It's natures way of thinning the herd of the dumbest.

 

I agree. I don't know why idiots think others should put themselves at danger to save said idiots. I think they should give them a bucket of red paint, tell them to splash it on the roof and mark the houses where rescuers shouldn't have to waste their time and put themselves at risk.

 

I liked the guy on CNN the other night who was one of those rescued.
He was freaked when his two teenage daughters were writing their names and SS#'s so they could be identified later.

and of course the mayor of one of the coastal towns explaining why people didn't leave.
saying how evacuating created "hardship on the people who had to leave".

 

All the neighbors except the ones on our block have power restored.The problem with our block is that a huge tree is draped over the lines in the back easement, the power pole is broken off and needs to be replaced, and its transformer is toast. Since it only affects 12 houses, it is now very low priority. I finally found a 6000 watt generator, so we have the refrig running and are able to recharge cell and laptop batteries. The cool front is supposed to last until Thursday, so we should be ok until then. It is hard to find a gas station with gas, and when you find one the lines are around the block.

 

Glad you and the family are OK Jim. I'm sure you all will tire of the pioneer life with no electricity very soon, so I hope they get to you quickly to restore power.

At least you have the internet and cell phones, and cold beer.

 

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey has put up some post-Ike aerial photos, starting here.

An especially flattened example is this image (note that you can magnify it by clicking on what you want to see). This is from the NE part of the index map, where the on-shore surge was worst.

Bummer. HPH

 

Thanks for posting that. It's the first pictures I've been able to see of the west end of the island to check on some friend's houses. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell much about Tiki from the pic except that it appears to still be there.

 

They didn't shoot any photos of Tiki, unfortunately.

It looks, though, as if it was the parts of the community along the true coast (not the inland waterways) that took the worst hit, as you'd expect.

You can't really tell what happened in downtown Galveston -- in fact, because it's still pretty deserted, it looks almost pastoral. I expect there's lots of damage (especially water damage), though. But it doesn't look like things got wiped out like along the MS Gulf Coast in Katrina. HPH

 

The Galveston Mayor, in a press conference, was saying 1 week to get water, 1 month to get power and 1 YEAR to remove debris and get the island habitable again. I just cannot imagine.

 

Just on the news they are having severe issues with water and food at the FEMA food stations.
then again could be press blowing it up.