Print
E-mail
Comment
Ike not a Rita redux
  
|
By ALEX WUKMAN
Hurricane Ike made landfall September 13 at 2:10 a.m. over the eastern end of Galveston Island. Ike is reported to have caused over $27 billion in approximately 90 counties throughout Central and East Texas.
Some of the most heavily damaged were the low-lying areas around Galveston bay. The coastal community of Gilchrist was virtually eradicated, the Bolivar Peninsula is now an island and Galveston Island is still months away from recovery.
Major oil and gas drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico were shut down in anticipation of Hurricane Ike, a fact that helped push gas prices up to almost $4 a gallon, a fact that many found painful and suspicious in the light of two months of falling gas prices.
The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office stated that Hurricane Ike was responsible for 20 confirmed deaths; Harris County listed 10 confirmed. There has been no word from other area counties, though Liberty County is not said to have any reported deaths from Hurricane Ike.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without power. This forced them to rely on government assistance and introduced a new term into the vocabulary of millions, point of distribution or POD.
PODs are the points at which food, water and the incredibly important ice are distributed to the public.
Lines at many PODs throughout the Greater Houston Area stretched for blocks, a fact that resulted in wait times exceeding two hours. Some of the most sought after items at the few stores that were open immediately afterward were flashlights, batteries and bug spray.
Immediately after Hurricane Ike made landfall, curfews were introduced for many Texas communities. In some cases, the curfews stretched from dusk to dawn, in other places they stretched from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
It was reported that on the remnants of Bolivar Peninsula, martial law was declared. The problem that plagued the most people was a lack of electricity.
Immediately after the storm, over 2 million people were without power and estimates for restoring service ranged from a few hours (mostly in suburban areas) to six weeks in rural areas. Even days later, hundreds of thousands of people throughout three states were still without power.
Some of the most heavily damaged were the low-lying areas around Galveston bay. The coastal community of Gilchrist was virtually eradicated, the Bolivar Peninsula is now an island and Galveston Island is still months away from recovery.
Major oil and gas drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico were shut down in anticipation of Hurricane Ike, a fact that helped push gas prices up to almost $4 a gallon, a fact that many found painful and suspicious in the light of two months of falling gas prices.
The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office stated that Hurricane Ike was responsible for 20 confirmed deaths; Harris County listed 10 confirmed. There has been no word from other area counties, though Liberty County is not said to have any reported deaths from Hurricane Ike.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without power. This forced them to rely on government assistance and introduced a new term into the vocabulary of millions, point of distribution or POD.
PODs are the points at which food, water and the incredibly important ice are distributed to the public.
Lines at many PODs throughout the Greater Houston Area stretched for blocks, a fact that resulted in wait times exceeding two hours. Some of the most sought after items at the few stores that were open immediately afterward were flashlights, batteries and bug spray.
Immediately after Hurricane Ike made landfall, curfews were introduced for many Texas communities. In some cases, the curfews stretched from dusk to dawn, in other places they stretched from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
It was reported that on the remnants of Bolivar Peninsula, martial law was declared. The problem that plagued the most people was a lack of electricity.
Immediately after the storm, over 2 million people were without power and estimates for restoring service ranged from a few hours (mostly in suburban areas) to six weeks in rural areas. Even days later, hundreds of thousands of people throughout three states were still without power.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
tumbleweed wrote on Sep 29, 2008 10:31 PM: