Storm Spotters United

    On September 13th, 2008, Hurricane Ike become the next devastating hurricane to strike the United States, almost removing Galveston and surrounding areas from the map like the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

    Hurricane Ike made itself known to the residents of Texas and other Gulf Coast areas.  Like other hurricanes, this was one that a lot of people kept their eye on.  A lot of people where concerned that this was going to be another Hurricane Katrina, but in fact, Texans were lucky that when Hurricane Ike made landfall that it had weakened into a Category 2 Hurricane, but it still pack an awful lot of power and created wide spread damage.

    Governor Rick Perry of Texas and the Mayors of towns in the path of Ike made a strong plea for people to evacuate or risk certain death.  Many thousands heeded the warning and moved further inland to places such as north Houston, North Texas and other safe locations.  While most residents of Galveston and other low areas to the warnings to heart and left, up-to 58,000 residents did not heed the warning and remained in the area.

    Houston's Mayor, remembering what happened when order where given to evacuate Houston during Hurricane Rita, requested all citizens that were not in low lying areas to remain in Houston and shelter the storm.  That wanted to prevent a mass evacuation like last time that results in the deaths of more than 100 people, while the Hurricane itself only killed 9 people.  While some may have questioned this decision, it seem to work rather well this time.  Many residents lost power and other basic services, but efforts were being made to quickly restore them.

    Hurricane Ike had been blamed for roughly 68 deaths and 365 missing (numbers reflect 9/28/2008 for United States only) with 33 of the deaths taking place in Texas.  In the days following Hurricane Ike, members from various search and rescue teams and other agencies made their ways into various parts of the hardest hits areas, including Bolivar Peninsula Texas, which took the brunt of the hurricane strike, losing over 95% of the town.

    Current damage estimates reach no less than 31.5 billion dollars and could rise as time goes on.  Many thousands of homes were lost or will have to be destroyed due to damage to them and thousands of people are now without homes or basic needs to see them through. Various organizations, including ours, are working to make their lives easier. People were concerned that this storm what be a repeat of the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 that leveled the area and killed over 6000 people, making it still the most devastating natural disaster is US history.

    The computer simulations for Hurricane Ike had predicted a far worse storm than what actually struck Texas. Though there was heavy damage throughout the area and beyond, agencies felt that Texas fared better than was expected. While Galveston received flood and the storm surge that Ike brought with it, it was below the expected 20 foot height. Texas is working on clearing the debris and making damage assessments to the coastal areas. It will be no less than a year before more information will be know.

    Please feel free to help us help others by making a donation to our Hurricane Relief Fund. You can also use our new eBay donation program. Either by selling items to help support us or buying items that are for sale under our charities cause.

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