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Rescuers Return to Ike-Ravaged Areas
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by Jordan Yerman | September 14, 2008 at 09:32 am
989 views | 24 Recommendations | 12 comments
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Once the storm passes, those caught in Hurrican Ike's path from Galveston to Houston must now deal with the aftermath. Cleanup and rescue efforts are hampered by severe flooding as rescue workers race to aid those trapped by the hurricane.
Across the Gulf Coast, rescue workers scoured waterlogged neighborhoods and struggled to race down streets that had turned to rivers, looking for some of the more than 140,000 Texans who refused orders to evacuate and were now stranded in flattened homes or inundated towns. Some had been rescued, but thousands more were waiting on emergency rescues. State and federal officials said Hurricane Ike had claimed at least four lives, two of them in Texas and two more in Louisiana.
“We’re asking people just to be patient.” he said in an interview on CNN on Sunday. “Don’t be in a hurry. If you’re in a safe place, whether a shelter or hotel or motel, or staying with friends and family, just stay right there.”
With wind gusts approaching 100 miles per hour, Ike, a 600-mile-wide Category 2 hurricane, peeled sheets of steel off skyscrapers here, smashed bus shelters and blew out windows, sending shattered glass and debris across the nation’s fourth-largest city, with a population of 2.2 million.
Authorities imposed a curfew in Houston and warned it would be weeks before the nation's fourth-largest city is fully back up and running.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (12)
at 09:38 on September 14th, 2008
jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 11:07 on September 14th, 2008
and on a side note about Ike:
Source: money.cnn.com
at 11:15 on September 14th, 2008
jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 11:21 on September 14th, 2008
My personal account of Hurricane Ike can be found at www.murdog.com. Search Ike.
murdog has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:35 on September 14th, 2008
I took those photos this morning. We livve in Illinois in the St Louis Metro region. We had wind gusts to 53mph and over 3.5 inches of rain.
at 14:24 on September 14th, 2008
Flew into Houston, Texas on Thursday. Predicting the hurricane would make direct landfall in Galvaston we drove down to Galvaston Island. On the way we called in at Freeport (about 50 miles south west of Galvaston) and was amazed how strong the winds ahead of the hurricane were already (and rising waters). Lots of houses on stilts and some people refused to evacuate. This was amazingly 18 hours before hurricane landfall. The power of the storm was being felt very early! We then attempted to drive along the peninsular road direct to Galvaston but this was already flooded and impassable. We drove back inland and found another way through.
We camped at a hotel (San Luis - highest on island) and all the TV stations and press were here and waited for the hurricane to make landfall. Watched and captured the build up and the eye came right over us in the early hours (2am). Winds were incredible our weather equipment recorded the data. Hotels all around us were falling apart, debris was flying through the air. It was incredible. We parked our car in a concrete multi storey car park which got flooded and we were stranded here all night. Had no sleep and watched the hurricane intensity ALL night. When the eye pased over us (we were smack bang in the middle of it and have a radar /gps shot to prove it) It was amazing. The winds dropped and it went very warm, birds whistled to life mosquitos all came out and everyone flocked from the hotel to experience the eye. Surreal madness. This lasted 1.5 hrs and then the second half of the storm ripped in. The wind flow reversed and increased to more intense speed. This lasted until daybreak.
When we went outside after it had eventually passed it was a mess. Debris, damage everywhere. Roads impassable, some of which were ripped apart by the 110mph winds and tarmac ripped off. We drove around capturing the debris. Buildings had disappeared, road flooded, residents walking around in shock begging us for water, cigarettes etc. Very distresing. We contd this all day. Saw house fires only 100 yds from the sea with fire crews ironically having no water to deal with them and just watch them blaze away. Many low lying streets flooded, people wading all around. Boats sitting on roads, roads unpassable. Galvaston island was stranded and cut off.
We managed to drive out at end of day and saw why the only road into Galvaston Island was closed. It was blocked with over 100 boats/yachts and debris. Bulldozers were clearing a way through as we passed.
We eventually got back to Houston Sat night and power out everywhere. Local Tv/radio reporting 5 million Texas residents without power. Downtown Houston is now on curfew all week.
Our flights are cancelled and we had to drive 150 miles to Austin to find a place to stay with power.
Elemental Project has contributed a photo to this story.
at 16:13 on September 14th, 2008
A wet parking lot in centeral Florida left over from Hurricane Fay
Dr Dapper has contributed a photo to this story.
at 16:16 on September 14th, 2008
A wet parking lot in centeral Florida left as Fay leaves and Ike approaches
Dr Dapper has contributed a photo to this story.
at 20:30 on September 14th, 2008
jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 23:45 on September 14th, 2008
it is very nice story Jordan, i will say it is not a cut-paste approach.can NOW PUBLIC look beyond north America.there are so many story that needs attention from around the world.
at 00:25 on September 15th, 2008
There is a post out about the Typhoon that hit Taiwan and now China and that is on its way to Japan. Well there are actually two post out. Not to many people looked into the latest one though. and Jordan did have a post out about the Floods in West Africa last week, two comments as I recall that was all. I did post my self many post about what is going on in Africa and Japan, some of them never made a single comment. Most readers here seem to be interested in the US and the EU and that is about it. there are post about other things like environment and Politics, in Africa, Asia, Australia and Eastern Europe as well as Latin America.