Question About Ike and Galveston

[alon504]

I'm hearing mixed things and I figured you guys could clarify. I hear it's wiped out...pictures look pretty bad. I hear it is uninhabitable and that everyone must leave. I hear that many dead may have been washed out to sea. I hear it will be weeks if not months before the island is inhabitable. Then I see a picture of a Kroger opening up with happy shoppers walking around in Galveston. What is really going on in Galveston and what are your thoughts about its recovery?

[Great_Hizzy]

Galveston isn't wiped out. There's significant damages to a good number of structures but it's nothing like what you see in coastal Chambers County, particularly Gilchrist, Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, etc.

There are structures on Seawall Blvd that suffered only minor damage.

That said, there's a lot of cleanup needed and it's going to be expensive.

[urbanactivist]

^It's a mix...
Jamaica Beach and the West End of the island has a lot of BADLY damaged structures... homes that may be still standing, but are uninhabitable and will eventually have to be torn down. Lots of businesses that were on the beach side of the seawall are GONE... Hooters, Murdock's were comepletely destroyed. Some of the more sturdy structures on the other side of the seawall fared pretty well.

The historic district and downtown (which includes the Strand) suffered significant damage, but mostly in the form of flooding. They can be repaired.

Basically, most of the "cheaper structures" on the island... lots of houses and shoddy apartment complexes... are the things that suffered the most damage. That is why the area is considered unlivable. The reason that stores are opening up is because there are people on the island that simply refuse to leave. They don't care what shape their home is in... it is their home and they're going to stay there (gotta love stubborn-ass Texans).

[KevinFromTexas]

A lot of Hurricane Ike photo albums are popping up on Flickr.


There's some pretty amazing photos in this one.
http://flickr.com/photos/kaozrider/sets/72157607278391351/

[Trae]

Galveston isn't wiped out. There's significant damages to a good number of structures but it's nothing like what you see in coastal Chambers County, particularly Gilchrist, Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, etc.

There are structures on Seawall Blvd that suffered only minor damage.

That said, there's a lot of cleanup needed and it's going to be expensive.

That's Galveston County though right? Bolivar is in Galveston County. Maybe that's what they meant.