ATL: IKE Discussion

[suepeace]

Rescuers Fear for Those Stuck on Texas Peninsula

CHAMBERS COUNTY, Tex. — The rescue trucks and ambulances, neatly arranged in a double column, sat waiting at the point where State Highway 124, the road to the Bolivar Peninsula, disappeared underneath a storm-bloated ocean. Early Sunday afternoon, that was the closest the rescue workers could get to the string of little towns they had fled two days before as Hurricane Ike approached, leaving behind what they estimated were a few hundred holdouts.

As they waited, stymied, for the waters to recede, their minds were occupied with visions of the worst. “There’s going to be substantial deaths,” said the emergency medical services coordinator for High Island, Robert Isaacks. “It looks pretty grim, to tell you the truth.”

He added, “The water’s slowly but surely going down now, but it’s not going down fast enough for us.”

The Bolivar Peninsula is a barrier island-like finger of land east of Galveston Island; between the two is the entrance to Galveston Bay. It is normally reached by ferry from Galveston or via the rice-farming country east of Galveston Bay, where on Sunday drowned cattle were half-buried in piles of debris along the gravel roads.

About 3,800 people live on the peninsula. Many residents who refused to evacuate were “hard headed,” Mr. Isaacks said, believing they could ride out this storm much as they had previous ones, and refusing last-ditch pleas to leave. He said that an estimated 500 residents had stayed behind, but that the Coast Guard had flown some of those people to land.

A Coast Guard spokesman, Senior Chief Petty Officer Steve Carleton, said that 93 people in the Houston area had been rescued by helicopter before the storm hit, and that many of those were from the peninsula.

But others were trapped by a storm surge that hit in the wee hours Friday morning — well in advance of the hurricane — swamping evacuating cars and flipping a dump truck that constables were trying to use as a rescue vehicle. “They were saying there was going to be a surge when the storm hits, not 24 hours before the storm hit,” Mr. Isaacks said.

Petty Officer Carleton confirmed that some of those rescued Friday had been in their cars.

Some of the rescue workers said they had been asleep when they got a call on Friday warning them that the storm surge was upon them. They immediately began a fraught rescue operation. Stranded people were loaded into the pickup truck of an emergency worker from Crystal Beach, on the peninsula, but just as they were about to reach safety, the truck rolled over, the workers said. The evacuees, floundering through chest-deep, snake-infested water, were herded to a guard rail for safety. Four were rescued by helicopter.

Some of those left behind on Friday were perched on rooftops and water tanks, and many are low on drinking water and food, said the workers, who had not had radio or cell phone contact with those left behind but had reached one resident in High Island, the most elevated point on the peninsula, by a land line.

One middle-aged man was washed from his home on Crystal Beach all the way to the mainland, where he was spotted by National Guard troops in a helicopter and picked up.

“That’s the only miracle we’ve had so far,” said the Chambers County sheriff, Joe LaRive. “When the water picked up his house, he floated out a window and hung onto a piece of wood all night long, and he saw fish and alligators and fire ants.” The man was treated and released from a nearby hospital, Sheriff LaRive said.

Randy Faulkner, a volunteer firefighter on Crystal Beach and a member of the Gulf Coast Search and Recovery team, said Bolivar had been all but forgotten even though it had received the brunt of the storm surge. “There’s a lot of devastation in Galveston, don’t get me wrong,” Mr. Faulkner said. “But the peninsula, it’s gone.”

On Sunday afternoon, a team from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department pulled up with five boats in tow, offering to take some of the rescue workers out to the flooded section of the peninsula, along with a postal inspector they had brought along. They did not have ice, water or other supplies; their sole aim was to survey the area.

Mr. Faulkner, eager to assess the situation for himself, got aboard one of the boats. About an hour later, he called a volunteer member of the Crystal Beach emergency service, Rey Leija, to give a report.

Mr. Leija walked over to a small knot of workers, cellphone in hand. “They’re coming up with bodies already,” he said. Officials declined to say more.

As the sun set over the waterlogged farmland, the boats began to return. Cathy Rush, who said she was the peninsula’s only paramedic, climbed off to report what she had seen: No bodies, but slabs where houses had been, and houses parked on the highway.

“We’re all volunteer firefighters and E.M.T.’s who went out on the boat,” Ms. Rush said. “We all lost our houses. I don’t know anybody that didn’t.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/us/15scene.html

[Rod Hagen]

Gilchrist TX - I hadn't seen this picture before

WOW... looks amazing almost like it's fake!

Someone got really lucky there.

Not sure the neighbourhood has quite the same ambience that it probably had in the past, though, I'm afraid. I suspect that many people are going to have real trouble facing the idea of going back, even when their houses have survived, to the "new moonscape" areas like Gilchrist and Crystal Beach.

[fasterdisaster]

I just heard the ENTIRE ISLAND west of Galveston hasn't even been explored. The scope of the destruction really is nowhere near revealed.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

If that was my house, an I seen what can happen; I would build a 10 foot high sea wall around it, with stairs to get in and out of it. Or I would move to higher ground...But that is what I would do.

Just amazing what a hurricane can do, I remember the Tsunumi damage. Everything was wiped out, but a Church. It was unbelieveable.

[Shoshana]

Video from San Leon TX

(Austin American Statesman)

[southerngale]

It's good to hear some people in Houston are already getting power back. Nobody in Beaumont has power yet and they're saying to expect it to take weeks. Hopefully, that's an over-estimate. The sewer system is down in Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange. I'm not sure about all the surrounding communities. Officials are telling evacuees not to return, there is still a mandatory evacuation in place. I know of some people who stayed during Ike, but were leaving earlier today.

From what we've heard on KFDM's online streaming, officials are getting aggravated with the ones who stayed behind. They're getting in the way of officials and crews while trying to sight see. There's no sewer service and they've been asked not to flush, but people are. They said the sewer is going to start backing into homes. They told people to leave for a reason and those people shouldn't even be there, slowing down the crews trying to get the area operable again.

We heard about my dad's business from one of his employees who stayed in the area. The roof came off, plus all the wind and rain in there after that. They did cover the computers with plastic before they shut down, so hopefully they're not ruined (if they're still there). We don't know about my family's homes.

[alicia83]

If I owned that house in Gilchrist and it and yard could be made nice again, I could never utilize it again knowing what happened to the homes of all those around me, and the fate of those who stayed behind.

On another note about educating the public, one thought that's been expressed in Houston is that most people think hurricanes only affect coastal areas, and sadly this couldn't be further from the truth, and as evidenced by the destructive forces Ike additionally caused inland.

[Derek Ortt]

there was a study presented at the past AMS hurricane conference that indicated most in this very area would not evacuate for a category 2 hurricane, but would for a 3. Hopefully, this mistake will never be repeated

Many of those are the same people who suffered damage from cat 1 winds in Rita.

The media MUST do a better job of helping to educate the public about what they really went through. it is this mentality of "I survived a 3" when you survived a cat 1 that gets people killed.

as an aside, I am also in favor of forced evacuations by the military with draconian punishments for ignoring the order

[TreasureIslandFLGal]

Just an update to an earlier post that Chrissy made...

I believe that she misspoke when she stated that it was "illegal" to broadcast images of the possible dead bodies that may be in the devastated areas. She was apparently basing that on her experiences of screening war photos in the military 20 years ago and I believe that she was under the impression that the same standards and practices held true in the private sector as well. Also, the images she was screening may have involved other sensitive material that would not necessarily be deemed appropriate for mass media distribution.

Windy was absolutely correct in stating that there were no laws protecting the privacy of the dead and that the media CAN show them all that they want. The FCC goes crazy if Janet Jackson has a "wardrobe malfunction" in front of millions of viewers but, broadcasting images of the deceased is fair game. Some may beg to differ with me when I say that I, personally, find that to be a sad reality although, it is a reality.

The reason that this was even brought up was, some folks were wondering why there weren't more clear images from the ravaged areas being broadcast. I know that I may sound naive but, I think that it may be a case of self-censorship by certain folks in the media. Yes, I realize that the media tends to sensationalize stories the majority of the time but, perhaps this is a case of them not just doing what they are legally allowed to do and doing instead what they should do. Showing some respect for those who may have perished and some courtesy to their loved ones.

I mean, we all know what it means when a reporter says "X-many bodies were found today during a search and rescue mission." We really don't need to see the graphic images to give us an idea as to what happened to those people. Besides, I would be horrified if I woke up one morning and saw my Mother's dead body on the news for the whole world to see before I even knew that she was gone.

This theory of self-censorship by the media may be completely wrong and there may actually not be any dead bodies that are keeping them from showing images of the hardest hit areas and that would be wonderful but, I really can't think of any other logical ideas as to why the media has not been showing more clear (not fuzzy) images of the areas in question. So, I guess that it's just a wait and see issue and we'll get whatever information that they want to give us when they feel it's time for us to receive it.

I can say, on Chrissy's behalf, that she would never knowingly mislead anyone and I'm sure that she would apologize if her statement caused any confusion. Like I said, she was basing it on the practices mandated to her during her military service.

Thanks for your time and thanks to all of you here at S2K for all of the hard work that you have put into getting us alot of good information throughout the first half of this storm season. Hopefully, as far as storms are concerned, it's all downhill from here. Meaning, we get fewer and weaker, not more and stronger!

~Nikki~

P.S. Treasure Island is a barrier island and I can assure you all that if a storm heads this way, WE ARE OUTTA' HERE!!!!

[Carrie]

P.S. Treasure Island is a barrier island and I can assure you all that if a storm heads this way, WE ARE OUTTA' HERE!!!!

I don't want to imagine the impact of a hurricane in the Tampa Bay area! It's so flat, with lots of waterways.

If a hurricane ever bore down on your area, I would be so sad... I was engaged at Fort DeSoto Park. We go to your neck of the beach every year. I'm working my husband to have us move there!

I am sad now because Galveston was so impacted. That was my first beach ever, Stewart Beach...

Carrie

[Rod Hagen]

The forecasts at the time when evacuations should have been undertaken were for a 3, though Derek, weren't they? ) Maybe that is why so many actually left, of course, so I guess the research was probably spot on.

I personally think the vacillation along the way by the Galveston mayor and others about the desirability of evacuation probably helped to keep many there who would otherwise have gone though. I can just imagine the discussions over the dinner table - "Look dear, I reckon we should get out". "Well I thought so too, but the mayor was saying we should stay put, and now we don't have enough gas or enough time or anywhere to go. etc etc."


By the time they had decided that evacuation was the way to go it was probably too late for many families to feel confident in their ability to make it happen, find somewhere else to go etc etc.. The talk about "glancing blows" and the like didn't help either.

In many ways it seems to me as if responsibility for those sorts of decisions needs to be moved "up the chain". Local officials are probably not the best people in the world to have making such decisions. Their role should be limited to helping to make whatever decision is made work as effectively as possible.

I'm not sure how your system works, but I would have thought that a decision about evacuation should be at least made at the "State Governor" level, advised directly by an effective state or national emergency agency, rather than according to the whims, or ignorance, of a local government. Three or four days out, when the decision needed to be taken, it was uncertain exactly where this cyclone would hit, but it was patently obvious that just about the whole of the Texas coastline was in danger, and it was ALL of the coastal population that needed to be getting its act into gear. You need at least state level responsibility and resources to make such things happen.

People need to be discouraged from making these decisions late, and they need to be discouraged from waiting for last minute swings and the like before deciding what to do, too.

Finally could I say a big "thank you" for helping make what was going on meteorologically in the "lead up" so much clearer than it otherwise would have been to people like me!

Cheers

Rod

[TreasureIslandFLGal]

P.S. Treasure Island is a barrier island and I can assure you all that if a storm heads this way, WE ARE OUTTA' HERE!!!!

I don't want to imagine the impact of a hurricane in the Tampa Bay area! It's so flat, with lots of waterways.

If a hurricane ever bore down on your area, I would be so sad... I was engaged at Fort DeSoto Park. We go to your neck of the beach every year. I'm working my husband to have us move there!

I am sad now because Galveston was so impacted. That was my first beach ever, Stewart Beach...

Carrie

Yeah, I absolutely love it here! However, we are approx. 4 feet above sea level and after seeing what has just become of Galveston and the surrounding coastal communities, I can only think of how easily that could have been us. Plus, most of the homes in our neighborhood are ground level, not on stilts or anything.

The building that we are in is at least a solid concrete building (even our interior walls are concrete) with no units on the ground floor and the pilings go down to the bedrock. It was built by the Army Corp. of Engineers to show people how to build on barrier islands so, it is likely that our building would still be here but, that wouldn't be much consolation if everything surrounding us was gone.

Thanks to S2K and all of the pro-mets and smart amatuers, I would be making my evacuation plans before the authorities told me I needed to go! Thankfully, I have family that we could stay with for an indefinite amount of time should anything like that occur.

~Nikki~

[Brent]

I just heard the ENTIRE ISLAND west of Galveston hasn't even been explored. The scope of the destruction really is nowhere near revealed.

This is exactly why I think the death toll will rise significantly, and it might take weeks to know the true extent.

[TreasureIslandFLGal]

there was a study presented at the past AMS hurricane conference that indicated most in this very area would not evacuate for a category 2 hurricane, but would for a 3. Hopefully, this mistake will never be repeated

Many of those are the same people who suffered damage from cat 1 winds in Rita.

The media MUST do a better job of helping to educate the public about what they really went through. it is this mentality of "I survived a 3" when you survived a cat 1 that gets people killed.

as an aside, I am also in favor of forced evacuations by the military with draconian punishments for ignoring the order

I wholeheartedly agree with you Derek. At the very least, I believe that children should be forced to evacuate. Not evacuating them is blatant child endangerment. They should be able to be immediately removed from the family by child protective services (CPS), or the parent be given the option to evacuate with the kids, that will be taken away from them.

Of course, the cops, firemen or military would be able to take them...because I doubt CPS could ever coordinate such an effort in any state! They are woefully underfunded everywhere!

[ronjon]

Chertoff Trying To Shift The Blame

Congressman Lampsom is telling Channel 13 in Houston that he was very strong and direct in his conversation this afternoon with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who was in Houston this afternoon touring flood-stricken areas, after which he held a new conference.

During the new conference Chertoff tried to shift the responsibility for the delays in receiving the meals and ice to the local city and county government. Already FEMA is trying to pull the same trick they did in Lousiana when they tried to shift the blame for their failure to the state and local government. By all reports Houston Mayor Bill White is extremely upset that FEMA is not responding as promised and is trying to shift responsibility to the city and county. In this case, they will not attempt to shift any of the blame to the state because Texas Governor Perry is a Bush mouthpiece and loyal Republican.

Congressman Lampsom and the Mayor of Houston are both extremely upset.

Even Republican Congressman Upset

In fact, it is already so bad, that even a Republican Congressman, John Culberson (TX-7) is upset with FEMA and sounding off about it. According to the Associated Press, Culberson was upset this afternoon because hundreds of first responders at two staging areas have run out of food and water. On Sunday, Culberson said that 300 National Guardsmen, state troopers and other emergency workers are going hungry at a high-school football stadium and at another staging area on Houston's west side, and blamed FEMA for the gaffe.

News Blackout

At the same time, in an unprecedented move, the FAA is keeping all of the news helicopters and other private aviation away from the disaster areas. The FAA has issued NO FLY ORDERS that prevents all general aviation aircraft from flying within one mile of the worst of the stricken areas, specifically the areas along the Boliver Peninsula, including the cities of Crystal Beach and Gilcrest, and the coastal city of High Island. Evacuees from those areas are reporting almost total devastation, but the media is not being allowed to see the areas and report the story.

[Javlin]

Well so much for people being responsible for the first 72hrs after the storm I guess that is FEMA's job??As much as people complained about FEMA after Katrina I never had a gripe we had ice and water within 72 hrs.I really feel sorry for the people of TX and we had more info but has not been but what 55hrs yet?

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

This is America, the land of the free. The Federal government HAS no power what so ever to go into a state, County, city with Millitary with out first getting the ok from one of them. That is just the way it set up; that is to respect the rights of the state and its government. The federal government was never made to rule like you went it to.

Also you do NOT went to give the federal or any part of the government the power to take away from you or shoot you. That can go very very bad very fast. If you went to risk your life inside your private home, then so be it. This is America and you are free to do so, at least should be. I maybe wrong, but I think forcing people out of their homes is illigal in this country, just like taking away someones gun.

Anyways that is how I feel. Also what founding father gave the green light to take someones children away from them????

YOU have a right to eat transfat, smoke, own a gun, spit on the sidewalk, and cuss. Do you agree Derek?

As for Ike, yes he was very bad and I do expect grim news to come out...We will see.

[Cryomaniac]

I would say force something akin to martial law

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

Not going to happen, simple as that. It would just create tension and maybe even violence in my opinion.

[Ed Mahmoud]

I got water pressure back, and my office has electricity and internet!


Whooo-Hoooo!!!

[HURAKAN]

Ed, good to hear that normalcy is being restored!