GALVESTON, Tex., Sept. 15, 2008
Devastated Texans Struggle To Recover
Hurricane Ike Survivors Contend With Devastation, Shortages, Blackouts; Death Toll Rises
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A beachfront home stands among the debris in Gilchrist, Texas on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Smiley N. Pool)
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Motorists line up to get gas in Houston, Monday, Sept. 15, 2008. The shutdown of Gulf refineries sent wholesale gasoline prices spiking last week; prices at the pump rose over $4 a gallon in several states. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Members of the National Guard return a casket vault back to the Hollywood Cemetery in Orange, Texas, Sept. 15, 2008. Flooding has caused the vault to float from its gravesite and come to rest on a nearby roadway. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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A search and rescue worker patrols the Sabine Pass area of Port Arthur, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 following Hurricane Ike. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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Dianne Hart recovers remnants of her grandmother's china at her destroyed home in Oak Island, Texas, Sept. 14, 2008. Hurricane Ike destroyed approximately 98 percent of the homes in the small community on the shore of Trinity Bay. (AP/Earl Nottingham, Texas PWD)
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Play CBS Video
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Ike's Trail Of Misery
Hurricane Ike left a trail of misery from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest. At least 34 deaths are blamed on the storm and more than 3.8 million people remain without power. Mark Strassmann reports.
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Houston Reels From Hurricane
Houston officials are racing to assist residents who have been severely affected by the Hurricane Ike. As Hari Sreenivasan reports, some could be without electricity for the next month.
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Galveston Faces Massive Damage
Hurricane Ike has left a trail of destruction throughout the tourism-driven town of Galveston, Tex. "The Early Show" weather anchor Dave Price examines some of the hardest hit areas.
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Photo Essay
Ike Smashes Texas
Giant hurricane roars over Galveston, Houston
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Interactive
Hurricane Ike
The gigantic storm pummeled the Texas Gulf Coast.
It could be weeks until the more than 2 million customers without power in the Houston area have their lights turned on again.
Galveston has no drinking water, electricity, gas or sewer. The bridge connecting the island is closed to anyone trying to get onto the island, and may remain closed for another week. The causeway also was damaged during the storm; engineers are still assessing its structural stability.
A massive effort is underway across the state to get food, water and ice to people who had no electricity - and efforts to distribute relief supplies are being criticized as slow.
Throughout the area, lines snaked for blocks at gas stations that had little if any gasoline to pump. People trying to run gas-powered generators came up short.
Thousands packed shelters looking for dry places to sleep.
"Quite frankly we are reaching a health crisis for the people who remain on the island," said Steve LeBlanc, the city manager in Galveston, where at least a third of the community's 60,000
residents remained in their homes.
With no services and flooded conditions hampering rescue crews from accessing residents, with gas connections being shut off to avoid fires, and with mosquitoes on the rise, Galvestonians who stayed are being urged to leave.
In Ike's aftermath, the first priority is still search and rescue, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.
In Galveston, teams are going house to house, building to building in battered neighborhoods.
The victims, some stranded, were so relieved when help arrived. Elderly and disabled residents, surviving for three days without power or water, finally, they were leaving for San Antonio.
But Bee DeVaney was losing it, Strassmann reports. On the second floor, her husband Brian, in his wheelchair, was stuck.
"I'm scared," DeVaney said. "That's why I'm shaking. I've been crying all night. Just panicked about what I can do to help. I feel helpless."
With no electricity, the elevators weren't running. So the DeVaneys fretted.
Meanwhile, wherever Ike smashed Texas, for hundreds of miles, the essentials - power, water, gasoline and patience - are all in short supply.
In Houston, victims lined up for food. Many people here will have to do without power for weeks.
"I've been prepared for this," said David Garza. "But not for a month."
In most hard-hit areas, victims were told to stay away, Strassmann reports.
On Monday rescuers flew into Bolivar Peninsula, a hard-to-reach barrier island just east of Galveston, and uncovered a devastated landscape: Hurricane Ike had swamped entire subdivisons, and emergency crews feared they would find more victims than survivors.
Homes were splintered or completely washed away in the beachfront community that is home to about 30,000 people in the peak summer season.
"They had a lot of devastation over there," task force leader Chuck Jones said. "It took a direct hit."
Jones did not have information on whether anyone had died on the island, mainly because leaders still don't know how many people stayed through the storm that struck early Saturday.
Of particular concern is a resident who collects exotic animals who is now holed up in a Baptist church with his pet lion. "We're not going in there," Jones said. "We know where he (the lion) is on the food chain."
All along the Texas coast, rescue crews engaged in the biggest search and rescue operation in Texas history went houses-to-house for survivors. More than 2,000 people have been rescued since Ike roared ashore.
One 90-year-old woman was found alone in her apartment, badly dehydrated, her heart racing. Doctors said just one more day undiscovered, she would have died.
Emergency and search teams found five bodies on this island on Sunday. When they get into this island's low-lying West end, they are apprehensive they could find more bodies of people who defied a mandatory evacuation order.
After rampaging through Texas, Ike dumped as much as 6 to 8 inches of rain on parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, spawned a tornado in Arkansas that damaged several buildings, and delivered hurricane-force wind to Ohio. Missouri had widespread flooding. More than a million homes in the Midwest are without power.
"I Have Nowhere To Go"
The death toll from Ike rose to 32, but many of those were far to the north of the Gulf Coast as the storm slogged across America's midsection, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction. Glass-strewn Houston was placed under a weeklong curfew, and millions of people in the storm's path remained in the dark.
Rescuers said they had saved nearly 2,000 people from waterlogged streets and splintered houses by Sunday afternoon. Many had ignored evacuation orders and tried to ride out the storm. Now they were boarding buses for indefinite stays at shelters in San Antonio and Austin.
"I have nowhere to go," said Ldyyan Jonjocque, 61, waiting for a bus while holding the leashes of her 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.
(CBS)
In hard-hit towns like Orange, Bridge City and Galveston, authorities searched door-to-door into the night, hoping to reach an untold number of people still in their homes, many without power or supplies.
A line of at least 30 cars formed early Monday at a strip mall in Orange, a Texas town on the Louisiana state line east of Beaumont, a day after food and water were distributed there by the National Guard. But the line dispersed after state troopers told the gathering that supplies would be passed out elsewhere.
Wanda Hamor, 49, of Orange, had been fifth in line with her 21-year-old son William. They were trapped in their house by floodwaters until Monday morning before they could venture out.
They had run out of food Sunday night. They left for Gustav and say they couldn't afford to leave for Ike or buy any more than $60 in food.
"He's diabetic and he has to eat four times a day," she said of her son.
Many of those who did make it to safety boarded buses without knowing where they were going or when they could return to what might remain of their homes. Shelters across Texas scurried to find enough cots, and some evacuees arrived with little cash and no idea of what the coming days held.
Only one out of four Houstonians has power. As of 8 p.m. last night, according to CenterPoint Energy, electricity has been restored to 380,000 customers, meaning 1.72 million customers were still in the dark.
In Houston, tensions were rising among more than 1,000 who had spent several nights at the George R. Brown Convention Center. They complained that they couldn't get information about how to get food and clean clothes. The city's mayor said only 1,300 people were inside, but those sleeping on cots said it felt like thousands.
Lines snaked down side streets at gas stations that had little fuel to sell. Some looked like parking lots. At sites distributing water, ice and prepackaged meals, people stood on foot for hours waiting for anything they could take home.
Michael Stevenson, 37, had wandered from shelter to shelter since the storm struck before ending up at the convention center. At one shelter, he said, he barely ate.
"They give you a little cup of water every four hours. They feed us one peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We were in there for about 18 hours before we could go outside and get some air," he said.
Steve McCraw, the state homeland security director, said there were at least 284 mass shelters in Texas. He said there were more than 37,000 evacuees but noted that number "fluctuates from day to day."
"A very major operational priority is taking care of them, including moving water, food (and) ice as quickly as we can into those areas," said McCraw.
In Austin, more than half of the evacuees who had sought shelter from Ike have since left, but authorities can't say for sure where they are now.
Sara Hartley, emergency operations spokeswoman for the city of Austin, said there were 6,200 evacuees at the peak of sheltering operations that began before Ike hit. Now there are only 2,700, prompting authorities to begin consolidating shelters. There are currently eight shelters open in the city, down from 23, she said.
But as some caregivers begin to see evacuees leaving their safe havens, Gov. Rick Perry is warning residents not to return to the devastation in the hard-hit areas of southeast Texas. He said first responders and emergency workers are too busy to deal with returning evacuees.
"Do not come back into the impacted area until the officials ... have given that all-clear," Perry said at a news conference in Orange. "Stay where you are."
Most area schools are closed through Tuesday or Wednesday at the least; some, including school districts in Goose Creek, La Porte, Pasadena, Hitchcock and Texas City, are closed "indefinitely."
The Finger-Pointing Starts
Despite television images over the weekend of trucks carrying supplies heading toward the Texas coast, there have been complaints of a lack of food and water, not just for hurricane survivors and evacuees but for rescue crews.
Hundreds of first responders at two Texas staging areas for Hurricane Ike have run out of food and water.
Rep. John Culberson (R- Tex.) said Sunday that 300 National Guardsmen, state troopers and other emergency workers are going hungry at a high-school football stadium - and at another staging area on Houston's west side.
Culberson blamed FEMA for the gaffe and says he tried to contact Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who is touring flood-stricken areas of Texas.
Culberson says several buses full of gas are sitting idle at the stadium while crews await instructions. He called on area residents to take food and water to the crews at the stadium - despite official warnings for people to stay off Houston roads.
Federal officials were on the defensive Sunday when asked about delays in getting aid to those in need, and those trying to help.
Part of the problem was the establishment of distribution areas.
Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Tex.) told the Houston Chronicle that he had been told by FEMA officials before Ike made landfall that food and water were already staged ay Ellington Air National Guard base in Houston.
"Now it's 'on the way'? That doesn't make any sense to me," Lampson told the Chornicle. "The storm's been over for 30 hours."
Lampson later expressed the frustration of residents in his district who struggle in the storm's aftermath. "For them not to have the ability to recover from that, to find a tarp in the town in which they live or anywhere around it, I don't understand, and I'm just as frustrated as the many people who have called my office or talked to me as I've traveled this Congressional District; I'm angry about and there truly needs to be some change."
He said he'd asked Chertoff to "please see that somebody's head rolls in these decisions."
At a press conference Sunday, Chertoff said city and county officials in the Houston area asked FEMA to take over responsibility of establishing distribution points for supplies, "so that was somewhat of an unexpected challenge."
"I'm not blaming anybody, I understand, you know things come up, is that we were asked to take on the responsibility of actually getting them to the points of distribution and manning the points of distribution.
"This is not about a screw-up."
Disabled Elderly Abandoned During Storm
An investigation is planned into why staff at a public housing complex in Houston apparently left elderly residents without care overnight during Hurricane Ike.
Gov. Perry says many of the residents of the federally subsidized Independence Hall complex have medical problems and needed help.
After residents complained, a FEMA task force showed up at 2 o'clock Sunday morning and checked on them. The agency says they checked again during daylight hours and that residents who wanted to leave were taken to a shelter at a convention centre.
Even for those who still have a home to go to, Ike's 110 mph winds and battering waves left thousands in coastal areas 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," said a weary Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. "Do not come back to Galveston. You cannot live here at this time."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 113 CommentsPosted by AmericaBiker
Most American Bikers I know are some of the first to volunteer to help their fellow man in times of crisis. You do not deserve to use that screenname.
Welcome back JD and well said. This country cannot afford the GOPig version of Government any more. Trickle down economics never did work, and as of this weekend, maybe even the mega greedy/rich will have figured this out with the fall of Lehman and Merrill.
What a TWIT! First, this discussion has no place in the discussion forum for the hurricane. Second, the banking problems have nothing to do with any governemnt financial policies. They are the result of ill conceived, short-sighted, lemminglike decisions within the banking industry, as each raced the other to make more loans ... without making sure they were good loans.
Clinton never had ANYTHING close to Katrina during his terms, and FEMA did not respond at that time in the manner they were expected to after Katrina. Their role at that time was to provide financial assistance after the fact, not be on the scene 30 seconds after the event to pass out water.
When was the last time you bought beachfront property?
These are "poor" people.
Besides it''s their lifestyle and we should NOT have to bail them out with our tax dollars
Posted by jaydee102
You talked about Hurricane Floyd and went on to blame the Republicans as the Sociopath party. Hurrican Floyd happened in 1999; that was during the Clinton Administration.
Posted by jaydee102
It''s not too late, you can still stay off line.
Posted by IrishWench
Well, I wouldn''t live in a bowl below sea level surrounded by water, and I wouldn''t live on a barrier island made of sand. Oh, yea, I don''t live in either of those places. Now, I do recognize that every area has its possible hazzards. I am very blessed that in 58 years, I haven''t been in a tornado or a hurricane.
Posted by jaydee102
If the sole goal of the GOP is the elimination of the free market, what do you call what it is that Obama wants? He is the most liberal, left-wing politician who has ever run for President of the United States. He wants to redistribute wealth. I''m stating a fact; I''m not complaining. Under his plan (if it actually works) I will not lose anything--maybe I will receive something. However, I don''t believe in socialism, or communism. I do believe in helping people less fortunate than myself and, in fact, I have been helped on more than one occasion. I also volunteer to help others. I just don''t believe it is the role or the entire responsibility of the federal government to take over everyone''s state of well being. Talk about elimination of free trade, if that isn''t the elimination of free trade, what is?
" . . Two golfers died when a tree fell on them in Tennessee. . . ."
Two, tree, "Fore!"
Was nothing learned with Katrina??
Posted by candy-apple at 09:49 AM
Yes, the officials learned the "CYA" system.
Fingerpointing is at a minimum, and the news
is kept at bay.
Mum is the word.
It is (at least they think it is) after all,
Bush country.
I''m sure FEMA has told these fools
that help is on the way.
(It takes a long time to get to Houston on
covered wagons.)
And I''m sure the smart "officials" (politicians)
have told everyone that everything is cool.
They risked not only their lives but those of the people who rescued them!
ARROGANT MORONS!
My question is why is the government is expected to help when individuals are unwilling to help themselves?
Posted by rhs648 at 11:54 AM
Get over it.
The government helps YOU all the time and
no one whines about you being stupid.
This is why YOU can call the police, fire, and
also call for emergency medical help from the
GOVERNMENT.
In some respect we all live on the coast.
Now go out and row your boat.
New England often has ice and snow storms and cold winters - can''t live there.
East Coast and Gulf Coasts have hurricanes - can''t live there.
Mid-West and the South has tornadoes and dangerous thunderstorms - can''t live there.
Rocky mountains have forest fires - can''t live there.
North West has volcanoes - can''t live there.
California''s the worst of course with earthquakes, forest fires, mudslides, Pacifc storms - absolutely can''t live there.
Answer - give the US back to the Indians and leave!!!
ARROGANT MORONS!
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Posted by MissSuZQ at 12:00 PM : Sep 15, 2008
The rescue worker pictured above, doesn''t look all that threatened.
They live in a resort area, beach front poperty.
Why should we have to pay to their Million dollars homes and support thier poor choices.
Did you see all the the Yacht''s floating down the streets.
Take a close look at how under privileged these people standing in line look.
Take a look at the poor people of Haiti.
Liberals don%u2019t realize how good America is even in bad times
I guess that is why it is called a "barrier island". The blame for this hardship is on the investors who developed this area. This is especially true in light of the lessons that should have been learned from the early 1900s hurricane.
Posted by troutfisher4
Last time a hurricane hit Galveston was 1900 - how many thousands of people could lived all their lives there and never saw one? How many millions will have lived in San Francisco or LA between the last "Big one" and the next? How many thousands of people have lived in Indiana, So. Illinois and Missouri and not seen the equivalent of the 1925 tri-state tornado? Thing is for any single place the odds of getting hit are pretty small, while the chance of SOMEWHERE on the South or East Coast being hit by a hurricane every year is certain. If a single place got hit every year you''d be dumb to live there, obviously but it''s the lightening never strikes twice attitude that gets people moving back.
Have to say though, you had to be nuts not to have left Galveston after all the warnings.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I wouldn''t be so sure. Exactly how much did New Orleans contribute prior to the Katrina effort?
I live in a state that has said we will take no more evacuees. We are still restocking and repairing after the last wave. When you come into another area as an evacuee, you are a guest and you should know how to behave. Unfortunately, the crime rate goes up (if you have any doubts, check on the Houston crime rate after taking in Katrina evacuees) and disrespect for other''s property becomes commonplace.
They live in a resort area, beach front poperty.
Why should we have to pay to their Million dollars homes and support thier poor choices.
Did you see all the the Yacht''''s floating down the streets.
Take a close look at how under privileged these people standing in line look.
Take a look at the poor people of Haiti.
Liberals don%u2019t realize how good America is even in bad times
Posted by republic1776
Wow you really are an ***. Where do you live so I can make sure I don''t donate to the Red Cross the next time a disaster hits your precious plot. I''ll bet all the shrimp fishermen who lost their boats and homes along the Louisuana Coast are just rollong in it. The 9th ward in N.O. still hasn''t been rebuilt - looks a lot like Haiti actually. What about all the retired folk in Galveston who couldn''t move away on their own. You''re just absolutely typical of the "I''m alright Jack" attitude of the nouveau riche GOPig on the backs of whom this country was NOT built.
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Posted by daffy64 at 12:40 PM : Sep 15, 2008
Did they call it Global Warming, back in 1900 when Galveston wiped out then?
I think not, So it shouldn''t be called that now.
It is called weather though.
Instead of expressing your stupid opinions....come help...or donate. Imagine no water, food, gas, electric....no nothing for weeks. Trust me you can''t!
We didn''t ask for this.
HOUSTON, TEXAS
HOUSTON, TEXAS" Posted by ses1299
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of us who contribute to global warming DID ask for this. We have been told, repeatedly, that these super storms are going to be the norm.
Meanwhile, you have my sympathy and my suggestion that you move further in land (I understand Austin wasn''t touched). This storm is the first, not the last of it''s kind.
Posted by AmericaBiker
I''ll be saying the exact same thing when your single-wide gets wrapped around the nearest tree the next time a tornado hits Hicksville, TN. (Please note that this comment is directed at the moron named above, not all the denizens of Hicksville, TN).
Now the government has outlawed "price gouging" and you cannot buy supplies at any price. People are complaining that they don''t even have food and water, but what do they expect? They have thrown themselves at the mercy of the government, and the government has no profit motive to help them.
You may not like profiteers, but at least you had a choice when they were around. Now your only option is every man for himself and dog eat dog. This is socialism at its best.
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Posted by daffy64
I second that thought.
This is only going to get worst as I have said most of my life is in Florida along the coast and it is getting worst in fact the last few have been so bad even I left the area when the storms hit. Wilma and the two that hit Stuart. But then again I love living in Florida and it is the price we pay.
Once again Texas stay safe.
(by the way... I lost everything during Katrina.... I learned my lesson the hard way!!! but I was still smart enough to get out of town!!)
I did not say the red cross.
I said tax dollars.
Don''t compare rich folk of a resort town of texas to a shanty New Orleans.
ARROGANT MORONS! Posted by MissSuZQ at 12:00 PM : Sep 15, 2008
The rescue worker pictured above, doesn''''t look all that threatened. Posted by slim1h2o
Good picture then, as you know that there have been many times in the past, where people think they are above Mother Nature, even with a history of what can go terribly wrong.
They DID risk lives of rescuers, themselves and their families by not leaving and thereby forcing others to take care of them because of either arrogance or ignorance.
Rebuild the million dollar home.
When you visit since it''s so "upscale" they will charge you $6 for a hotdog.
In anothe 15 years it will happen again.
you are an idiot.....parrots121.
And my post wasn''t even directed at you....
you are stupid.
And we don''t need your hand out either!
Texas can handle Texas...oh, but wait YOU need
OUR refineries to process YOUR gasoline.
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Posted by MissSuZQ at 01:28 PM : Sep 15, 2008
Well I suppose they did put them in danger. But what about the volunteer firemen, and women, who put their lives in danger everyday in this country for you and other citizens?
Are you going to call fire victims arrogant, stupid, because they had a house fire? Of course the house fire may very well have been caused by ignorance, but that''s beside the point.
We have rescue personnel in this country for a reason, don''t you think?
Now I have no problem with people living on the coast. But I do have a problem with people building expensive homes and other buildings, and expect the American taxpayer to bail them out. After all, we do need people living on the coast, like fisherman, and people who work the ports, and oil refineries. Those businesses will not work at any other location, but on the coast.
So in short, we need people on the coast.
Rebuild the million dollar home.
When you visit since it''''s so "upscale" they will charge you $6 for a hotdog.
In anothe 15 years it will happen again.
Posted by republic1776
God, you''re a worse GOPig ******** than I thought. Check out below
Census 2000: The median income for a household in the city (of Galveston) was $28,895, and the median income for a family was $35,049. Males had a median income of $30,150 versus $26,030 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,275. About 17.8% of families and 22.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 14.2% of those age 65 or over.
Doesn''t sound like a "rich resort town" to me. At least try to get some facts into brainless dome before you advertize just how dumb you are.
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Posted by daffy64 at 01:51 PM : Sep 15, 2008
Huh? What!???!
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Posted by IrishWench at 01:59 PM : Sep 15, 2008
Not sure how to take your post, but yes,, we need people there too.
We need to have people work the forests, Loggers. We need people to fish the streams, so others can do other jobs that they are trained for, to help this country function.
But what we need is, for people to take into consideration where they live, and build accordingly.
Building large and expensive homes where there''s a high risk of natural disasters, seems stupid to me. But hey!, if thats what they want, fine.
Just don''t expect the American taxpayer to bail you out on your multi-million dollar home when it gets destroyed.
Sounds fairly simple, and straight forward. Doesn''t it?
Put it this way: If you lost a loved one who was someone who helped others, wouldn''t you be angry had they died trying to save someone who had the arrogance and ignorance to disobey instructions?
Just because they are in that line of work does not mean that they hope they get hurt or die trying.
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Posted by IrishWench at 02:33 PM : Sep 15, 2008
Yes I agree with you too. And it sounds like you have done a fine job of being a good caretaker of mother earth.
I was thinking you were agreeing,but wasn''t sure. But we do need loggers, fisherman,,etc ,, etc,, I think we do have to maintain our surroundings, naturally if we can. And you know what I mean by that.
But too, I think we will need people living in high risk areas. Because what other people may want or need. But like you said, and I said, we can reduce the loss of money, lives, and homes, if we do it the smart way. And live in harmoney with nature, as opposed to it. Like you pointed out.
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Posted by Edward1975 at 02:45 PM : Sep 15, 2008
It''s not just in the midwest, but the northeast was battered this morning by the high winds of Ike.
Schools closed, power was out, tree limbs are down.
Lets face it, there''s no safe place to live. The sooner that some people on here realises that, the better for all.
But we do need to find better ways of living with nature.
And not against it. I can''t believe that someone in this day and age, needs to say that. I would have thought by now we would have come to grips with that thinking.
I guess not though, sheesh!
NiftyNana
Having lived there, I just have to LAUGH at that!
With few exceptions, Texas is nothing but a mass of inbred redneck cowboy wannabees with a giant chip on their shoulder. When I lived there, 4 out of 5 fifth graders did not even know what "Texas" was! (Is it a city, a state, a country, a farm animal, the corner grocery store? -- they had NO CLUE!) This, despite the fact that the outline of Texas is displayed EVERYWHERE in Texas-- you can''t go 5 seconds with your eyes open without seeing a picture of Texas when in Texas! People drove around in pickups with loaded guns, drinking beer! Business men all drove around in the 110+ degrees in air-conditioned limos, wearing 3 piece wool suits and 10 gallon hats. Everyone bragged about how "THE CONSTITUTION says we can seceed", not understanding that Federal Law supercedes state law, so it is a meaningless statement. None of them have ANY CLUE that they LOST at the Alamo-- they think their big heroes saved the day! Alone in a room with only one other person, a Texan will look directly at you and say, "Y''all" (You All)-- they can''t even count!
Texas, PLEASE secede! You''ll ENJOY becoming part of Mexico!
Posted by mytoosense
True Texans can''t stand Bush either. He claims to be from Texas but he was born in New Haven, CT.
Posted by IDNNSG
I''ve never lived in TX, but I have visted Houston a number of times on business. I''ve always found the people friendly warm and in favor of having a real good time. There is one exception - the freeways. When you get cut off and you can be pretty durn certain that the guy in the pick-up has some sort of weaponary on board, the immediate response is quickly muted to a motion to turn up the radio and live and let live.
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