Results tagged “hurricaneike”

Hurricane Ike hammered Houston & Galveston yet most folks have chosen to remain here rather than run away. We did. 17 days without power made us stronger. And, we think Houston kicks ass. The folks at Houston It's Worth It want your Hurricane Ike stories and photos. Make your submissions at HoustonItsWorthIt.com. Deadline is Friday. more ›

If you are of the belief that Glen Campbell's ode to Galveston spoke to the city like a deeply-missed and deeply-loved woman, that woman is in awful shape right now. Nearly four months after Hurricane Ike swept through the city, its eye making landfall directly on the island with a force that belied its Category 2 status, Galveston is making progress towards rebuilding but is still a city in shambles. The city's largest employer, the heavily-damaged University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), recently laid off 3,800 employees while other area businesses struggle to rebuild. Tourism, an industry upon which the island relied heavily, is also moving sluggishly despite recent efforts to clean up the flood-ravaged Strand in time for the yearly Dickens on the Strand. Island residents are still awaiting insurance settlements to rebuild their homes, while entire neighborhoods languish and rot. Two recent articles in Houston's main papers, the Chronicle and the Press, are asking the tough questions and showing the tough truth about Galveston's efforts to rebuild in the face of national apathy and a brutal recession. The Chronicle discusses how the island is desperate for funds, to the point that they're begging the Texas Legislature for some assistance:

Revenues from property and sales taxes and other sources are dropping so sharply that layoffs of city employees are imminent even after the city slashed spending and cut all its employees' pay by 3 percent, City Manager Steve LeBlanc told the House Select Committee on Hurricane Ike on Wednesday.

He asked that the state refund all or part of the sales tax revenues generated on the island for two years and provide a long-term, low-interest loan from an emergency fund that's now empty. "I'm getting to the point of being, in a sense, desperate for help," LeBlanc told reporters after his testimony. "It's becoming very difficult to serve our citizens."

While Katrina's destruction of New Orleans monopolized the eyes of the country and the world for weeks in 2005, Galveston had the misfortune to have Ike fall in the TV-watching dead zone of late night on Friday, September 12, three years later, and then to be eclipsed in the news cycle by even larger national and international events almost immediately. By contrast, Katrina struck New Orleans at eight a.m. on a Monday in a nonelection year, almost as if it were a gift-wrapped page-one story for news-starved organizations the world over. The neglect even has a bottom line: Wilma, Rita and Katrina together inspired people to give to all hurricane-related charities to the tune of almost $6.5 billion. The four biggest charities have only been able to come up with $19 million for Ike victims. If you are doing the math at home, that comes up to less than one-third of 1 percent. It's a practically infinitesimal amount, even if you divide the $6.5 billion by three to account for the three storms. One example speaks volumes. The Bush-Clinton fund, run by the former presidents of those names, raised $135 million after Katrina. The same fund only managed to scrape together $2.5 million for Ike victims, despite the fact the storm hit the hometown of one of the principals.

Wondering what to do with that lingering Ike debris in your driveway? Why not channel your electricity-less energy and create 'Made From Ike' art for a chance to win some cash-money? We know you've got mad chainsaw skillz these days... more ›

This weekend finds a new collection of Hurricane Ike photos to share with you, courtesy of the generous contributions to the Houstonist Flickr group. Next week we'll to return to our regularly-scheduled Houstonist Photo of the Day (PotD) feature, so keep those submissions coming! more ›

Well, not really us. But,we've got friends in POWERful places. more ›

Houstonist will continue to feature more of your Ike photos for the rest of the week, as long as you keep 'em coming. Today's batch reveals sides of Hurricane Ike that we haven't seen yet, as more and more of you post your photos to our Flickr group. more ›

The two-time MLS champion Houston Dynamo will be helping out in the Hurricane Ike aftermath by giving out relief packages at Robertson Stadium, Lot 12B, located on the University of Houston campus, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Friday. more ›

We took a trip over to the Heights today at lunch to see how the historic neighborhood was faring five days after Hurricane Ike. The Heights, like many other older neighbohoods in Houston, was badly battered by the high winds and tornados that Ike produced. The incredible wealth of beautiful old live oak and pecan trees in the neighborhood only gave Ike additional fodder during its destructive rampage. more ›

Short people all over our great city are coping with post-hurricane boredom, as Houston area schools remain closed and millions of homes are still without power (read: Wii and World of Warcraft juice). So what's an un-air conditioned parent to do with a houseful of booored kids? more ›

As we mentioned yesterday, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is still in dire need of whole blood and platelets to replenish their depleted supplies. Yesterday, they were able to send eight units of blood (that's 3,660ml!) to an emergency center in Galveston, but eight units isn't much when you consider the sheer amount of people in our area who need blood transfusions. more ›

Despite many parts of the city returning to normal, there are still hazards in the pitch black night streets -- not to mention crews of electrical workers -- that should be avoided. For those reasons, the city of Houston and most other surrounding cities still have curfews in effect this week, although the hours have been slightly decreased. Below you'll find a list of cities and their current curfews: more ›

We asked you to share more of your Hurricane Ike photos with us and you did! Below are more of your amazing pictures of the Houston area before, during and after the hurricane. more ›

Today's 4:00 p.m. update from Centerpoint Energy revealed that power restoration is moving along slowly but surely. And we do mean slowly. more ›

"Separate your trash, yo!" more ›

Although area blood supplies have been running low lately, Hurricane Ike made the need for whole blood and platelets even more dire. Four days without operational blood centers left the blood supply badly depleted as facilities housing the blood lost power and people injured by the hurricane needed what little supplies were left. It is estimated that around 900 blood donations are needed every day to keep up with current demand. more ›

Houstonist has been scouring the interwebs, looking for informative, interesting or just plain weird photos from during and after Hurricane Ike. Below are some of our favorites so far: more ›

Day 5 post-Ike, and here's hoping you are all hanging in there, barring any stir crazy tendencies to strangle whoever turned on the lights on billboards before your abode. We hear ya. more ›

As reader monkypanda brought to our attention, there's no longer any need to boil city of Houston tap water before drinking it: "Public works spokesman Alvin Wright says that the city of Houston's drinking water system has now been cleared of the boil water notice," the Chronicle's Ike Answers blog reports. Enjoy! more ›

The infamous lions, tigers and bears trifecta is complete in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike: more ›

A Houstonist tipster wrote today asking whether it's safe to drink city of Houston water straight from the tap yet: In today's Morning Roundup, we reported that drinking water must still be boiled, but the tipster said KPRC is reporting that the water's safe. The answer, as best we can tell right now, is that drinking water should still be boiled just to be on the safe side. We're getting that from KUHF's website, which reported at 9:35 a.m. today: "Contrary to some earlier reports, City of Houston water supplies have not yet been certified as safe. Continue to boil City of Houston tap water before drinking it." Remember, this means that you should bring water from the tap to a rolling boil for at least two minutes before drinking it, brushing your teeth with it or giving it to your pet. Unboiled water is safe for showering and washing hands (though we don't advise washing your hands with it, then immediately stuffing your fist in your mouth).
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