Galveston: "We can't help you."

THIS JUST IN:  SOMETIMES GOD PROTECTS IDIOTS AND DRUNKS.

20,000 GALVESTONIANS HIT JACKPOT.  IKE VEERED EAST TO MAKE LANDFALL JUST EAST OF THE ISLAND, PUTTING THE MAJORITY OF THE NON-EVACUATED ISLAND POPULATION ON THE "CLEAN" SIDE OF THE EYE.  THIS REDUCED THE PROJECTED SURGE HEIGHT BY HALF, SPARING BOTH LIVES AND CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE TO MUCH OF THE ISLAND'S OCEANFRONT BUSINESSES AND NOTEWORTHY INLAND ARCHITECTURE.

SATURDAY UPDATE:  CLICK HERE for live streaming coverage of Galveston & Houston Ike aftermath from our sister NBC affiliate KPRC.

(ORIGINAL POST) 20,000 residents of Houston's flat old barrier island city are in peril this morning.  They were told to evacuate and inexplicably did not.  Now as Hurricane Ike slams ashore with a tsunami-like wall of water, they are screaming in the darkness for help, but there is no one on Earth who can help them.

If you pray, pray for them.

Many of you have followed (as have I) the Houston Chronicle's Sci Guy blog over the last week.  Eric Berger, a fellow University of Missouri School of Journalism grad, has earned his stripes as a calm and reasoned voice for watchers of the tropics in Houston and beyond during Ike's approach.

In his post tonight, he describes in succinct and grave terms what is happening just to our west.  The same forces which are devastating lower Cameron Parish (where people have the sense to get out when storms such as Ike approach) are ripping into this venerable old city and its remaining residents with 110 mph winds in addition to the deadly storm surge.

As I said, if you pray, pray for the people who are the subject of "It's Getting Grim in Galveston."  As each of us faces the wrath of one of nature's most unforgiving forces, our neighbors to the west who made the mistake of riding Ike out on Galveston Island are clearly the most vulnerable right now.

-Jim

Comments

[Luke]

I agree Jim. Staying is a big mistake. Here's the infuriating thing: they were ordered to evacuate and chose not to do so. By not doing so they not only place themselves at grave risk, they place the lives of search and rescue workers at risk as well. Many, fearing the worst at the last minute foolishly abandon ship, when it's already too late (or when they have become sufficiently sobered by an oncoming tidal wave). They then burden search and rescue at the worst possible time. My solution would be a heavy financial penalty for anyone needing to be saved. That still wouldn't offset the jeopardy in which they cavallierly place others, but perhaps it would make them think twice next time.

[FrequentEvacuee]

I'm thankful we haven't heard of more loss of life. I hope the low death toll doesn't lead to more stupidity by those in coastal areas. In SWLA, we continue to show that we respect Mother Nature and act appropriately when a storm is approaching. I'm still surprised our local authorities didn't issue a mandatory evac. order for Calcasieu Parish. A little wobble would have been devastating. We only have to look to the west to see the effects. Our family got out, but are left feeling that we may have to second guess authorities in the future because they didn't go as far as they should have this time. Many that flooded didn't expect flooding and shouldn't have been here when it occurred. As for the idiots in TX, the rhetoric that we've heard for so long about how those in LA didn't evacuate for Katrina and the costs of their actions to others should now be a mute point. After all, many of those in N.O. didn't have the means; the same can't be said for Galveston. There should be enormous fines for those that ignore mandatory evacuation orders. If curfew violations are $5,000 when curfews are mainly to protect property, then those that ignore evacuation orders issued to protect life and property, should be fined double.