Galveston Lays Out Ike Recovery Plan

45,000 Residents Will Return Next Week In Phases As Crews Work To Restore Basic Services

(CBS/AP)  Authorities laid out a plan Friday - a week after Hurricane Ike began lashing the Texas coast with 110-mph winds and relentless storm surge - to let about 45,000 anxious evacuees back onto Galveston Island for good.

It will be another week before that happens, however, as crews were only beginning to get basic services restored on the crippled barrier island.

A lone pump was back on at a gas station about two blocks behind the Galveston seawall Friday. Cell phone service was mostly restored and power was gradually coming back on.

Residents will be allowed to return in phases, starting from the least damaged areas, primarily behind the seawall on the east side of the island, then gradually out to the heavily damaged west end, city manager Steve LeBlanc said.

About 90 people a day were being treated for minor injuries at the University of Texas Medical Branch, but the island's only hospital was still days or weeks away from admitting people. About 14 people a day with more serious injuries had been sent by ambulance or helicopter to hospitals on the mainland, and health officials cautioned that the island was still vulnerable to disease.

"If our residents are injured severely, we just don't have a good capacity to care for them today," hospital president David Callendar said. "It will really be some time before Galveston is what I would say, in my own words, a healthy enough place to sustain a population."

Another obstacle to reopening the island is its crippled water system. More water is flowing out of the city's pipes than is flowing in.

"Our water system is bleeding," LeBlanc said.

Still, on Thursday Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas struck a defiant tone saying "the city of Galveston is not in ruins."

Authorities have long since finished searching for bodies on Galveston Island and the worse-off Bolivar Peninsula, though they cautioned more could be found. Authorities had blamed 57 deaths in the U.S. on Ike, 23 of them in Texas.

County Judge Jim Yarbrough, the county's highest elected official, said 60 state troopers were patrolling the heavily damaged peninsula.

"That additional security would at least give some comfort to people who are worried about looters," he said.

While an evacuation order is still in effect for about 80 percent of Bolivar Peninsula, Yarbrough backed off his vow earlier this week to forcefully remove residents if necessary to clear the way for repair teams. So many people already left on their own - only about 35 remain - and with better access to the peninsula officials are able to get those people the food, water and supplies they need.

Authorities plan to allow residents back to the peninsula next week to examine their property. Because the main road is impassible in many spots, they'll load people up in dump trucks and other heavy vehicles.

State Rep. Craig Eiland, who represents Galveston, said officials are trying to gather the thousands of cattle that have been roaming free since the storm surge receded. The water that remains is so salty it could kill animals that drink it, and the grass they would normally eat likewise has been tainted, he said.

About 1.5 million customers remained without power statewide, including more than half of the Houston area. The power was back on for nearly 1 million customers in the metro region, however, and life looked increasingly normal in the nation's fourth-largest city. More stores were open, and police reopened downtown streets that they had blocked off after the storm blew out skyscraper windows.

NASA said Friday that flight control of the International Space Station was returning to the Johnson Space Center, which shut down a few days before Ike's strike but did not sustain significant damage.

More than 1 million people evacuated the Texas coast as Ike steamed across the Gulf of Mexico. Gov. Rick Perry said 20,500 people were still staying in 190 shelters Friday. About 135,500 families had qualified for government-funded hotels, though less than 9,000 were checked in, said Richard Scorza, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The federal relief effort has delivered hundreds of trucks of ice, water and food to more than 5 million people in the region.

Among those accepting a hand was Cheryl Harwell, who holed up in an empty hotel as Ike devastated the Bolivar Peninsula community of Crystal Beach. She ignored a mandatory evacuation order last week and suggested she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"I got everything I need here," said Harwell, 50, as she sat on the hotel's second-floor balcony with her husband and a friend.

Destruction surrounded them, but their second-floor abode was dry and tidy, complete with clean linen, bottled water and beer.

"We're happy here," said Harwell's husband, Armando Briones. "We've got plenty of cigarettes and plenty of food."

If they need something, they simply flag down the National Guard, which has been making daily checks.

[lbbh1]

I am so relieved that the Hartwells and their friend are comfortable and have the National Guard available to make beer and cigarette runs for them. I suppose they would remain inside a burning building and expect a firefighter to risk his/her life to rescue them. Hope utterly self-absorbing! Mom and dad must be sooooo proud!

[starleo146]

I hear nothing but stench, smell, no electricity, no water, no food , This very reminiscent of Katrina I guess eveything over stage one the government can''t handle it.

[slim1h2o]

lewiston14 at 11:58 AM : Sep 20, 2008

Your welcome lewiston,,,yes I do miss those apples,,I used to do just that ,,right off the trees,,and the sweet corn,,man oh man,,it''s just the best up there. In fact,,I wrote a poem about that,,and not to mention dear ole Grand Ma Brown,,Can''t get them here.

But the BBQ here,,is great too,,took me a bit to get used to it,,but I love it now.

And like you said earlier,,Tx is on the mend..

[lewiston14]

Thanks slim. Wow we did grow up near each other. Now the trees arting to turn and apples are coming out our back end. They taste so good right off the tree just like corn off a stalk. Good corn requires a boiling pot right at the moment you pick it. I Know you knew what was sead I pick good smart internet friends. I would love some NC BBQ today. Last time I was there I did not want to leave they had to carry me out.

[lewiston14]

kennergirl

think if it had hit the water channel leading up to Houston. That would have been a mess. It did not and Houston and Galveston Texas (and other areas) are coming back on line. Galveston is going to take a little longer as it got more storm effect and I think only has one main bridge to get in there and their not sure if it suffered any damage, part of the reason to keep people off it. If I had a choice my money would go to Texas, not NO or Iraq.

[slim1h2o]

The good news is Texas is on the mend.


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Posted by lewiston14 at 11

Hey lewiston,

Oh I knew what he meant, after all,, I lived in Tx for 13 yrs. And raised in upstate NY not far from you in central NY. And now, in NC.

But the thing is, a guy that has that much educatation speaking like that,,well,,ya have to wonder just how well educated the man really is. Assuming that he graduated from high school, and then went on to college for 4 yrs, and then he must have had st least some medical in there too. Right?

He might as well said,, we have no more gooder place to put people.

LOL,,,Ya know? But I don''t disagree with you on learning something new from somebody. I try to do that every day.

[lewiston14]

They are just starting to auction off houses that were abandoned, 3 years after the fact.

posted by kennergirl

kennergirl I can not picture those houses not tended to for that long in the wet humid conditions of the far south. Most of them will be knock downs. You cant get mold out of a house after that length of time. Welcome to the new improved chocolate city NO

[lewiston14]

Hi Slim the %u201Cwe just don''t have a good capacity to care for them" is just an other way to say no more room or staff. Different parts of the country use different terms to say common things so this was no big deal. I understood what was meant Its actually fun to learn new ways to say things even if some of them take a while. Trust me we have people in this state sayings things im still trying to figure out. The good news is Texas is on the mend.

[pensacola98]

What do you want? Good grammar or good taste?

[slim1h2o]

"If our residents are injured severely, we just don''t have a good capacity to care for them today," hospital president David Callendar said.

And this type of grammar from a so-called health professional?

No wonder we have a health system in crisis.

[kennergirl]

I''d be curious to see how Galveston does with their recovery. New Orleans is still falling apart but we all know why that is. They are just starting to auction off houses that were abandoned, 3 years after the fact.