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 Video 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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Video 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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Video 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.
"The whole floor was just opened out," said Paul Norton, 68. Their flag pole kept the house from collapsing on top of them, buying them a few seconds to escape, holding onto the staircase.
"You never know what a hurricane is like until you ride it on a staircase," said Kathi Norton, 47. As she spoke outside the giant, warehouse-like shelter on a former Air Force base in San Antonio, busloads of new evacuees were arriving, bumper to bumper.
The hurricane also battered the heart of the U.S. oil industry as Ike destroyed at least 10 production platforms, officials said. Details about the size and production capacity of the destroyed platforms were not immediately available, but the damage was to only a fraction of the 3,800 platforms in the Gulf.
It was too soon to know how seriously it would affect oil and gas prices.
President Bush said the hurricane's toll on refineries and pipelines is creating "an upward pressure on price" for people at the gas pump.
"There's going to be a pinch," Mr. Bush said after a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts. "I wish it wasn't the case, but it is."
Mr. Bush made plans to visit the area on Tuesday.
Ike was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved north. 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.
Of the 32 dead, five were in the hard-hit barrier island city of Galveston, including one body found in a vehicle submerged in floodwater at the airport. There were two other deaths in Texas and six in Louisiana, including a 16-year-old boy trapped in rising floodwaters. Several were farther inland.
Two golfers died when a tree fell on them in Tennessee. There were two deaths in Indiana; three died in Missouri. One person died in Arkansas and three in Ohio, including two motorcyclists killed when a tree toppled on them at a state park.
Ike killed more than 80 in the Caribbean before reaching the U.S.
Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city, was reduced to near-paralysis in some places. But 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.
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.
Five people were arrested at a pawn shop north of Houston and charged with burglary in what Harris County Sheriff's spokesman Capt. John Martin described as looting, but there was no widespread spike in crime.
Authorities said Sunday afternoon that 1,984 people had been rescued, including 394 by air. Besides people literally plucked to safety, that figure includes people met by crews as they waded through floodwaters trying to find 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 included more than 50 helicopters, and 1,500 searchers and teams from federal, state and local agencies.
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.
Rescue crews vowed to continue the search until they had knocked on every door. They were helped by receding floodwaters, but there were constant surprises as people rowed and sloshed through towns.
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 over Labor Day.
In Hackberry, La., about 15 miles from the coast, workers moved a large shrimp boat out of the highway with a bulldozer, but the team had to stop because of strong currents in the floodwaters and difficulty in seeing the roadway.
Thayne Culbertson, a disabled veteran and commercial fisherman, rode out the storm at a friend's apartment in Galveston. As someone who has been through several hurricanes, he decided to stay behind for Ike in case he could help.
Instead, help had to find him. He was picked up by a helicopter after a toppled utility pole battered the building and windows were blown out. He later boarded a bus to San Antonio.
During the storm, he said, "the sand felt like it was peeling away your skin."
© 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 114 CommentsWith Camille i lOst everythiing was unemployed for a year, was without Electricity for 6 months and toughed it out with a wife and 4 children.
In Fredrick I lost my Home cars and all belongings once again rode the storm out in the Home which came down around us roof flew off and destroyed everything in my community in Dauphin Island No power or amenities for mOnths once again.
galvaston can be releived tghat it was not the Major storm it could have been yet they have suffered in the past 1900''s and 1906 through the 1950''s suffered Major devistation at the hands of a number of storms.
It is a cycle many wish to forget and often do not prepair for so they like all such communities suffer for their last of prepairation.
The governmentr is always slow to get in and take care of residents who stayed I think they do their best most of the time for those like me who have ridden out some of the most Major hurricans in the past half century
I left the Gulf coast and headed west.. No Hurricans but now subject to Earth Quakes far less occurances of those than the yearly Hurricans LOL
Why are we only seeing interviews with the Governors and Mayors from the disaster areas?
When will we be hearing from those miracle working "community organizers" ?
Who needs FEMA when we have them?
Posted by whatisit21
No actually I could care less. If I make you angey tough. Sure would like to know where you work so I phone them about your actions.
Posted by lewiston14 at 08:53 PM : Sep 15, 2008
I spent 2 months in Dallas once. I''ve got news for you. The weather in Dallas is WORSE than Houston.
It''s hotter, colder, windier, wetter, dryer, the thunderclouds are darker, and there are WAY more tornadoes. There was at least one almost every week I was there.
You know you''re in Dallas when ALL of the flags are sticking STRAIGHT out, ALL DAY.
The only thing worse about Houston is the humidity. AND THAT''S WHAT EVERYBODY FROM DALLAS COMPLAINS ABOUT as soon as they arrive in Houston. They say "Getting out of the plane was like stepping into a SAUNA! How do you guys STAND this humidity?"
When I go to Dallas someday, I want to say "Getting out of the plane was like stepping into an oven, a freezer, a blender, a giant hair dryer..." But they wouldn''t listen, they''re too busy getting drunk and hitting on the girl next to them. Which is ALL anyone in Dallas ever does, besides go to work.
Then sometime I''ll tell you about Austin - the California of Texas.
Posted by cdfoxtrot3 at 08:48 PM : Sep 15, 2008
Same back at you, partner. God bless you, and may the big storms pass you by.
Posted by lewiston14 at 08:40 PM : Sep 15, 2008
Sorry! :-) I guess NO PLACE is safe to live.
What do these "no pity for Texas" posters think? Should we just ABANDON EVERYPLACE because there might be a thunderstorm??? LOL!
Guess what, sissy boys. LIFE IS HARD. Get over it.
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