Those Who Stayed

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How have you been spending your days?
We've been working specific areas in Galveston going door to door. We have covered over 1,000 residents and encountered 120 to 130 needing transport to the collection area or hospital. Also, we've encountered animals and [in accordance with federal law], we are transporting animals to the ASPCA.

Have you found any fatalities?
No, not for us. I think there are probably shut-ins [homebound people] that will be found, but my teams haven't had any.

Are your duties there nearly completed?
Today they allowed the residents to come back and check their property and then they are supposed to be off at dusk although I'm not sure how they will monitor. We will be out tomorrow and the state of Texas has the resources to finish.

Has every area along the coast been checked at this point?
I'm not sure about on the ground but eyes in the sky [aerial surveillance] at least. There is still work to be done, but the state has a handle on those.

Is there an image or experience that will stay with you from this?
The image for me was being in the Reliant Center [which FEMA used as a staging area, next to the Houston Astrodome] at 1 a.m. when Hurricane Ike came through Houston. All you could hear for hours and hours was the sound of a freight train, and I was wondering when the windows were going to blow in. We got flooded. And then the sight of what the storm left behind. With all the technology we have, we watched the storm coming closer and closer. I knew they had low evacuation numbers on the coast. When we got there and could see how much water came over the islands, it was amazing that people survived. I wonder how they can live in the aftermath as long as they have with the mud and the flooding.

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Posted By: pezled @ 09/30/2008 7:47:56 AM

Remember when everyone was blaming Louisiana for not "providing transportation" for all those people who CHOSE to stay in the path of Katrina??? Well, guess what - folks in Galveston stayed in the face of IKE and no one is blaming the city for those people's choice to stay. Take another look at New Orleans, and realize that those who stayed there during Katrina were just like the folks that stayed in Galveston. Stupid, reckless people - and I won't donate anything to help them when they could follow evacuation orders to help themselves.
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Posted By: varacefan @ 09/18/2008 3:59:11 PM

Are you kidding? Many of these home should have never been allowed to be built in the first place. They are on a beach for gods sake. What do you think will happen? I live in the mountians and would love to live near a stream or river. But guess what small streams and rivers become huge when we recieve lots of rain from a bad storm or a Tropical storm. You are taking the chance of losing everything. That is a chance I am not willing to take. Some in Texas took that chance and lost. I hate to see anyone suffer but again people lost sight of what mother nature can do. Why is it up to the federal goverment to protect homes built on a beach that "Will" be reclaimed by the sea at some point? That is throwing good money after bad. Sorry! I do however wish you the best. But please move further from the ocean!
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Posted By: summer4077 @ 09/18/2008 12:11:41 PM

There's a sea wall, but come on--mother nature wins every time. Ike was a massive hurricane and Galveston was a sitting duck. I'm more inclined to ask of the civility of a nation whose citizens are stupid enough to roll the dice and cry when they lose. Like New Orleans--yes a tragic loss of life. But come ON people--the city is BELOW sea level and in prime hurricane territory! Where are our senses?