Staying tough

September 30, 2008

Living in Galveston these days is quite an adventure.

No land lines, DSL, or faxes are available anywhere on Galveston Island. Maybe half the island behind the seawall is still without electricity. There are no utilities anywhere on the west end, beyond the seawall. There is no natural gas anywhere. I was able to shut off my gasoline generator a couple of days ago when we got hooked back up with power. Of course my two central A/C units went under water, so all we've got is a window unit. At least fall is in the air and nights are cool.

They got cell phone towers running last week although their performance is compromised. Thank goodness I have one of those Verizon Aircards, or I wouldn't be able to do email, etc.

The wind damage was no big deal as coastal towns are pretty much set up to handle the wind forces. Although the hurricane was only a high Cat 2 or low Cat 3, the storm surge was the largest since the 1900 storm! Basically wiped out downtown, which was under over six feet of water. The guy that towed my flooded vehicle off yesterday said there were 20,000 flooded cars on the island. That doesn't even count what's on the mainland.

Given the nature of small business and what is going to inevitably be a tightening of the credit markets, I worry about how many of the current small businesses will be able to come back.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are doing a great job keeping people fed. FEMA is actually functional - kudos to Michael Chernoff.

We have a couple of supermarkets that opened this week as well as 3 gas stations. Randalls Supermarket was giving away barbecue sandwiches yesterday. The National Guard is distributing ice and essentials to those that need it. Three restaurants are open on a partial basis, plus a Whataburger. Lots of people are cooking outdoors on charcoal.

The port is opening this week which is good. The medical school and hospital won't open again for at least another couple of months. Longer yet for the research facilities. We have a rudimentary emergency room and a small ambulatory clinic that's mostly giving Tetanus shots and dealing with minor injuries. The yacht basin looks like a bomb hit it with multimillion dollar boats catawampus or sunk. We actually still have a couple of large boats setting in the middle of the main esplanade onto the island, and hundreds of watercraft from jet skis to shrimp boats line the sides of the Gulf Freeway coming onto the island.

The storm surge traveled well up Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel. Hundreds of miles inland Ike dumped enough rain to create floods and misery. As of earlier this week, there were still over a million people in Houston without electricity and Houston's about fifty miles inland. Unbelievable!

You still have to drink bottled water or boil it. About 80% of the homes, by my estimation, have sustained some damage - including mine. There are mountains of furniture and personal items lining almost every street. Itʼs incredibly sad to see so much of people's lives at the curb. The citizens of Galveston are a tough bunch, however. The island looks like an ant farm with people scurrying around, tearing out damage and rebuilding. Tents and camper trailers abound. Cold showers are the norm. Everyone is filthy, and stained tee shirts are now fashion de jur everywhere on the island. Each morning and at dusk a huge migration of cars move on and off the island. Galveston is still under a curfew. It's weird to have dead silence after dark here.

The camaraderie cannot help but get you choked up as we are all in this together. Friends come by to see how we're doing, and we periodically take a break from our work to do the same.

Cheers,