Life in Southeast Texas Grim

Civilized life, as Americans have come to know it, remains an elusive goal to most of southeast Texas.  The destruction of utilities by Hurricane Ike has left millions without electricity, gas, water, and sewer service.  The restoration of basic services may still be weeks away.

Approximately 2 million people are without electricity.  Twenty companies, municipalities, and cooperatives have reported outages.  Some utilities estimate it will take as long as 4 weeks to restore power; however, Oncor Electric and SWEPCO expect their restoration will be complete by the end of the week.  

In the Beaumont / Port Authur area, 96% of Entergy Texas customers are without power.  Bowie County reports widespread power loss.  The Cities of Nash, Wake Village, Hooks, Maud, Redwater, Simms, DeKalb and New Boston report all or partial loss of power.  SWEPCO reports 14000 without power in Texarkana.

Many residents of Harris County, who were encouraged to stay in their homes and ride out the storm, now, cannot flush their toilets and are short of bottled water while they swelter in the dark.  CenterPoint Energy has restored power to over 600,000 customers in the Houston/Galveston/Harris County area, though 75% of the residents remain without power.

On Galveston Island crews are working to restore gas service.

For those in the storm ravaged area, travelling by motor vehicle is limited and risky.  Approximately 60% of the gasoline service stations are either out of fuel, or have no power.  Other stations that have opened are taking cash only because they cannot process credit cards without phone service.  Price gouging at the pump has been reported in multiple locations and investigators from the Attorney General’s office have been dispatched.

Medical services are non-existent or have been severely curtailed.  Kidney patients requiring dialysis have been moved to Dallas, where treatment is available.  Special needs medical shelters with a capacity of over 7,000 have been opened throughout Texas.  A federal prescription program for evacuees without health insurance has been put into service.