their director to be dining at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and unable to be disturbed by one of his field-mice who just so happened to be dining on an MRE in the Superdome. Like all facets of government, I just want to see some efficiency. I'm paying plenty of tax dollars to feed and rebuild Iraq without a whole lot of red tape. Why it's not better here is a mystery. Again, American taxpayers who play by the rules and find themselves in harm's way should be able to look to the monster they are feeding for a bag of ice or case of water. It doesn't seem that complicated to me.



Steve

[inda_iwall]

I saw someone tried to compare their experience with Hurricane Wilma to Hurricane Ike, until you have lost your home and community completely to storm surge, you have no idea what it is like. You lost some power and trees to Wilma, I mean come on. You still had a HOME, you had a dry bed, and in a few weeks all was pretty much back to normal. Comparing Wilma to storms like Ike, or Katrina, or Ivan, what a joke!! Do not ever tell that to someone who lost their whole way of life to a hurricane, that you can relate because one night you lost a tree and were without power for a day or so. If you do, do not be surprised if they take a swing at you. The ignorance of people to others feelings and tragedy can be mind-boggling to me.

[Kitesailor]

We're a little north of Cincinnati, about six miles away from the state park where the two motorcyclists died when the tree fell on them. The wind blew here for 3 straight hours - just on and on and on. Every time we opened the door, it was like being hit in the face with a huge soggy towel going 35 mph.

We were really lucky, just a couple of medium-sized trees and some very large branches down on our property. Right now we have construction supplies and debris piled all over the yard, including a stack of old windows inside the carport, which would have been really dangerous if it got airborne. We never thought to try to secure any of it, because, well, we live in Ohio. Doh!

Still 600,000 people without power in the metro area now, 24 hours after Ike's remnants came through. Our little stretch of road got power back early this morning, but most of the town still doesn't have any. The grocery store is closed, the gas stations are closed, all the stores and restaurants are closed. Schools and universities are closed. Huge trees are down, barns are collapsed, roofs, signs, fences, porches and play structures damaged everywhere. Looks like 70-odd mph gusts were the max around here, though one area said they had 84 mph.

Closer to Cincinnati, there's a half-mile line at the one Speedway that was open, for 3.99 gas. They must figure that as long as it stays under 4.00 no one will complain. In downtown Cincinnati, which does have power, many gas stations are out of gas.

Our thoughts are with everyone who had it so much worse. Wish we could send our electricity your way!

[THead]

I saw someone tried to compare their experience with Hurricane Wilma to Hurricane Ike, until you have lost your home and community completely to storm surge, you have no idea what it is like. You lost some power and trees to Wilma, I mean come on. You still had a HOME, you had a dry bed, and in a few weeks all was pretty much back to normal. Comparing Wilma to storms like Ike, or Katrina, or Ivan, what a joke!! Do not ever tell that to someone who lost their whole way of life to a hurricane, that you can relate because one night you lost a tree and were without power for a day or so. If you do, do not be surprised if they take a swing at you. The ignorance of people to others feelings and tragedy can be mind-boggling to me.

I think you may have mis-comprehended the post from the lady. She was trying to relate to the person, who had not lost his house at all, but had lost his power. She was trying to tell him that she made it through the experience, that its difficult, and that she could relate to how he was feeling.

I don't want to get into some kind of storm pissing contest, but there are PLENTY of people who have STILL not returned to their homes, or may NEVER return to their homes, 3 years after Wilma. I'm not talking about hundreds, but thousands. I know, I'm one of them. And believe me, that has caused plenty of heartaches.

Just about everyone in here has either been in a cane, or knows someone close to them that's been through one. To suggest that people on this board are unfeeling to the devastation of Ike or any of the major storms recently, is ridiculous. This is the most supportive, informative board on earth!

[Ivanhater]

I saw someone tried to compare their experience with Hurricane Wilma to Hurricane Ike, until you have lost your home and community completely to storm surge, you have no idea what it is like. You lost some power and trees to Wilma, I mean come on. You still had a HOME, you had a dry bed, and in a few weeks all was pretty much back to normal. Comparing Wilma to storms like Ike, or Katrina, or Ivan, what a joke!! Do not ever tell that to someone who lost their whole way of life to a hurricane, that you can relate because one night you lost a tree and were without power for a day or so. If you do, do not be surprised if they take a swing at you. The ignorance of people to others feelings and tragedy can be mind-boggling to me.

Yes, Surge hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Rita and Ike are a different beast. Talking about complete slabs left after Ivan in communities like Grand lagoon where people died who stayed in Pensacola and waveland in Mississippi after Katrina and others after Rita. Not that Wilma and Charley and others were not bad in their own right, just different animals than surge storms.

[HURAKAN]

Galveston Death Toll Stands at 5
Along Texas Coast, 'Monumental' Damage
By Keith B. Richburg, Joel Achenbach and Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, September 15, 2008; 12:31 PM

GALVESTON, Tex., Sept. 15 -- Galveston remained a closed island of devastation Monday as the reeling Texas Gulf Coast assessed the impact of Hurricane Ike, finding that the massive storm washed away homes and knocked out power to millions but did not cause the catastrophic loss of life that federal and state authorities had feared.

The official death toll on this island stood at five as of Monday morning, with no details of who died or how. City officials say they have not even discussed when they might let evacuated residents return. Although water pressure was restored to a few hotels, electricity will be out for at least a month. "Health conditions are continuing to deteriorate across the island," city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.

The damage from the 600-mile-wide hurricane was extensive, with flooding and debris spread from Freeport to Port Arthur. Nearly 2,000 people were rescued from flooded homes and elsewhere in the Galveston area, and more than 2 million remained without power statewide.

Yet the number of deaths from the hurricane's driving rains and 100 mph winds was reported to be 11 -- seven people in Texas and four in Louisiana -- even though thousands ignored orders to evacuate. By late Sunday, there were reports of 10 additional deaths in other states as the storm moved north. Federal officials said there were no reports of major damage to the region's critical oil, gas and petrochemical installations.

"Hurricane Ike threw us a hard punch, but it did not dent our spirit," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said as he urged the more than 1 million people who did evacuate to stay away for another week. While Perry said the damage was "monumental," he stressed that the state would recover.

Although most of Houston's energy businesses announced plans to remain closed Monday, the city's two commercial airports planned to reopen Monday to limited passenger service.

In Washington, President Bush said he will visit Texas on Tuesday to assess recovery efforts and lend support. "This is a tough storm, and it's one that's going to require time for people to recover," the president said after being briefed on the storm.

Bush said his top priorities are restoring electricity, clearing debris and getting the Houston sewage plant running again, and he vowed to ensure that gas stations are not gouging customers. About 2.2 million residences and businesses remained without power Sunday, along with 161,000 customers in Louisiana and about 154,000 in Arkansas.

A nighttime curfew was imposed in Houston through Saturday by officials concerned about looting. Thirty people had been arrested for looting by Sunday evening, local media reported.

Authorities had restored electricity to about 600,000 customers, but frustration was building among some residents and local officials about what they considered a slow governmental response. Callers to Houston radio stations were frantically asking where to find ice, a desperately needed commodity in a sweltering city without electricity for air conditioning.

The Category 2 hurricane roared ashore early Saturday and plowed across eastern Texas before being downgraded 11 hours later to a tropical storm. While authorities feared that Ike could inundate 100,000 homes and cause widespread fatalities, the storm veered north at the last minute and spared the Houston-Galveston area from worse destruction. It also did not strengthen.

Still, scenes of devastation belied the number of fatalities, though authorities were still conducting house-to-house searches late Sunday. Along Bolivar Peninsula, on the east side of Galveston Bay, acres of what had once been beachfront houses were washed away, with only the stilts that had supported them remaining.

A Washington Post photographer flying with the U.S. Coast Guard saw vehicles halfway submerged in sand and only three people on a long stretch of beach, including a woman sitting with her dog next to one of the few houses that remained.

In Chambers County, east of Houston, half of the homes were severely damaged, a local television station reported, while Galveston Island took a "horrendous" pummeling from Ike, Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.

One man was evacuated by helicopter from Galveston's West End after he was discovered suffering from an estimated 1,000 mosquito bites. The city has asked the county to spray the soaked island for mosquitoes, which are breeding in the stagnant water.

Galveston's beaches are closed because of chemicals, oil and other contaminants, which were easily spotted -- though the scale was hard to determine -- during a helicopter tour over the island. Tankers and freighters were anchored off the coast, waiting for the reopening of the Houston Ship Channel.

City Hall is heavily damaged, as is the library, where historic documents might have been destroyed. Almost every street has downed power lines and toppled poles, and the main transmission source for the power system was severely damaged.

"We had a total grid failure," city spokeswoman Cahill said.

Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas ordered 11 people to be removed from the Flagship Hotel, a heavily damaged structure that stands on pilings in the water off the seawall. The people had remained in the hotel throughout the storm despite a surge of water so violent that it completely destroyed the nearby Balinese Room and two other establishments on pilings in the gulf.

Among the few signs of life greeting rescuers on the west end of the island, LeBlanc said Sunday, were cows that had scrambled in some cases onto house decks. "They must have swum around all night," he said.

Authorities remained concerned about people who chose not to evacuate. Among them was Matthew Bartlett, assistant fitness instructor at the Galveston Health and Racket Club, who stayed in his second-floor apartment because of his experience fleeing Hurricane Rita in 2005.

"I didn't want to go through that again," Bartlett said.

His apartment came within five feet of being inundated. "It was close," said Bartlett, who was interviewed about 10 miles from Galveston, where he had gone to get supplies. He was not allowed back home.

Coupled with the devastation was frustration over logistical problems that slowed the movement of food, water, generators and other critical supplies from Federal Emergency Management Agency staging areas to local distributors.

"We expect FEMA to deliver these supplies, and we will hold them accountable," Houston Mayor Bill White said at a televised news conference.

FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison forcefully rebutted the criticism, saying the agency had sent 5 million pre-packaged meals and 3 million bottles of water to Texas, with 7 million more meals on the way.

"We have not been slow to deliver anything," said Paulison. Texas officials, he said, were responsible for coordinating distribution of the supplies to residents.

White said Sunday morning that Houston was planning to set up 40 distribution points for ice. But those plans foundered because of flooded or blocked roads and fears that residents would put themselves in danger by venturing outside. By late afternoon, no one seemed able to locate a city ice truck.

Another precious commodity was gasoline. People lined up, many with plastic canisters, filling up at the few open stations. But most gas stations remained closed.

Becky Little, who runs a real estate agency in Galveston, questioned why local and federal authorities haven't distributed vouchers for displaced residents who can no longer pay for hotels.

"They have no money. No food. They're coming in for bread, anything. Diapers. Tylenol for kids," Little said at the foot of a bridge 10 miles from Galveston, where police were stopping drivers trying to go home.

Many evacuees were taken to an enormous warehouse on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. At the largest shelter for those who fled the storm, about 3,000 people were trying to adjust to the concrete floors and cots just arms-length away from each other. By late afternoon, workers had set up an additional 1,500 cots.

"They're really hustling," said Kate Conradt, of the Washington-based organization Save the Children. "It's a very organized madhouse here."

Richburg reported from Houston and Markon from Washington. Staff writers Spencer S. Hsu and Carol Leonnig in Washington and staff photographer Jahi Chikwendiu over the Bolivar Peninsula contributed to this report.

[yzerfan]

The life of Ike in pictures (including a few I haven't seen before)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/0 ... fe_of.html

[jinftl]

The widespread surge damage is without question far worse than what florida saw with wilma. not even up for argument. i think the analogies being made to wilma are very applicable, however, once you move inland from the surge zone. both had eyewalls moving over large metropolitan areas with peak winds sustained in the cat1/low end cat 2 range (although i have not seen reports of any sustained low end cat 2 winds with ike inland). The damage seen outside of the surge zone..including millions out of power for an extended time period...is very similar in the two storms. Lots of damage to trees, power lines, roofs, downtown highrise windows, etc. Power outages lasted 1-2 weeks on average with Wilma and gas lines were hours long following the storm.

Ike produced devastation that is not fully known on the coast. The majority of Houstonians did not experience that level of damage since they were not in a surge zone. Any comparisons to Wilma are with the impact of both storms on highly urbanized areas. This is not to diminish in any way the damage in the surge zones. For the person living inland and away from the surge, the comparison is valid and with time, the memory of storms diminishes, esp. for those who were not in them and are dealing with their own storm now.

Wilma is still ranked the third costliest storm in u.s. history....and it earned that ranking unfortunately by knocking more than a tree down and power out for a day or 2. ike may replace wilma in that ranking, but it won't be because of the damage inland.

I saw someone tried to compare their experience with Hurricane Wilma to Hurricane Ike, until you have lost your home and community completely to storm surge, you have no idea what it is like. You lost some power and trees to Wilma, I mean come on. You still had a HOME, you had a dry bed, and in a few weeks all was pretty much back to normal. Comparing Wilma to storms like Ike, or Katrina, or Ivan, what a joke!! Do not ever tell that to someone who lost their whole way of life to a hurricane, that you can relate because one night you lost a tree and were without power for a day or so. If you do, do not be surprised if they take a swing at you. The ignorance of people to others feelings and tragedy can be mind-boggling to me.

[THead]

That's exactly right jinftl, leave it to the accountant to bring in the voice of reason.

I think it's safe to say we are all in shock at what we are seeing out of the coastal regions with Ike. It's gut-wrenching, indescribable....

[Derek Ortt]

I saw someone tried to compare their experience with Hurricane Wilma to Hurricane Ike, until you have lost your home and community completely to storm surge, you have no idea what it is like. You lost some power and trees to Wilma, I mean come on. You still had a HOME, you had a dry bed, and in a few weeks all was pretty much back to normal. Comparing Wilma to storms like Ike, or Katrina, or Ivan, what a joke!! Do not ever tell that to someone who lost their whole way of life to a hurricane, that you can relate because one night you lost a tree and were without power for a day or so. If you do, do not be surprised if they take a swing at you. The ignorance of people to others feelings and tragedy can be mind-boggling to me.

there wer eonly tens of thousands of structures uninhabitable from Wilma. Just because the media focused on the center of Miami/lauderdale does not mean that others did not lose everything. Trust me, I saw it with my own eyes. Please think before you post

[CajunMama]

How'd you like to go outside and see this on your front porch?

Alligator visits Sulphur resident

[Texas Snowman]

Not trying to be sensational here or keep the macabre element going, but being pretty familar with the area between Galveston and Orange (I've hunted waterfowl there), I would think that rescuers might have difficulty in finding some of the potential fatalities.

Here's why - once the storm surge rolled over Bolivar Peninsula, there was basically nothing but marshland, lightly inhabited ranches, and national wildlife refuge lands for it to continue across unimpeded for miles. And that area is infested with alligators.

That being said, at this point, I don't believe there will be the massive Katrina-esque death tolls that some on this thread were speculating about earlier. That might have very well happened if Ike had come ashore 30 miles west of his landfall point though.

Even so, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the death toll on the Texas coastline itself eventually tops the century mark. But as alluded to above, I suspect that some victims may never be found.

[Texas Snowman]

This was reported by the Houston Chron:

Health conditions continue to deteriorate on the hard-hit island, and officials from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assessing the situation.

One of the survivors found by a search team had suffered an estimated 1,000 mosquito bites and was flown to a hospital on the mainland, Cahill said.