Upper Texas Coast Destroyed

[vl racing]

Sit at home and drink beer and watch tv!

[Danielsen Motorsports]

Thanks for the info. I have some family and a ton of friends having lived there almost my entire life and its hard for me to come to grips of the destruction some have. We have offered a get away home to alot of friends but so far they are fighting through it all at ground zero. Thanks for the update...

[vl racing]

Thanks for the info. I have some family and a ton of friends having lived there almost my entire life and its hard for me to come to grips of the destruction some have. We have offered a get away home to alot of friends but so far they are fighting through it all at ground zero. Thanks for the update...

An outstanding gesture,Danielsen. We need more people like you.

[Truck99]

The people along the upper Texas coast have been and continue to be in my prayers. In a catastrophic event like this one, it's natural to want to lash out at someone or something. It seems like lately, FEMA has been that target. I understand your frustration, but I'll submit to you that FEMA can never do everything we'd like for them to do. Considering the level of devastation and huge geographic area involved, their job is an extemely difficult one made even harder by the large numbers of people who chose not to evacuate despite mandatory orders.

 

The reason we have an organizaton like FEMA in the first place is because we live in the greatest country in the world. In most places, victims are on their own for the long haul. FEMA is not perfect, but they have to draw the line somewhere as to the type and amount of assistance they will provide. They have to rely on the help of other volunteers in and outside of the affected community, and that is exactly what you have seen and will continue to see happening.

 

Everybody hang in there. Help will continue to come.

[vl racing]

Sit at home and drink beer and watch tv!

[Modracer]

Having worked in our Emergency Operations Center for the city in which I am employed I can tell you that every organization is doing everything that they can to help out. I can honestly say that there are some organizations that do a lot and they are never recognized. FEMA does have their work cut out for them, however, you can expect them to do everything nor should it be expected of them.

[ProTree]

remember,gustav just slammed a little futher east a week or so ago.alot of resources going to alot of different places.i agree,fema has their work cut out for them.

[Definitive]

FEMA is still in the valley also.Besides,that is what a mayor is for.It's too bad the mayor of New Orleans just stood around complaining instead of doing something like Mayor White is.

[rebelracewriter]

Well first I will say that with two events so close together that FEMA is probably stretched beyond it's means, but.......

 

After Katrina, my company contracted to set mobile homes and travel trailers as temporary shelter, and they SUCKED.......They had 1,000's and 1,000's of homes sitting, waiting, in storage areas collecting dust, while crews just sat around on their thumbs most of the time waiting to get pick up/delivery orders....orders that never came in any type timely manner. Six to eight months later there were still homeless people while homes still sat in storage. Our crew finally returned home because they weren't making enough of the "promised" money to cover expenses......

 

So in my humble opinion, FEMA is just another extension of our bumbling bureaucracy........Must be run by the democrats(LMAO---Sorry Cary, couldn't resist) Actually I have no idea which political pagans are in charge.

[dano36]

FEMA is still in the valley also.Besides,that is what a mayor is for.It's too bad the mayor of New Orleans just stood around complaining instead of doing something like Mayor White is.

 

 

And FEMA is still working in Iowa which at one point was 97% flooded. Besides FEMA does not consist of millions of employees that go to these disasters to do what they do. They are usually small teams which set up volunteer efforts and manage the relief efforts. Not rescue efforts. Relief efforts. There is a difference. FEMA is spread pretty thin this year because Mother Nature has not been to kind to much of the country. Thankfully, many Texans in that area have taken the bull by the horns and there is a good recovery effort underway. Right now that task seem insurmountable but persistance will pay off and the area will bounce back being better than it was before.

[vl racing]

Sit at home and drink beer and watch tv!

[HiTech]

say what you want for or against fema ... what would it be like if noone was there at all to help ..im not a big fema fan ..but hey atliest they are around ... red cross dont forget them ..ive had alot of poeple come in looking for gas cans .and such .one man came in yesterday for one thing only ..a sparkplug for his son in houston for his generator ..couldnt get it in houston ..... no water no elect .. and they work in a hospital ..not to mention they have had no sleep ...... another came in today ..lives out side of texas city ... lost every thing ..five feet of water still in his house ..tears in his eyes when he said 12 years of working to build a home for him and his family .all gone ...i paid for some of his items ..we have another person with all he has staying out side of our store .broken down truck .he spends his money on food for his dog ..sad deal ..so anyone that goes to help in houston with the intent of makeing alot of money while every one needs thier help ..shame on you ..

[vl racing]

Sit at home and drink beer and watch tv!

[Mona]

I feel for those along the coast. I know it can't be easy.

 

I do have to say though, On the Friday that the storm was to hit the coast, there were about 100 trucks loaded with generators parked along IH 10 at a closed down truck stop. I'm not sure who was responsible for these trucks & generators, but somebody was preparing ahead of time. I know that Sat morning they were gone.

 

My husband has family that lost a home in Galveston. Thankfully, it was a vacation home for them. They live in Sugarland. The father of the family is a Houston Police Officer. He was working during the storm. He had to be away from his family to assist others. He said that he spends the majority of his time arresting looters since the storm. These looters are not all from that area. They traveled there to take advantage of others misfortunes. That is what MAKES ME SICK.

[HiTech]

LOOTERS SEND THEM TO MY HOUSE .THEY WONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOULT BEING ARRESTED ..

[Guest huff37]

and theres things that make you go Hmmmmm

I do a lot of driving around houston and I've noticed convoys of electric type trucks-hole diggers

bucket trucks etc with their own support vehicles--tire service and fuel tanks all from out of state.

THANKS TO ALL OF THEM FOR BEING HERE !

But someone should show them how to exit the beltway 8 or loop 610.

theres these convoys going clockwise on these two roadways and seems like an equal number

of the same stuff going counter-clockwise. Maybe the reason why I caint figger it out is

cawse it taiks a brane biggern a blackide pea. DO ya reckon?

[HiTech]

and theres things that make you go Hmmmmm

I do a lot of driving around houston and I've noticed convoys of electric type trucks-hole diggers

bucket trucks etc with their own support vehicles--tire service and fuel tanks all from out of state.

THANKS TO ALL OF THEM FOR BEING HERE !

But someone should show them how to exit the beltway 8 or loop 610.

theres these convoys going clockwise on these two roadways and seems like an equal number

of the same stuff going counter-clockwise. Maybe the reason why I caint figger it out is

cawse it taiks a brane biggern a blackide pea. DO ya reckon?

YEPPERS .

[dano36]

Don’t get me wrong, I in no way expect FEMA to do everything. I do have real questions as to what took them so long to show up with supplies, its not like they had a tornado, this storm was tracked for weeks before it hit, they new extreme damage to the infrastructure was going to be certain. Why wasn’t supplies loaded and waiting safely in nearby towns?, and have state police escorts. We the people pay for this, it’s not a hand out. I will also add that lot of damage was seen in areas that were NOT mandatory evacuation areas Houston was not mandatory. All I am saying is their system lacks allot to be desired, and should be reevaluated and improved after every learning experience. To this point I still feel after what I seen with my own two eyes, they still drag their bureaucratic feet. Our Governor is responsable for mobilizing the FEMA aid as well.

 

Well for starters, where would they take these supplies too since several weeks ago they were not even sure where this storm would hit or even if it would. Once it got into the Gulf the state staged over a thousand buses for evacuation; EMS vehicles from all over the state; Red Cross units: supplies at Port San Antonio and volunteers and they waited to they knew better where the storm would most likely make landfall. Last Wednesday afternoon they started to deploy much of that equipment and manpower to the general Houston area but only the busses entered the probable storm area and began evacuating people back here to SA . The supplies and volunteers waited back away from the probable storm area simply to protect same from being damaged in the storm. They did not charge into the damaged areas as soon as the storm ceased as it was the first order of business to conduct rescue operations. Once an area was deemed safe to enter and roadways were cleared, the relief people got in with their supplies as fast as they could. The size of this storm was enormous so understand that what you saw was a small portion of what is actually going on. My sister in law lives in Magnolia, another area hard hit, and she said that on Monday things were moving slow but they were moving. Today she said that everything was running smoothly and she even managed to get a generator. She said the biggest problem right now is not the relief and recovery but rather the looters who I hope they have plans to tie to a bouy out in the Gulf for the next hurricane that comes along. Seems that on Sunday morning I remember seeing them interview a FEMA official in Galveston who said that they were close by awaiting the ability to get into the Galveston area. Where did the governor go astray at? Seems he was far more on top of things than a certain other governor and Mayor were back in 05.

When Alicia hit Houston in 83, my sister in law who then lived out by North Shore High School did without electric power for 28 days after the storm. She shared a generator with a neighbor and all she could do was run one fan and a TV with it. So I am sure there are many living in that area that remember that experience and well know that it still may be a few more days before power comes up completely. There are probably more lines down in that area than there are in lets say the city of New Braunfels and its a lot more work to restring electrical lines than simply putting a plug in somewhere and magically all the lights come on.

Houston was under a voluntary evacuation order whereas Galveston and other gulf front cities were ordered to evacuate. That the storm damaged non evacuated areas was probably expected to happen but before this storm came ashore there was not a single person anywhere there that would think that a Cat 2 storm would be so large and hang around so long. Last I heard, the storm has caused 39 deaths and that is all along its path. That is a far site better than the 1500 or so in New Orleans.

Hey, lots of folks are venting about this but much of its is from the frustration and the realization of what has happened hitting home. Three months from now everyone will be praising the rescue and recovery operations.

[vl racing]

Sit at home and drink beer and watch tv!

[Cummins359]

what i was told the line crews from austin energy and the org i work for were sent to shreveport La to stage the monday after the storm went through then they were sent to the houston area how the hell does that make sense like 200 mi out of the way.

[ProTree]

alot of area between shreveport and houston lost power,could be lending a hand on the trip south from la.

[mac70]

I was down there for a few day's and there were a lot of utility companies, from Kansas city to Forida. I never went much south of I-10 but went from Houston to west of beaumont and I gotta say that the anahuac area got nailed, there are cars on the sholder of 10 with weeds 6ft tall from the flooding, there was a house that floated onto the feeder street and a lot of damaged signs and poles. I took some pics of some of it, I will get try to get them up sometime. It was a pretty tough storm to say the least.