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.
Those trucks went to Seguin and dumped thousands of pallets of ice on the runway at the air force base to melt. Seriesly.