Ike Death Toll Swells To 25 In Nine States

Millions On Gulf Coast Without Power; Nearly 2,000 Rescued; Houston Under Curfew

(CBS/AP)  The death toll from Hurricane Ike rose to 25 in nine U.S. states Sunday, as rescuers said they had saved nearly 2,000 people from waterlogged streets and splintered houses. Glass-strewn Houston was placed under a weeklong curfew, and millions of people in the storm's path remained in the dark.

Ike killed more than 80 in the Caribbean before reaching the U.S.

As the floodwaters began to recede from the first hurricane to make a direct hit on a major U.S. city since Katrina, authorities planned to go door-to-door into the night to reach an untold number of people across the Texas coast who rode out the storm and were still in their homes, many without power or supplies.

Many of those who did make it to safety boarded buses without knowing where they would end up, and without knowing when they could return to what was left of their homes, if anything.

"I don't know what I'll be coming back to. I have nothing," said Arma Eaglin, 52, who was waiting for a bus to a shelter in San Antonio after leaving her home and wading through chest-deep water with nothing but her clothes. "I'm confused. I don't know what to do."

The hurricane also battered the heart of the U.S. oil industry: Federal officials said Ike destroyed a number of production platforms, though it was too soon to know how seriously it would affect oil and gas prices."

Ike was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved into America's midsection and left more harm in its wake. Roads were closed in Kentucky because of high winds. As far north as Chicago, dozens of people in a suburb had to be evacuated by boat. Two million people were without power in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The death toll from the storm rose to 25 people in nine states. Five were in the hard-hit barrier island city of Galveston, including one body found in a vehicle submerged in floodwater at the airport. Many deaths, however, were outside of Texas as the storm slogged north.

Ike's 110 mph winds and battering waves left Galveston without electricity, gas and basic communications - and officials estimated it may not be restored for a month.

"We want our citizens to stay where they are," a weary Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "Do not come back to Galveston. You cannot live here at this time."

Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city, was reduced to near-paralysis in some places. Power was on in downtown office towers Sunday afternoon, and Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex, was unscathed and remained open. Both places have underground power lines.

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For information on how you can help victims of the storm, visit the following Web sites or call:
The Red Cross (800) RED-CROSS (English) or [phone] (Spanish)
Feeding America [phone]

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Its two airports - including George Bush Intercontinental, one of the busiest in the United States - were set to reopen Monday with limited service, but schools were closed until further notice, and the business district was shuttered.

Authorities said Sunday afternoon that 1,984 people had been rescued, including 394 by air. In addition to people who were literally plucked to safety, the figure includes people who were met by crews as they waded through floodwaters trying to get to dry ground.

Still others chose to remain in their homes along the Texas coast even after the danger of the storm had passed. There was no immediate count Sunday of how many people remained in their homes, or how many were in danger. The Red Cross reported 42,000 people were at state and Red Cross shelters Saturday night.

The search-and-rescue effort was the largest in Texas history, including more than 50 helicopters, 1,500 searchers and teams from federal, state and local agencies.

Once evacuees were safe and dry, there was another problem - where they would go. Some buses went to shelters in San Antonio and Austin. Shelters across Texas scurried to find enough cots, and some arrived with little cash and no idea of what the coming days held.

From the city of Orange alone, near the Louisiana line, more than 700 people sought dry ground - "a Herculean effort to organize a reverse evacuation that nobody had ever planned for," Mayor Brown Claybar said.

Hundreds of people wrapped around a high school in Galveston, some with pets, overstuffed duffel bags and medicine as they waited to board a bus to a shelter. Some didn't know where they were going, and even more didn't know when they could return.

"I have nowhere to go," said Ldyyan Jonjocque, 61, waiting for a bus while holding the leashes of four Australian shepherd dogs. She said she had to leave two dogs behind in her home. She wept as she told of officers rescuing her in a dump truck.

Rescue crews vowed to continue the search until they had knocked on every door, and planned to work through the night for the second day in a row. They were helped by receding floodwaters, but there were constant surprises as people rowed and sloshed through towns.

Two people who took a flat-bottom boat to check on a funeral home in the city of Orange passed by the local cemetery and found dozens of caskets had popped above ground in the floodwaters. Only a chain-link fence kept them from drifting into the surrounding neighborhood.

"I haven't seen any bodies, just caskets," said one of the men, Warren Claybar.

The storm also took a toll in Louisiana, where hundreds of homes were flooded and power outages worsened as the state struggles to recover from Hurricane Gustav, which struck last week.

President George W. Bush made plans to visit the area Tuesday. On his trip to Texas, Bush said he intends to express "the federal government's support - sympathy on the one hand and support on the other - for this recovery effort and rebuilding effort."

The oil industry was trying to find out how severe damage was to at least 10 production platforms destroyed by the storm. Specifics about the size and production capacity of the destroyed platforms were not immediately available, but the damage was to a fraction of the 3,800 platforms in the Gulf. By comparison, Hurricane Katrina destroyed 44 platforms.

As the remnants of the hurricane broke down and streamed northeastward, torrential rain caused flooding and power outages in parts of Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

More rain fell in Chicago on top of 6.6 inches Saturday, and work crews placed 30,000 sandbags along the Chicago River, which was 2 feet above its normal level Sunday. Forty people in suburban Albany Park had to be evacuated by boat.

[credibility2]

Selfish and thoughtless people deliberately disobeyed and didn''t heed the warnings to evacuate, which were mandatory. Now these fools are burdening the rescue systems and placing the rescuers in harm''s way, slowing up any re-establishment and/or assessment process. I think all municipalities should assess charges to individuals who deliberately ignore the mandatory warnings of authorities and not only be forced to pay, but serve time in jail after extensive community service with the clean-up effort.

[mkbjon]

I agree that everyone who ignored the warnings and then needed to be rescued should have to perform community service for an extended period of time. It is not fair to ask others to risk their lives to come out and save those who made foolish decisions.

[mkbjon]

I agree that everyone who ignored the warnings and then needed to be rescued should have to perform community service for an extended period of time. It is not fair to ask others to risk their lives to come out and save those who made foolish decisions.

[mainemade]

They knew it was coming. They were all forewarned..They can deal with the reprocussions of their actions on their own...(in my opinion)!

[qatharms]

I think that people who ignored evacuation orders and then had to be rescued should be billed for the service. They need to be rescued, and it is the right thing to do. However, the need to rescue them means that a lot of other work must wait, and a lot of people put themselves in danger for the hardheads who would not follow instructions. Bill them for what it costs. Maybe next time people will use some common sense.

[blondchic]

At what point does the Federal Government start charging these idiots for their rescue, I mean enough is enough. There was plenty of notice that this monster storm was coming. Get a clue you morons!! And how could anyone put their children through such a traumatic event, are these people just too high on anti depressants, dope, and booze that they just don%u2019t care! These people should be charged with child endangerment and abuse with no questions asked! What a bunch of stupid idiots! Now we have to pay for all this because they just didn%u2019t think it would be this bad?? Give me a break! And to put rescue workers in harm%u2019s way is inexcusable and they should be charged a hefty fine and have to do community service until it is paid off!

[sinaann]

I just don''t understand what part of you need to leave (followed by the exact reasons why you need to leave) are ignored and then the rest of the nation is supposed to listen their "stories" as though they had no clue and please feel sorry for me and my family. Losing your home and belongings is something a lot of people go through and they don''t even have any advanced warning. You choose to live in these high risk areas so when the government (AT ANY LEVEL) tells you you need to leave make what ever arrangements you need yto and get out!!

[legacyabq]

I think the same person logged in under 4 or 5 names and posted the same opinion.. Read carefully, and see if you agree it''s the same author!!
:P

[legacyabq]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/livenow?id=6384042

Here''s a live video news feed from Houston if you''re interested.... Houston is still fully 80% without power, and people are getting nervous about it.. Too bad we laughed at solar in the 70''s, or all houses could be independantly powered by now.. Such a fragile thing to have so many people reliant on centralized, private sources of power like Reliant Energy etc.. Natural events just go to show how sensible it is to go off the grid..

[bobbyduck1]

Oh we got most of them out, and only a few hours after the storm hit. What a shame we couldn''t do that when Katrina hit...oh I forgot, it wasn''t an election year and they were mostly black people and wouldn''t have voted Republican anyhow....what am I thinking????

[xlib]

Just what part of "mandatory evacuation" didn''t these people understand?? It is ridiculous that others have to risk life and limb to save someone who ignores the order. Don''t give me the c^%p "but where would they go??" The area had almost a week to prepare. Living in Florida during a mandatory evacuation we made sure we had fuel in our car, some cash, water,etc,etc. People need to start taking some responsiblity for themselves.

[xlib]

bobbyduck1-Again, you idiot bigots, your black leaders in NO failed miserably. Maybe you neglected to notice the WHITE faces of the Coast Guard who put themselves in harms way to save YOUR black people who ignored the order. Enough of this katrina sh&t!!!!
Thousands were saved by white people.

[txgrouch2006]

Too bad we laughed at solar in the 70''''s, or all houses could be independantly powered by now.. Such a fragile thing to have so many people reliant on centralized, private sources of power like Reliant Energy etc..
Posted by legacyABQ at 08:30 PM : Sep 14, 2008

You''re nuts.

First, it defies the laws of physics for each home to be energy self-sufficient on solar alone. There isn''t enough solar energy falling on the typical residential lot to come CLOSE to meeting the energy needs, even if every photon was converted 100% to electricity.

Second, it makes HUGE sense to centralize a utility like electic power. It allows the most efficient production of power, not only by economies of scale but because of the level of technology that becomes economically feasible only on a large scale.

I just drove around the area where I live to find a grocery store. ALL grocery stores are closed. Only one had electricity, and it was closed anyway.

People are going to start running out of food, even though we have power and water at our houses. This is crazy. How could the infrastructure suffer this much damage from such a mild storm.

Something is really messed up about this.

[txgrouch2006]

While I was driving around looking for a grocery store, I found out how lucky I am. Our neighborhood is one of the VERY FEW with power and water. Just across the highway, that neighborhood is completely dark. No streetlights, even some traffic lights are dark.

The schools are closed until WEDNESDAY for the whole county.

WHAT HAPPENED? We didn''t even get a heavy thunderstorm. Just a strong wind, with a lot of broken tree branches and trees down. We get trees down in a thunderstorm, that''s not unusual. Many homes have fences blown down.

But this shouldn''t have knocked out power for THIS LONG. What would happen if a REAL hurricane came through here?

I''m 20 miles west of Houston. Ike passed over 20 miles east of Houston. That''s FORTY MILES AWAY from the center of a category 2 hurricane.

If Katrina had hit Houston, the whole city would have been shut down for MONTHS.

[pensacola98]

Hey TxGrouch, if you live west of the path where the storm passed through, then you got the easier side of the storm to deal with. The east side always has the harder side and the most damage. Glad to hear that you faired well, but it think your neighgors in Baytown, Mont Bolview, and LaPorte weren''t as fortunate.

[hungry1968]

"Rescue crews canvassing neighborhoods with dump trucks, helicopters and airboats have saved nearly 2,000 residents along the Texas coast who ignored evacuation orders and stayed to face Hurricane Ike, authorities said Sunday."





Every last one of those 2,000 people, should be fined $50,000 for unnecessarily risking the lives of the rescuers.

The NEXT mandatory evacuation, wouldn''t have ANYONE needing to be rescued, because THEN they would actually evacuate.

[boobly2]

While I do not agree with staying in a place like Galveston when a massive storm is coming, I am reading the messages posted here and have a question; Does anyone realize that a rescue person''s job is to rescue?

"These poor rescue personnel", give me a break. These people live for this. No one woke these guys from their *** dream with Jessica Alba and sent them out, they signed up with the intention of doing what they do. To go even farther, people volunteer for this job!

I see many comments like "we should charge for the service", does anyone realize that we are charged for the service? Taxes pay for these measures to be taken. I would much rather see the 20% of my income go to a person trying to make a decent living (coast guard, fire department etc.) doing an honest job they love to do than a politician going on vacation on my tab.

While I am not an "official", I personally know people that worked in Katrina, Rita, and Ike. I was there for the rescue and relief efforts of Hurricane Rita south of Abbevile, LA. I grant you everyone I know and worked with talks about how bad it was but ultimately brags about the experience in the end. They were all there with their own agendas.

[boobly2]

Continued from 1st part of comment below

We all watch the "objective" news that tells us what to think without any other reasoning besides how we individually interpret what they say. As senseless as it may seem to stay in a coastal area with a storm coming, who is anyone to judge another person''s decision. No one can know what is going on in another person''s head.

One could say that writing comments filled with hatred and disgust after reading a news publication that sole purpose is to create panic and only gives a one sided view of a story is "stupid."

Spreading hatred directed towards others is still only a personal opinion.

So yes, lets start charging for the service of rescue. In spite of the trillions the country takes in from taxes and only gives the people that do the work 30 grand a year, if we give the govenment more I am sure the money will get to right person.

I am sure the people in jail for not evacuating will learn there lesson and not come out with a hardened personality and not be more dependent on someone to help them get through life after now having a criminal record.

OOOHH and by the way, this will all take place while Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, and the rest of our fine politicians are spending the week in Barbados with the money that was collected from our punishing the "stupid people."

Mark Babineaux
http://progressyourlife.com

[pensacola98]

When victims are resuced in Florida, they are taken to a shelter and pursuaded or recruited to work and repay a good deed. Most of them will, but some elect not to work. When they are seen again asking for services, they are again recruited until they commit to serve or leave the community and not ask for help again. Most, who do actually serve after they were rescued, make lasting friendships and gain access to a good group of community servants.

Those who rescue, make the best effort to recruit and train more rescuers.

A bored and disconnected soul, who got rescued in 2004, is now an EMT tech who lives on adrenaline making her best effort to assure the survival of those riding in her ambulance. The trauma center recognizes this employee as an extraordinary person and seeks more like her.

Community servants, by their nature alone, make bad situations convert into good ones. Being a hero is not someone elses job. It is ours.

Help wanted - community servants willing to provide hope and encouragement to others through fulfilment of service. Good opportunies possible for lasting friendships made under horrible circumstances. No pay, *** little sleep. Will never need to open their mouth again to prove what they are made of.

Volunteer!! Our brothers and sisters need us in the fourth largest city of this nation!

[bobbyduck1]

bobbyduck1-Again, you idiot bigots, your black leaders in NO failed miserably. Maybe you neglected to notice the WHITE faces of the Coast Guard who put themselves in harms way to save YOUR black people who ignored the order. Enough of this katrina sh&t!!!!
Thousands were saved by white people.


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Posted by Xlib at 09:38 PM : Sep 14, 2008

XLib, I''m white and don''t live in NO. I''m just observant. What happened there would never be allowed in Galveston or LaJolla or Salt Lake City or Malibu or Manhattan. Within hours an entire fleet of every helicopter, boat and what-have-you that you can imagine would be mobilized and within a few more hours everyone visible would be removed to safety. But in a place with the demographics of the lower 9th ward in NO, everybody can just sit and suffer. Especially with King Chimp Bushit in control and an election far away.....

I''m glad they did and are taking care of Galveston, just wish they could act that way even for people who "don''t matter"......you know...Americans????

[twomtns]

reply to
Posted by tuckerndfw at 01:15 AM : Sep 15, 2008
Every last one of those 2,000 people, should be fined $50,000 for unnecessarily risking the lives of the rescuers.

I don''t think they would ever recover the 50k
a large percentage are probably on welfare of
some kind and most of these people didn''t have enough brains to realize just how much danger
they were in
that being said they should all be charged with endangerment and be obliged to do cleanup work

[lewiston14]

txgrouch2006: Glad I found you again. We just got what was left of the cane about 10pm last night and im 3000 miles away. Up to 60mph gusts with trees and wires down in areas. I looked around here this morning and all I got was a bunch of torn leaves, no power loss. 60 mph 1/2 of what you got shows just how powerfull these storms are. Now you look at the maps and its all gone. Must be in the alantic now off radar.

[lewiston14]

txgrouch2006: Here is a funny part. Our city was sending 100 people down to help. I called and asked to be part of it but was told I was to old. Hmm 56 and I cant pass out water, bring somebody a blanket, unload a truck, cook, clean up all in the name of helping. Dont think ill be making that call again.

[vsg4]

Rush Limbaugh to people , global warming, what global warming, bring it on.

Spring early summer, in mid west, in summer gulf coast. This phenomenal is natural, no global warming right wingers.

My sympathies to people affected.