Hurricane Ike's helpless victims

[case44]

And now, we have this news, everyone: There's a tiger running on the loose on Galveston Island. That's right, a tiger.

KXAN.com - News, Weather, Sports - Austin, TX | County judge says tiger loose

[blueskies49]

I heard about that tiger, case, and also the lion whose owner took it into a church for sanctuary! The lion didn't harm any people who were in there so I guess it was tame. And possibly not hungry yet.

Loveroses, I couldn't understand people not leaving either. If you're living on the coast, what part of "hurricane coming your way" do they not understand? Some of them thought it wasn't going to be bad or some thought they could ride it out. Really, now, did they not pay attention to Katrina and Rita? Or even just the sheer size of Ike on the radar? And we're talking about mother nature here - very, very unpredictable. Stupid, in my opinion.

My husband's ex sister-in-law's 18 year old son stayed behind on Galveston while she and her two daughters came up here to her mother's in Forney. They can't get back into town and her son can't leave although, for now he's alright, hanging with friends and cooking food on a grill. But in the meantime, the town is dirty, smelly, no modern conveniences, potential for disease outbreak...speaking of which, I read where they're starting to see people developing diahrrea now.

Oh, and belle, I agree with your original post! The animals aren't as capable of helping themselves and they get stressed and scared through all of this, too. It just makes me so sad! I like to give to the animal rescuers as well as the people rescuers.

[texas7]

I live near the Bay (but not on Galveston Island) and it is easy to sit and watch and say why did they stay (I said it too) but you have to understand the mentality of the area. They take great pride in BOI (Born on the Island) some are die-hards; they were born on the island and will die on the island but they will never give her up without a fight. Some wealthy have moved in and most of those evacuated and their newer homes survived on the West end, but many of those homes on Boliver are not wealthy and some below average income and unfortunately Galveston is all they know and all they have. You would truly have to live on the coast to understand why they did what they did (right or wrong). A few of those who remained were thrillseekers but the vast majority of those who stayed -- there is nothing for them off the island -- it's all they know and worth the risk to them. People are human and humans err in judgement unfortunately. Those who weren't BOI - some thought they could lollygag around and still have time to evacuate - they were absolutely shocked that the surge came in so far in advance of the storm and that slowness left them trapped and asking for help. Saw a wrecker driver and his wife on the news who spent the morning helping get people out of low lying areas (again - thinking he had a good 12 hours ahead of landfall to get out) and when the surge came up so quickly - they became two of the trapped.

And as far as FEMA - not the time to get political. The response here was ten times better than in 2005 for Katrina (lessons were learned). FEMA is here and they aren't doing bad considering they are trying to serve the fourth largest city in the U.S. Texans as a whole take care of themselves and aren't a huge population crying for what can you give me after this (yes some are but not en mass). Galvestonians and Houstonians are taking this in stride and you find neighbors helping neighbors and strangers -- instead of coming apart and imploding they are bonding in the face of adversity. BTW - local news has no reports of any of those survivors becoming sick currently. The news is that they are trying to get everyone to leave because things will be worse before better and as sanitation rapidly declines the risk for illness increases. And MinnieMouse - thanks for your sincere well wishes for the entire area!

[BobTex]

I agree with the "save the political posts for another time". Lack of character causes these type of responses.

I know many folks who lost all down on Boliver and Gilchrist. I find it hard to believe any would stay. But many are more hardy than I.

I left my dog behind ... told him just where to hide and what to expect in the storm. I returned 24 hours later and he showed up and all he said was "KOOL"! And then licked me in the face. Now all he ever says is "Turn off that danged generator ... its too loud"!