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Galveston residents return after Ike, find ruins
They are greeted by snakes, mosquitoes, rotting carcasses
AP Photo
Brenda Roby (left) hugs her neighbor Donna Hanson as they stand in what remains of Hanson's home in Galveston, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
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Published: September 25, 2008
GALVESTON, Texas
Ten days after Hurricane Ike, this devastated beach town reopened to residents yesterday with warnings about what still lurks on the island -- rotting cattle carcasses, snakes and swarms of mosquitoes -- and what is not there: drinking water, reliable electricity, medical care or sewer service.
After spending hours in traffic that backed up for 10 miles, some residents found their homes in ruins.
"I wasn't prepared for this," taxi driver Patricia Davis said as she waved away mosquitoes and surveyed the remains of her apartment, its entrance blocked by collapsed walls, wrecked furniture and sodden clothing.
City officials hoped that most of the 45,000 residents who fled before the Sept. 13 storm would stay away until more repairs could be made.
"We didn't promise paradise when you came back here," City Manager Steve LeBlanc said yesterday. "We've got a lot of work to do. You've got a lot of work to do."
The city has limited drinking water, few working sewers, limited electricity and minimal medical outlets. Officials extended the disaster declaration for 90 days.
What Galveston does have is ripening in the tropical heat: rotting food in piles of debris where houses once stood, millions of mosquitoes, and an abundance of snakes. The carcasses of cattle that drowned during the storm are too badly decomposed to be moved; they will rot in the fields just outside the city limits.
People were advised not to return without tetanus shots -- or rat bait.
"Being here today kind of gives me some closure," said Anita Arredondo, who found a pile of rubble where her two-story home once stood.
"I have not been sleeping well, worried about what we could save and what we couldn't."
Ken Holman said he wished that city leaders had allowed residents to return sooner because it might have allowed him to salvage more of his mother's belongings from the house that she lived in for 56 years. The home was inundated by 4 feet of water.
"Just the fact it took us this long to get in here, that kind of hurts," he said.
The city has opened a shelter for 100 newly homeless residents, and officials hoped to set up more shelters on the mainland for residents whose homes are uninhabitable, LeBlanc said.
The city and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are considering a plan to allow residents to live in FEMA trailers in their driveways or near their houses during repairs. But LeBlanc said he would want all trailers removed from the island before the start of the 2009 hurricane season.
But progress was slow: The island's three electrical inspectors and two plumbing inspectors were ordered to inspect every flooded property before allowing residents to turn on the gas or flip an electrical switch. LeBlanc asked other cities to send more inspectors.
"It's not a healthy and safe place to be at this time," said Mark Guidry, the county health director.
At Ruby Holman's house, where the waterline stained the walls 4 feet above the floor, daughters Sharon and Ann wore gloves and masks as they carried away buckets of debris, including prized books.
The carpet inside Holman's home was so wet that everyone's shoes got soaked.
The air inside the house was so choked with mold and mildew that visits has to be restricted to only a few minutes at a time.
Diane and Eddie Howard found that one of their homes, bought only three weeks ago, had been destroyed by a fire after the storm.
The other home, which they are trying to sell, was flooded by 8 feet of water, ruining the first floor but sparing many of their personal belongings on the second and third floors.
"I've been through all kinds of hurricanes," said Eddie Howard, who was born on the island 77 years ago. "This is the worst one."
At least 62 deaths, 27 of them in Texas, were attributed to the Category 2 hurricane and its remnants.
The body of a woman who apparently drowned was uncovered in a debris field north of Galveston. Nearly 50 residents are still missing, LeBlanc said.
About 45,000 of the city's 57,000 residents fled Galveston Island, about 50 miles southeast of Houston, along with hundreds of thousands more from other sections of the Texas coast.
Residents of the island's most severely damaged area, on the island's west end, were allowed to visit their homes but were not allowed to stay.
Gov. Rick Perry toured damaged areas yesterday and announced a rental-assistance program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help hurricane victims.
In Austin, legislators preparing for the legislative session beginning in January were told to prepare for the cost of the cleanup.
Texas' insurance commissioner told legislators that victims have filed nearly 50,000 insurance claims so far, and that figure could reach 300,000 claims, potentially putting a handful of companies at financial risk.
Commissioner Mike Geeslin said that the state-chartered Texas Windstorm Insurance Association could see its total claim losses reach $4 billion, and overall hurricane damage is likely to go higher.
Those losses would lead to an estimated drain of $400 million a year on the state budget, as insurance companies recoup some of their windstorm-fund payments through tax credits.
Arredondo, whose home was destroyed, salvaged what she could: clothes, a few photographs, some jewelry and -- to her surprise -- most of her 35-year-old set of china.
"I'm looking at this, and I just don't know," said Arredondo, 58, who works at a golf course.
"I just can't get over this. It's a shock.
"I could sit here and cry, but oh, well. We just have to make it day by day. We'll be all right."
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