GALVESTON — As Hurricane Ike spiraled on toward North Texas on Saturday, the island, which took the brunt of the storm’s wide girth, entered recovery mode and remained closed to all inbound traffic, officials said.
Emergency crews’ search and rescue efforts focused on the West End, but the city had no immediate reports of fatalities.
About 100 people were rescued by Saturday afternoon, authorities said. At least four were flown to local hospitals in critical condition.
At least 17 structures have collapsed, including two apartment buildings. One of the apartment buildings is at Holiday Drive and Church Street. The other is near First Street and Ferry Road, City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.
Rescue crews were searching the debris for bodies and injured people, he said.
Ten of the 17 buildings are homes that collapsed because of fire. City crews searched as far west as 11 Mile Road, but everything beyond that was still under water.
The causeway was in “bad shape,” LeBlanc said. “It is covered in debris and the road has buckled in places.”
But LeBlanc said he did not think the structural integrity of the bridge was compromised. The city was allowing people to leave the island.
Warnings Unheeded
State rescue crews were sending food, water, ice and generators to Ball High School, which was opened Friday as a shelter of last resort for islanders who didn’t heed mandatory evacuation orders.
City officials estimated 40 percent, or about 24,000, of the island’s residents chose to ride out the storm, which rumbled ashore with 110 mph winds and a surge of water that caught almost everyone off guard.
Even as early as 9:30 a.m. Thursday, it was clear tide waters were rising. They crept up into the parking lot at Washington Park on 61st Street. On a hot, muggy, sunny September morning, it was an ominous sign of what was to come.
Officials had planned to close the Ball High shelter Saturday but had to keep taking in people who had nowhere else to go. Twelve Galveston firefighters were managing injured people at the school, which had water on the floor on the ground level.
Flood waters began to recede Saturday, but Harborside Drive, the Downtown Historic District and Broadway were still underwater. Debris-clogged drains complicated flooding.
Buildings Vanished
LeBlanc said he was astonished by the emptiness in front of the seawall. The Balinese Room, Murdoch’s Bathhouse, Hooters and the 61st Street Pleasure Pier have all vanished, washed away in Ike’s fury.
Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said the blow to the West End of the island will create hardships for the rest of Galveston because 47 percent of the island’s tax base is located on the West End.
She urged those who evacuated to be patient as the city tries to recover in the coming days.
“We will do everything we can to bring you home when it’s safe to do so,” she said.
Place Of Mourning
All around the island, the outlook was grim.
On the seawall, Ike sheared in half the plaque on the statue of victims of the 1900 Storm, their arms raised in mourning.
A line of helicopters arrived in Galveston, and some landed on the seawall.
The wind gutted and ripped apart homes, water swallowed cars, and boats lay in odd places around town. Traffic signals disappeared.
Debris was everywhere. The storm ripped chunks of pavement off seawall and left them blocking the road.
Cemeteries and parking lots became lakes. Debris on fences west of 51st Street indicated the water rose more than 8 feet.
Some apartments west of 61st Street had missing windows, exposing bedrooms inside. A nail salon on 61st Street was completely ripped apart.
Wild animals, including possums and egrets, milled around front yards and schools.
Merchandise from destroyed seawall businesses washed up onto the seawall. Cell phone signals were unreliable across the island.
Fires Raged
Emergency crews made their way through high waters Saturday morning, rescuing injured survivors.
Winds and rain severely damaged the Flagship Hotel, the only structure remaining in front of the seawall. The roof of city hall collapsed, emergency responders said.
Fires raged around the city throughout Friday night as firefighters watched helplessly, unable to traverse the flooded city.
A building near 63rd Street and Stewart Road burned, and officials said it was possibly a church. Houses burned after a fire broke out in one home at 51st Street and Avenue K.
A fire on Beaudelaire near 75th Street, where an entire row of houses was on fire, burned itself out. Several homes burned to the ground.
The city’s water system stopped functioning, and fires were fought only with tanker trucks.
Part of the roof of the San Luis Hotel, where city officials and news media rode out the storm, was torn off and glass in the back of the building shattered. Water poured inside from the ceiling.
Troops On The Way
National Guard troops were headed to Galveston with water and food, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said.
Three search and rescue units accompanied by troops were to arrive at Ball High School, the University of Texas Medical Branch and the San Luis Hotel, she said.
Blackhawk helicopters evacuated people who walked to the medical branch during and after the storm. Thomas said she did not know how many troops would be deployed.
After taking a short tour of the island, Thomas said it was “a mess.”
“It will take at least a month or more for people to remove all the debris,” she said.
