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Road to recovery
  
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By MARY ALYS CHERRY
Hurricane Ike rumbled through the Houston-Galveston area Saturday, leaving one end of the Bay Area under water, the other overwhelmed with uprooted trees and debris and most homes and businesses without power.
Afterwards, the clean-up began with thousands of homeowners laboring in the steamy heat to move debris the swirling hurricane winds left behind.
Some communities were so badly damaged that rebuilding may take years.
More than 50 people in the United States were killed recovery could cost as much as $20 billion. Trees by the thousands lost their lives and hundreds of boats bobbled along as if looking for their captains.
Major Bay Area casualties were the Kemah Boardwalk, the lobby of the Clear Lake Hilton Hotel and Dignity Memorial Bay Area Chapel in League City, known for many years as Jack Rowe Funeral Home, which was destroyed by fire.
The Kemah-Clear Lake Shores-Seabrook area suffered major damage from water.
While the area was still closed to the public at press time, former Kemah Mayor Bill King said Saturday that his Kemah home, which fronts on Galveston Bay, had five feet of water inside. Many others did also.
As he spoke on TV, water still covered most of the Kemah Boardwalk, where Landry’s and most of the restaurants and rides sustained damage.
The first floor The Aquarium suffered a great deal of damage, its manager said, adding that he believed many of the other Boardwalk restaurants did also.
Will Tilman Fertitta rebuild? “Definitely,” he said Saturday. “And, I guarantee that. Anything we lose, we will rebuild. Some people may take the insurance check and run. Not me. This is my city. It’s been good to me and I love it.”
On Sunday, he took a helicopter ride to check out the devastation in Galveston and Kemah, trying to determine what he needed to do.
Damages to his businesses in both cities were “worse than I expected,” he said, explaining that they had sustained a surge of water in the 12 to 15 foot range. “You know, I was shocked to see so much damage to Galveston.
“But we will survive. We’ll get it all rebuilt and be able to open some of the restaurants in a few months,” he said in an interview with Ch. 13, explaining, “we’ll add some new — mix it up some. Let’s see, we’ve been here (in Kemah) for 10 years. You have to look on the bright side. Things always grow back better.”
What would he estimate his damages? “From $50 to $100 million in Galveston, Houston and Kemah.”
But, he wouldn’t think twice about rebuilding. “This is where I live. I do business all over the world but this is a very special place. Hopefully,” he laughed, “this will be my last hurricane.”
Then, he went on to estimate he might get some of the restaurants open in a month to six weeks, despite losing “all the infrastructure.”
The Boardwalk train? His employees managed to save it by hoisting it up high with a crane at a cost of $10,000.
On hearing about the expenditure, Fertitta was not a happy camper, he said, yelling at his employees, “Why did you do that?”
Now, he is a happy man. “They saved me $600,000.”
Meanwhile, Kemah Mayor Greg Collins shook his head as he looked at all the devastation. It might be bad, he said, but “we’ve got all kinds of plans to get it all picked up.”
Many businesses lost signs and trees crashed through the roofs of a number of buildings. Even Mission Control’s roof at the Johnson Space Center sprung a leak.
A skylight at the Hilton was sucked out by Ike, sending howling winds, crashing glass and debris into the beautiful lobby, which was remodeled about two years ago.
Startled guests were rushed into the Admiral Ballroom, one unidentified woman said.
“They didn’t even give me time to get my purse,” she said, as she rushed off to her car, her purse in hand at that time.
Clear Lake City and League City were mostly spared great damage because the eye of the storm moved right through both, creating a couple of hours of eerie quiet ahead of another two hours of swirling winds that uprooted trees and left many neighborhoods looking like a war zone.
Carports were ripped apart, giant trees fell — some crashing into houses, shingles went flying off roofs and wildlife fled to strange places.
Several Nassau Bay homes also took on water, including nine feet reportedly in one home on West Indies. Another upset resident returned home to find half her home’s roof gone.
Long-time resident Laura Moran said water in some spots on Port Royal and Upper Bay was close to the roof tops and giant trees were down all over town. “The water was much deeper (in the homes) than Alicia,” she said as she remembered the 1983 Category 3 hurricane.
Galveston took the brunt of the storm, with most of the island city under water as Ike headed up the Gulf Freeway.
The county courthouse reportedly took on three feet of water. But it was one of many structures damaged.
The Flagship Hotel — America’s only hotel built on a pier out in the water — sustained major damage but managed to survive, despite losing its entryway pier. Gone also were Murdoch’s Souvenir Shop and Hooters, which sat on adjacent piers.
Nearby, the fabled Balinese Room, which had survived Hurricane Carla and Hurricane Alicia, was not so lucky. Nor were many waterfront homes along the Gulf or a number of homes and a boat storage facility that caught fire and could not be helped by fire fighters due to high water.
A snapshot of the hell the island went through sat along the Galveston Causeway — a massive collection of upside down trailers, parts of homes and vehicles and an incredible number of boats that had lost their way, piled up as a mighty testament to the force of Mother Nature.
Galveston resident Jim Wheeler told Citizen reporter Neesha Hosein that he weathered the storm at his son's house in League City, where they sustained only fence and tree damages. On Monday, Wheeler said his wife looked on the NOAA website and saw a satellite image of their house on the west end of Galveston, where there was total devastation.
Thrilled that his house is still standing, Wheeler said he understands that it will be quite some time before he will be allowed on the island to determine what condition it is really in.
While Texas’ largest city is some 40 miles north of Galveston, many structures suffered major damage including two downtown banking buildings — J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America — which lost many glass windows to Ike’s howling winds.
Brennan’s Restaurant, long a Houston icon, burned to the ground when a transformer caught fire, Houston Fire Department officials said.
“Webster businesses suffered quite a bit of damage,” City Secretary Pauline Small said Monday. “Signs down . . . . roof damage.” But the city was working hard to get everything up and running soon.
One of the worst hit was a Webster landmark, Carlos Villagomez’ barber shop, where he used to trim astronaut Alan Shepard’s hair.
It lost its roof and looked to have considerable damage. The city’s biggest problem is its sewer system was damaged and was out of order as The Citizen went to press.
City Administrator Chris Reed said no serious injuries were reported during the storm, and the city did not suffer widespread flooding.
“People are OK,” Reed said, adding that in the areas that were flooded, residents were expecting water and got out.
The Jack Rowe Funeral Home did burn to the ground, however. “It looks like lightning was probably the cause,” Reed said.
Afterwards, the clean-up began with thousands of homeowners laboring in the steamy heat to move debris the swirling hurricane winds left behind.
Some communities were so badly damaged that rebuilding may take years.
More than 50 people in the United States were killed recovery could cost as much as $20 billion. Trees by the thousands lost their lives and hundreds of boats bobbled along as if looking for their captains.
Major Bay Area casualties were the Kemah Boardwalk, the lobby of the Clear Lake Hilton Hotel and Dignity Memorial Bay Area Chapel in League City, known for many years as Jack Rowe Funeral Home, which was destroyed by fire.
The Kemah-Clear Lake Shores-Seabrook area suffered major damage from water.
While the area was still closed to the public at press time, former Kemah Mayor Bill King said Saturday that his Kemah home, which fronts on Galveston Bay, had five feet of water inside. Many others did also.
As he spoke on TV, water still covered most of the Kemah Boardwalk, where Landry’s and most of the restaurants and rides sustained damage.
The first floor The Aquarium suffered a great deal of damage, its manager said, adding that he believed many of the other Boardwalk restaurants did also.
Will Tilman Fertitta rebuild? “Definitely,” he said Saturday. “And, I guarantee that. Anything we lose, we will rebuild. Some people may take the insurance check and run. Not me. This is my city. It’s been good to me and I love it.”
On Sunday, he took a helicopter ride to check out the devastation in Galveston and Kemah, trying to determine what he needed to do.
Damages to his businesses in both cities were “worse than I expected,” he said, explaining that they had sustained a surge of water in the 12 to 15 foot range. “You know, I was shocked to see so much damage to Galveston.
“But we will survive. We’ll get it all rebuilt and be able to open some of the restaurants in a few months,” he said in an interview with Ch. 13, explaining, “we’ll add some new — mix it up some. Let’s see, we’ve been here (in Kemah) for 10 years. You have to look on the bright side. Things always grow back better.”
What would he estimate his damages? “From $50 to $100 million in Galveston, Houston and Kemah.”
But, he wouldn’t think twice about rebuilding. “This is where I live. I do business all over the world but this is a very special place. Hopefully,” he laughed, “this will be my last hurricane.”
Then, he went on to estimate he might get some of the restaurants open in a month to six weeks, despite losing “all the infrastructure.”
The Boardwalk train? His employees managed to save it by hoisting it up high with a crane at a cost of $10,000.
On hearing about the expenditure, Fertitta was not a happy camper, he said, yelling at his employees, “Why did you do that?”
Now, he is a happy man. “They saved me $600,000.”
Meanwhile, Kemah Mayor Greg Collins shook his head as he looked at all the devastation. It might be bad, he said, but “we’ve got all kinds of plans to get it all picked up.”
Many businesses lost signs and trees crashed through the roofs of a number of buildings. Even Mission Control’s roof at the Johnson Space Center sprung a leak.
A skylight at the Hilton was sucked out by Ike, sending howling winds, crashing glass and debris into the beautiful lobby, which was remodeled about two years ago.
Startled guests were rushed into the Admiral Ballroom, one unidentified woman said.
“They didn’t even give me time to get my purse,” she said, as she rushed off to her car, her purse in hand at that time.
Clear Lake City and League City were mostly spared great damage because the eye of the storm moved right through both, creating a couple of hours of eerie quiet ahead of another two hours of swirling winds that uprooted trees and left many neighborhoods looking like a war zone.
Carports were ripped apart, giant trees fell — some crashing into houses, shingles went flying off roofs and wildlife fled to strange places.
Several Nassau Bay homes also took on water, including nine feet reportedly in one home on West Indies. Another upset resident returned home to find half her home’s roof gone.
Long-time resident Laura Moran said water in some spots on Port Royal and Upper Bay was close to the roof tops and giant trees were down all over town. “The water was much deeper (in the homes) than Alicia,” she said as she remembered the 1983 Category 3 hurricane.
Galveston took the brunt of the storm, with most of the island city under water as Ike headed up the Gulf Freeway.
The county courthouse reportedly took on three feet of water. But it was one of many structures damaged.
The Flagship Hotel — America’s only hotel built on a pier out in the water — sustained major damage but managed to survive, despite losing its entryway pier. Gone also were Murdoch’s Souvenir Shop and Hooters, which sat on adjacent piers.
Nearby, the fabled Balinese Room, which had survived Hurricane Carla and Hurricane Alicia, was not so lucky. Nor were many waterfront homes along the Gulf or a number of homes and a boat storage facility that caught fire and could not be helped by fire fighters due to high water.
A snapshot of the hell the island went through sat along the Galveston Causeway — a massive collection of upside down trailers, parts of homes and vehicles and an incredible number of boats that had lost their way, piled up as a mighty testament to the force of Mother Nature.
Galveston resident Jim Wheeler told Citizen reporter Neesha Hosein that he weathered the storm at his son's house in League City, where they sustained only fence and tree damages. On Monday, Wheeler said his wife looked on the NOAA website and saw a satellite image of their house on the west end of Galveston, where there was total devastation.
Thrilled that his house is still standing, Wheeler said he understands that it will be quite some time before he will be allowed on the island to determine what condition it is really in.
While Texas’ largest city is some 40 miles north of Galveston, many structures suffered major damage including two downtown banking buildings — J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America — which lost many glass windows to Ike’s howling winds.
Brennan’s Restaurant, long a Houston icon, burned to the ground when a transformer caught fire, Houston Fire Department officials said.
“Webster businesses suffered quite a bit of damage,” City Secretary Pauline Small said Monday. “Signs down . . . . roof damage.” But the city was working hard to get everything up and running soon.
One of the worst hit was a Webster landmark, Carlos Villagomez’ barber shop, where he used to trim astronaut Alan Shepard’s hair.
It lost its roof and looked to have considerable damage. The city’s biggest problem is its sewer system was damaged and was out of order as The Citizen went to press.
City Administrator Chris Reed said no serious injuries were reported during the storm, and the city did not suffer widespread flooding.
“People are OK,” Reed said, adding that in the areas that were flooded, residents were expecting water and got out.
The Jack Rowe Funeral Home did burn to the ground, however. “It looks like lightning was probably the cause,” Reed said.
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DebOller wrote on Sep 17, 2008 9:58 PM: