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City gets back to business after Ike
By NATALIE TORENTINOS
Pearland streets are slowly coming back to normal several weeks after Hurricane Ike’s landfall with lights working and debris cleared, but there’s much left to do, and Mayor Tom Reid has received praise and criticism for the city’s recovery.
Reid bunkered down with emergency management personnel for four days at Glenda Dawson High School after the storm, staying in frequent contact with FEMA, the state and the county, as well as signing proclamations for the curfew and other emergency procedures.
“It’s awfully easy to blame somebody. I had about 10 e-mails that were just vile, saying I’m toast,” Reid recalled. “I also got numerous calls saying how well the city responded.”
Reid said that in comparison to other cities harder hit, Pearland fared well.
“We had water pressure and water treatment facilities working. At least you could take a hot shower. Nobody was killed, there were no houses on fire. I took it as a plus.”
Electricity was the biggest complaint, Reid said, adding that a lack of TV coverage contributed to communication problems.
“Our problem in Pearland was we didn’t get on television. We didn’t have enough problems. We just didn’t have enough issues that Channel 13 was concerned about. They were concerned about Galveston, Bolivar – those were areas where people had issues.”
Pearland wasn’t spared completely. Reid estimated that $2 million in damage was done to City Hall, the library, Community Center, senior building, Chamber of Commerce, and Pearland Neighborhood Center combined. This figure could rise in coming weeks and months.
“The problem is, the longer we wait, the more equipment will cost,” he said.
In the meantime, the City is going to have a review of the storm recovery and reassess its plans.
“We probably have one of the better [plans] around,” Reid said. “But there are a lot of unknowns out there.
“On Monday we talked about the need to reassess how we can do things. There were things we never anticipated.”
One of the unforeseeable circumstances was a prolonged loss of power. While only 1 percent of zip codes 77584 and 77581 are currently out of power, addressing the outage response is something they plan to focus on, he said.
Reid attributed the lengthy recovery of power to fallen trees preventing speedy assistance in some neighborhoods.
The city also just started trench burning storm debris on a daily basis, with 11 crews picking up fallen trees and limbs and delivering them to several burn sites.
“I suspect it will go on for another month or so,” Reid said of burning more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris. “It’s a real challenge.”
Reid said another challenge is addressing the damage to trailer parks, as there are more than 700 trailers in Pearland. The city is working on getting help to about a dozen residents whose trailers are uninhabitable.
In other recovery news, a FEMA truck was stationed in the shopping center across from Kroger on East Broadway starting Monday.
FEMA Mobile Manager Yvette Molina said residents can see the status of their FEMA relief application or register for the first time.
People who could not work for one or more weeks are eligible for disaster unemployment, Molina said, and FEMA workers were available to help hurricane victims apply for assistance.
Pearland resident Eveyln Tademy stood in line to apply since her workplace was shut down immediately after the storm.
“The building was destroyed and probably won’t be ready until the end of October,” Tademy said. “With no income I’ll be forced to sell my house.”
“I’m going through hell with repossession and cancellations,” she said, having written letters to car dealers and credit card companies explaining why she could not make payments on time.
She said she felt blessed to have a house still standing, though it was severely damaged and still has no power.
Tademy’s neighbors keep her spirits up and help out during this time of crisis. They’ve had numerous barbeques.
“I’m a country girl,” she said. “I know how to camp out.”
Reid bunkered down with emergency management personnel for four days at Glenda Dawson High School after the storm, staying in frequent contact with FEMA, the state and the county, as well as signing proclamations for the curfew and other emergency procedures.
“It’s awfully easy to blame somebody. I had about 10 e-mails that were just vile, saying I’m toast,” Reid recalled. “I also got numerous calls saying how well the city responded.”
Reid said that in comparison to other cities harder hit, Pearland fared well.
“We had water pressure and water treatment facilities working. At least you could take a hot shower. Nobody was killed, there were no houses on fire. I took it as a plus.”
Electricity was the biggest complaint, Reid said, adding that a lack of TV coverage contributed to communication problems.
“Our problem in Pearland was we didn’t get on television. We didn’t have enough problems. We just didn’t have enough issues that Channel 13 was concerned about. They were concerned about Galveston, Bolivar – those were areas where people had issues.”
Pearland wasn’t spared completely. Reid estimated that $2 million in damage was done to City Hall, the library, Community Center, senior building, Chamber of Commerce, and Pearland Neighborhood Center combined. This figure could rise in coming weeks and months.
“The problem is, the longer we wait, the more equipment will cost,” he said.
In the meantime, the City is going to have a review of the storm recovery and reassess its plans.
“We probably have one of the better [plans] around,” Reid said. “But there are a lot of unknowns out there.
“On Monday we talked about the need to reassess how we can do things. There were things we never anticipated.”
One of the unforeseeable circumstances was a prolonged loss of power. While only 1 percent of zip codes 77584 and 77581 are currently out of power, addressing the outage response is something they plan to focus on, he said.
Reid attributed the lengthy recovery of power to fallen trees preventing speedy assistance in some neighborhoods.
The city also just started trench burning storm debris on a daily basis, with 11 crews picking up fallen trees and limbs and delivering them to several burn sites.
“I suspect it will go on for another month or so,” Reid said of burning more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris. “It’s a real challenge.”
Reid said another challenge is addressing the damage to trailer parks, as there are more than 700 trailers in Pearland. The city is working on getting help to about a dozen residents whose trailers are uninhabitable.
In other recovery news, a FEMA truck was stationed in the shopping center across from Kroger on East Broadway starting Monday.
FEMA Mobile Manager Yvette Molina said residents can see the status of their FEMA relief application or register for the first time.
People who could not work for one or more weeks are eligible for disaster unemployment, Molina said, and FEMA workers were available to help hurricane victims apply for assistance.
Pearland resident Eveyln Tademy stood in line to apply since her workplace was shut down immediately after the storm.
“The building was destroyed and probably won’t be ready until the end of October,” Tademy said. “With no income I’ll be forced to sell my house.”
“I’m going through hell with repossession and cancellations,” she said, having written letters to car dealers and credit card companies explaining why she could not make payments on time.
She said she felt blessed to have a house still standing, though it was severely damaged and still has no power.
Tademy’s neighbors keep her spirits up and help out during this time of crisis. They’ve had numerous barbeques.
“I’m a country girl,” she said. “I know how to camp out.”
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