Posted on 09/26/2008 10:05:31 AM PDT by John David Powell
One of the disadvantages of being a writer and former journalist is that I’m always sharing news and information. It’s also an advantage in times of crisis by providing instant therapy. Recipients of my Hurricane Ike email updates may have less flattering names for it.
I attended a meeting on the Tuesday before Ike invaded our shores. One participant said we shouldn’t worry, because the Gulf is big and the chances of Ike hitting us were small. I predicted we’d see a lot of wind, rain, and flooding, something akin to Tropical Storm Allison back in 2001. Only without the flooding, I added.
The next night, I watched the wife go throughout the house packing. “You better get started,” she admonished. I replied that I would wait until morning, still clinging to my prediction of the previous day.
Thursday morning arrived with the news my daughter and son-in-law were skeedaddling to Austin. A quick look at the hurricane tracker confirmed I should not go into the weather-forecasting business.
My wife and I, along with her three cats, ended up in Austin at our younger daughter’s apartment, while my older daughter and her husband sheltered at my wife’s uncle’s house.
Once settled in, I fired up my laptop and took over my daughter’s television so I could follow the evacuation of the Galveston-Houston area in front of Ike’s advance. I would not leave my makeshift command post for the next three days.
As I did during Allison and Hurricane Rita, I disbursed a series of email updates. A former colleague at an Austin television station, where I was a producer and anchor back in the 80s, was on the list. He tracked us down and asked if we’d agree to an interview. I felt strange, knowing that thousands of Gulf Coast refugees in Austin were staying in shelters; but, our stories and circumstances were valid chapters in the overall tale of what may be the largest evacuation in Houston’s history.
As with most journalists, I’ve covered all sorts of weather stories resulting from tornadoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, blizzards, flash floods, and those slow-rising river waters that accompany Midwestern floods in spring. I’m still not sure which is worst for the psyche, the tornadoes and flash floods that wipe out neighborhoods and whole towns with little warning, or hurricanes and river flooding that approach by the inch and underscore the helpless state of humans when confronted by a determined Mother Nature.
Friday night found me with four Houston TV stations and a Houston radio station pulled up on my computer screen. The television remote control allowed me to flip among three or four weather and news outlets. At one point, two Austin stations took live feeds from sister stations in Houston, meaning I sat in Austin and watched live Houston coverage of Ike.
About 1 a.m. on Saturday, someone reported that Ike had taken a turn to the west and all indications pointed toward landfall farther down the coast. That was just a juke, as Ike squared his shoulders and set his eyes on Galveston.
Today, at Ike-plus-14 days, about a million people remain without power. That is a staggering number. It’s about the total population of Rhode Island.
Life without electricity is causing considerable Ike Fatigue for people who are accustomed to roofs over their heads, electricity, and drinkable water. Hundreds of thousands stayed put and now live by candlelight, while hundreds of thousands more returned to darkened and damaged dwellings. Daylight means an extended commute into the city for people expected to be in their places with bright, shiny faces, but who operate on little sleep and an abundance of anxiety.
Journalists never fully report on the logistics of disaster recovery. It’s too big of a story and doesn’t lend itself easily to quick sound bites. But consider that search and rescue personnel conducted 470 missions, rescuing 1,900 storm victims; officials authorized up to 7,500 Guard personnel to active duty; FEMA distributed 2.5 million liters of water, 2 million meals, and 100,000 tarps in the first week after Ike; Domino's Pizza gave away 1,000 pizzas to recovery workers and displaced people in one day; Comcast called in 500 extra technicians to bring customers back online; CenterPoint Energy gathered more than 1,000 trucks and maybe twice as many people from around the country just to clear away trees so 14,000 linemen from Texas and other states could restore power to a 15,000-square-mile area just in Texas.
Here’s a small list of things we’ve not seen: rampant looting; reports of assaults and rapes; bullets fired at helicopters and rescue workers; people standing around complaining about FEMA; a general meltdown of society.
Here’s a small list of things we have seen: people clearing their property and repairing their homes; neighbors pooling resources; thousands of volunteers collecting food and clothing with thousands more distributing water and food from social service agencies, churches, and FEMA; a strong and immutable spirit that is Texas, and in reality, that is America.
John David Powell is an award-winning Internet columnist and writer. His email address is johndavidpowell@yahoo.com.
It must be due to the lack of a convention center and domed stadium — that is the only differences between Katrina/LA and Ike/TX, right? (wink wink)
Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Houston Police Department FOX 26 News
HOUSTON -- Many felt disgusted after witnessing looting in the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people dead and victimized. Who would steal at a time like this? According to Houston Police Department officials, more than 75 Houstonians and counting.
At least 81 people have been arrested for looting. The crimes have hit several areas of our city as Ike was making landfall and after the monster storm moved out.
"It's very disheartening because there's enough tragedy to infrastructure,...to the act of a theft," Houston Police Department Capt. Bruce Williams said.
So what did they steal during Ike? Officials say everything from furniture to clothes and even liquor.
Council member Adrian Garcia - a former Houston Police Officer-- says the act is disgusting at best.
"This is horrible when mother nature is upon you and is putting your life in danger and you want to be out there trying to steal from someone else it is unfortunate that someone would have that kind of mindset," he said.
Williams says the criminals - the 81 people - Houstonians accused of trying to steal from Houstonians will be dealt with swiftly and with a firm hand.
This was an image Houston frowned upon in New Orleans but now needs to deal with in it's own backyard.
Who dat? True dat.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083809/posts
(Houston) Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Houston Police Department FOX 26 News
HOUSTON -- Many felt disgusted after witnessing looting in the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people dead and victimized. Who would steal at a time like this? According to Houston Police Department officials, more than 75 Houstonians and counting.
disaster shooting and looting - only in New Orleans and other Third World countries.
“At least 81 people have been arrested for looting. The crimes have hit several areas of our city as Ike was making landfall and after the monster storm moved out.”
What is missing from that story is that total buglaries in Houston are down by about 1/3 of what they normally would be absent the storm. Houston is making singificantly fewer arrests because significantly fewer crimes are occuring.
In Galveston County, with a popultion in excess of 150,000 there were exactly 11 arrests for looting — and three of those were one band of looters.
Not that the news media ever *overstates* a problem.
Standard operating procedure for most people throughout history. Consider it a reminder of how luxurious our society is, and what "normal" is to humanity.
These comparisons are getting SOOO tired. Was Houston under water for weeks and then back under water a second time? Was a vast percentage of the housing there destroyed?
Of course I’m sure that Texas isn’t accepting any government help with this, either. By golly, them Texans will just take care of everything by themselves. Right?
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083809/posts
(Houston) Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Houston Police Department FOX 26 News
You talkin’ ‘bout yourself again? I thought it was just typical California jealousy of Texas causing folks there to trash talk Texas by providing information out of context.
Certainly you seem to be ignorant of things like the difference between Harris and Galveston Counties and the population of the Houston Metropolitan area. Otherwise you could put 81 arrests in . . . you know . . . perspective.
And, as I recall, that story was printed a week after the storm hit. Lessee 81 divided by 7 equals. . .
You talkin’ ‘bout yourself again?
Huh? The fact is there was looting, and other reports have over 150 arrests just in Houston for looting, and those were just the ones that happened to get caught.
If you can't handle the truth, fine, just don't take it out on me. It make ya look really bad.
Nobody is going to state the obvious. 81 arrested around Houston....New Orleans....
Bennin Houston the whole time and heare are my observations:
The churches have indeed stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. My church fed 15,000 people and afterwards was a distribution point for food, water and ice at the rate of about 1,000 per hour. Other churches did as well serving as distribution points and spending their own money for the relief effort. The number of volunteers in this city who have worked distributing food and clearing brush is larger than some European countries.
Centerpoint energy repaired the commercial areas first, particularly the areas that had grocery stores and they were up and running within a few days without a problem. For those who feel that commercial operations should be in charge of distribution, that is exactly what was done and it works so well it is astonishing. The Fema Distribution points have lasted only so long as the nearby commercial areas were inoperable and have been moved within hours of the power coming back on. Kudos to the energy companies and the grocery companies for their spectacular management of this aspect of recovery.
On Saturday at twelve noon, the day after the hurricane passed through, the wind died and people came out of their homes in my neighborhood and shook hands congratulating each other for surviving Ike. A few minutes later, rakes and shovels were out and by Sunday afternoon the neighborhood looked normal except for the piles of brush on right of way, and trees that had fallen into roofs. On Sunday evening we noticed that many fences had been repaired or had been completely replaced with new wood.
The crime rate for the past two weeks has been unusually low and it has simplified the Police’s job dramatically.
Although there has been some friction with Fema, the problems that presented themslves were quickly resolved.
Yesterday, 600 loaded Fema trucks were sent home as they were not needed. I guess Fema was prepared for another Ray Nagin/Kathleen Blanco situation that never materilaized.
The speed with which Houston has rebooted is absolutely astonishing. Galveston and nearby areas are going to require some additional work, but we will git ‘r done.
God has Blessed Texas. And we thank Him for those Blessings.
“By golly, them Texans will just take care of everything by themselves. Right?”
Well, we (Texans and Taxpayers in general) are sure as hell taking care of tens of thousands of Katrina evacuees, 3 years later.
Yeah, we are asking for some Federal assistance. So what?
If you can't handle the truth, fine, just don't take it out on me. It make ya look really bad.”
There were 1,953,631 people living in Houston proper in 2000 There are close to another 500,000 in the immediate metropolitan area. Call it 2.75 million people total in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area. And there were 150 cases of looting since September 12.
Not exactly a crime wave, to my way of thinking. If pointing that out makes me look bad, oh well. I really don't worry about what the microcephaloid think about me. Of course, I am sure that metropolitan areas in California of similar sizes have much, much lower burglary rates than 75 per week.
Those trucks went to Seguin and dumped thousands of pallets of ice on the runway at the air force base to melt. Seriesly.
I have no problem with providing assistance. When something like this happens, people need help.
I was taking a jab at the folks here who would have you believe that Mississippi by golly just picked itself up and went on with no help after Katrina, unlike those crummy Louisianans.
All the Gulf states have GOP governors now - even loosieanna.
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