The Texas 18th District Blog

FEMA Cannot Or Won’t Do The Job 

Sandy Coachman, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s federal coordinating officer, said the state had decided to take over Galveston’s only remaining shelter and keep it open. Some of the residents said they have no place to live after the shelter closes.

However, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry said the state is working with a nonprofit group, Baptist Children and Family Services of San Antonio, to find housing for shelter residents.

 FEMA is a Federal Government Agency

Thibodeaux: “I saw one woman living in a tent who was crying, moving around cooking pots to catch the rain that was leaking through. It’s terrible.”

Michael Gerber, executive director of the Texas Department of Housing and Community affairs, acknowledges a “serious housing crisis” is facing several thousand who were left homeless by Ike.

He holds FEMA responsible for what he calls a “bureaucratic logjam.”

“FEMA keeps telling us that they’ve got a process to deploy temporary housing. But in four weeks, they’ve deployed fewer than a hundred that are occupied,” Gerber said. He estimated several thousand more are needed across the region, particularly in Chambers, Orange, Jefferson and Galveston counties.

Wouldn’t we be better off with emergency management under state control.  Even small states could help each other as they do anyhow and get around Federal bureaucracy.  With Ike utility companies from all over the country sent volunteers on their on volition to Texas to help out.

An aside, during the weekend that Ike hit our family had no electricity.  On Sunday afternoon we were listening to a battery powered radio when a caller called Sheila Jackson Lee at the TV station.  He was angry.  He asked her why was she at the TV station all weekend when her contituents had no TV?

If unemployment is up in the Houston area it because it is affected in a major way by Ike.  My guess is that it is up because a lot of businesses were damaged and projects in process on damaged buildings and homes are stopped or delayed. I also suspect the Houston area unemployment is reflected in the national numbers for the last several weeks.

National numbers from Bloomberg this morning:

According to an American Medical Association ad on TV the cause of more illness and more early death in the US is lack of health insurance.  What happened to the Hippocratic oath.  I think I have some oaths for the AMA if they don’t treat the poor.

Apparently the guns hunters and religious people in rural areas have is a problem for Obama’s campaign.  He wants them taken away.  How about guns in the high crime areas of cities?  Does he want to take them away from people who use them in perpetration of crimes or just people who have them to protect themselves from criminals?  Studies have shown resolutely that crime goes down when criminals suspect a potential victim may have a concealed weapon.  Chicago Study

Ed Rendell (Governor of Pennsylvania) smirks while he says a $5000 tax credit is a government give away.  How is not taking $5000 from you a government give away.  He thought he had us.  As opposed to a deduction on your tax return where you only keep a portion (the tax rate multiplied by the amount of your dedcution) a tax credit means you subtract  $5000 from the amount of calculated tax on page two and reduce what you have withheld or write your check for.  The government doesn’t get its hands on the money let alone write you a check.  Its like walking through a store, not buying something and saying the store gave you money on your way out because you have the same amount of money you walked  in with.  The government doesn’t own your money.  To the contrary you own the government.

And Today:

“On the other side of the Capitol (the first speaker was a Bush administration person), Greenspan, who stepped down in February 2006 after serving as Fed chairman for 18 1/2 years, was asked to explain his role in the crisis.

Greenspan told the House Oversight Committee that his belief that banks would be more prudent in their lending practices because of the need to protect their stockholders had been proven wrong by the current crisis. He called this a “mistake” in his views and said he had been shocked by that.

Greenspan said he had made a “mistake” in believing that banks in operating in their self-interest would be sufficient to protect their shareholders and the equity in their institutions.

Greenspan called this “a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works.””  Greenspan  Greenspan admitted fault, former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt admitted fault, current SEC Chairman Christopher Cox admitted fault.  Will Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank admit fault.  Don’t hold your breath.  The current hearings in Washington are not to find out what went wrong or who is to blame but how to deflect blame to somebody other than the democrat congress.

Bankers acted in their own self interest.  By getting the higher interest rates from mortgages (remember, the interest rates are higher because of higher risk) they produced  (temporarily) higher profits and received high bonuses.  99% of the time humans act in their own self interest.

Hurricane Ike – Update #10, Galveston Residents Return

Yesterday, Galveston residents clogged I-45 in a 10 mile traffic jam as they were allowed to return home to what little was left in the aftermath of hurricane Ike 10 days ago.

City officials preferred that Galveston residents stayed away until more repair could be administrated but could no longer hold off the 45,000 residents who fled, wanting to return to try to pick up the pieces of their previous life.

Thousands of residents returned to destruction beyond belief, rotting livestock carcasses, snakes, swarms of mosquitoes, and a lack of life sustaining city services including; drinking water, reliable electricity, medical care or sewer service. Residents were warned to not return without tetanus shots and rat bait.

Officials extended the disaster declaration for 90 days.

A shelter has been opened for 100 newly homeless residents and more are planned. The city of Galveston and FEMA are working on a plan to allow residents to live in FEMA trailers in their driveways while reparations are made, however, City Manager Steve LeBlanc wants all FEMA trailers removed before the beginning of the 2009 hurricane season, leaving what seems to be an unreasonably short calendar for recovery and rebuilding.

Mark Guidry, the County Health Director declared; “It’s not a healthy and safe place to be at this time”.

Three days after hurricane Ike I was engaged in a phone conversation with a relative who asked; “How is it going, has everything returned to normal yet?”.  At the time 2 million customers were still without electricity in the Houston area. It’s hard for many to imagine the depth of destruction these storms bring and the time it takes to pick up the pieces, recover or to start over.

Our thoughts, best wishes and prayers go out to Galveston residents as they try and return home.

Ken

The Office of Emergency Management, Houston Mayor Bill White and Judge Emmett just concluded their 8am Hurricane Ike Update.

Over night Hurricane Ike took a more Northerly path and is now projected to make landfall in Galveston with 20-25ft sea surge and 20-25ft waves on top of that. Videos from Galveston are already showing the seawall being slammed by waves thrashing water 20-25ft in the air starting to flood coastal roads and we are still 17 or 18 hrs out from landfall there at the time of this blog posting. With the combination of a potential 20-25ft sea surge and 20-25ft waves on top of that we are looking at the potential of another 1900 Galveston Hurricane event. IMO (In my opinion) not even reporters should stay behind. Everyone should leave Galveston Island now! With up to 40-50 ft water encroachment (surge + waves) projected for Galveston, there is no safe place on the island for anyone.

All Scientific Meteorological Hurricane Path Models have converged on Galveston – HURRICANE IKE IS COMING HERE! This is a “life or death event” which has the potential to rival the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. We can most probably expect many times more property damage than what was sustained in Louisiana by Hurricane Katrina. This is most likely already the most extreme American National Disaster most of us will have witnessed in our lifetime. Fortunately, predecessor weather events have led the way for more serious national disaster planning and implementation.

Everyone in mandatory evacuation zones who have not left yet, need to do so now. The storm surge predictions have been raised by 10ft to as much as 25ft in accordance with the more direct hurricane path.

Anyone in high-rise buildings should know that for every 100ft of elevation the intensity of the storm will increase by 1 Category level. You should make preparations to move to lower levels if staying behind.

Mayor White is advising that the highways are clear for late evacuees. I-45 may become more congested than 59 to Lufkin or 290 to the Bryan - College Station areas. Mayor White also noted that we do not want people on the highways in high winds with flying debris, they will advise when the highways are no longer safe to travel. Please note that the Greater Houston area will be experiencing hurricane force winds well before projected landfall between 1 and 2am Saturday morning. Many gas stations were re-supplied over night.

If you are going to leave – LEAVE NOW!

Make sure and do last minute checks on elderly or loner neighbors and don’t leave pets behind!

This is an extremely serious life and death weather event, so serious that there is really no reason for news agencies to leave their employees exposed on Galveston Island. None of us want to see news agency reporter casualties reported by their own news agencies because they had them step out too close to the beast. This is not necessarily the view of the Faulk For Congress Organization, but it is mine and I stick behind it:

News Reporters, Emergency personnel…everyone should probably evacuate Galveston Island now… No-One needs to ride this one out there. The American public doesn’t need to witness first hand reporter’s unnecessary endangerment or deaths who were hung out too far by news agencies. I think many of us would prefer that all news agencies step back and take your employees out of harm’s way. In doing so you would also help convey the seriousness of this storm to your audiences.

Asking the rest of the nation for your prayers and best wishes,

Ken

You can help us send John Faulk to Congress today.

Wind will be the most damaging element of Hurricane Ike for most of the Houston area.

Important Update: Hurricane Ike - Texas Update #9, Run Galveston, Run!

Anyone following this Hurricane Ike Blog Series can find a great new tool showing your area’s maximum projected wind speed by passing a curser over your area on a windspeed map.

Hurricane Ike Max Wind Speed Map - Houston

IMPORTANT UPDATE - Hurricane Ike - Texas Update #9, Run Galveston, Run!strong> Re-posting other Hurricane Ike Resources:State & Federal Resources

Last night, local media reported that it looked like Hurricane Ike was diminishing in force and may hit the coast as a Cat-1 hurricane.

THAT’S NOT FACT AS BEING REPORTED THIS MORNING

Current projections as of 5am this morning are that Ike will increase in intensity to a Cat-3 with winds around 115mph just before it makes landfall in Galveston with a 15-25ft storm surge sporting huge waves on top of that surge. That’s right, the path has migrated to a worst case scenario for both Galveston and the greater Houston area.

As many as 20-30% of gas stations were reporting fuel shortages as of yesterday evening. Many of those stations have been re-supplied overnight.

As of 4am this morning, motorists headed North on I-45 were reporting slow traffic between Conroe and Centerville, with motorists on the side of the road. They also reported that rest stops, gas stations and truck stops along the way were congested.

If you are going to evacuate, you will be better off leaving as early as possible this morning.

You can follow the latest “Texas Hurricane Ike Updates” from multiple sources with us here.

Ken

Houston Mayor White, TXDOT (Texas Department of Transportation), Harris County Judge Emmett and other officials just held their 12:30pm news conference updating Greater Houston Area residents on Hurricane Ike.

Residents living in Pasadena zipcode 77057 have been added to the mandatory evacuation list. At this time officials do not see the need to add to the mandatory evacuation list any further.

TXDOT is working with Transtar (Our Local Transportation Authority), state and local law enforcement officials to make sure fuel supplies stay steady and evacuation roadways remain clear. There is no reason to panic, but no time to delay. 45 wreckers have been dispatched and the State of Texas has dispatched fuel tanker trucks to meet demand. Helicopters will remain in the sky on traffic detail as long as they can. It seems as though our officials are doing their job and doing it well. They will not open contraflow lanes to evacuate until all incomming traffic has diminished and that there is a need to determined by real time monitoring of outflow traffic.

The Red Cross has activated the Statewide shelter hub system and evacuations are under way in a well organized, orderly fashion. For anyone wishing to make sure they communicate with and can find relatives after the storm, you can self register or search at the Red Cross Safe & Well Website.

If you are a victim or observe price gouging in this Hurricane Ike weather event you should contact Harris County Attorney Mike Stafford’s office to report it at 713-755-5101. They promise to aggressively prosecute offenders.

One of Houston Mayor Bill White’s repeated concerns was that people tend to feel safer in numbers, “hunkering down together” and how that may cause a sense of false security… He repeated his caution to make sure that if you do decide to stay behind and ride it out, do so in a structurally sound location (paraphrased).

We will be blogging updates from this location as long as we can, probably for another 24hrs or so.

Be safe and don’t forget your pets!

Ken

Hurricane Ike – Texas Update #5 – Resources

State & Federal Resources

• Texas Hurricane Evacuation Information from the Texas Department of Transportation
• Texas Online Emergency Portal
• Governor’s Division of Emergency Management
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Special Needs Evacuation Temporarily disregard the 211 number and use 311 leading up to Ike.

Be Prepared:

• Family Disaster Planning
• Disaster Supply Kit Check List
• Checking Road Conditions

Weather Reports

• National Weather Service
• The Weather Channel
• CNN Weather

You can follow the latest “Texas Hurricane Ike Updates” from multiple sources with us here.

Prepare and stay safe,

Ken

You can help us send John Faulk to Congress today.

Mandatory evacuations for the Greater Houston area start today at noon for the following zipcodes:

• 77058
• 77059
• 77062
• 77520
• 77546
• 77571
• 77586
• 77598

15ft storm surges are expected to flood these Zone A & B areas well inland. Houston area residents in these areas should not try and ride the storm out for any reason.

If you are not in a storm surge danger region Mayor Bill White and Transtar asks that you stay put long enough for an orderly phased evacuation to occur; Coastal areas first, followed by the above zipcodes.

If you have special needs or do not have transportation out of a mandatory evacuation area and haven’t called and registered with the 211 service you should now call 311 so that the State of Texas can help you evacuate safely.

Mayor White has also asked all employers who do not have a role in essential services to please close tomorrow so all employees have time to prepare or evacuate. Bill White defined essential services mainly along the lines of public service including suppliers of essential products & services including; pharmacies, food/groceries, gas & diesel, & medical services.

Harris County government & the City of Houston will be shut down tomorrow except for essential services. Most schools we be closed.

As you make preparations in the local area and are not evacuating yet, please stay off of the highways. They need to remain as clear as possible for those evacuating from the coastal areas, low lying regions and mandatory evacuation zipcodes. 

Contraflow lanes will not be opened until sometime tonight at the earliest, giving ample time for anyone still coming in to get to their destination and for evening rush hour traffic to subside.

Houston area residents are not accustomed to the high winds accompanying hurricanes as our coastal neighbors are. Make sure your preparation plans include securing loose items in your yard such as barbeque pits, lawn furniture and the likes.

Mayor Bill White and Transtar plan a noon update. Tune into your local extended news coverage of Ike to watch that press conference.

We should expect widespread utility service outages for extended periods. Prepare now.

We wish everyone the best going through this storm.

Stay safe as possible.

You can follow the latest “Texas Hurricane Ike Updates” from multiple sources with us here.

Ken

You can help us send John Faulk to Congress today.

Hurricane Ike is projected to make landfall between Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay Texas as a major hurricane at Cat 3 or 4 sometime early Saturday morning. Forecasted tracks are converging to a track just west of Houston placing Houston on the “dirty side” of the storm where most of the wind damage and rain will occur.

Most of Houston could see sustained winds of 80-100mph and flooding rains of 8 to 10 inches or more, if the more easterly storm track projections hold.

Galveston is expecting a storm surge of 15-20ft depending on final landfall destination.

Mandatory evacuations have begun for 4 coastal counties. Local officials are asking inland area residents to let coastal residents evacuate first. 

All Harris County and Fort Bend Tollways are now free for anyone wishing to use them for evacuation.

Our local transportation authority, Transtar has moved up their Press Conference with the Mayor of Houston to 7:00am. Greater Houston area residents should tune in to their extended local news coverage for evacuation updates.

Area residents are advised to make necessary preparations today.

You can follow the latest “Texas Hurricane Ike Updates” from multiple sources with us here.

Ken

You can help us send John Faulk to Congress today.

My wife and I got one of the last hotel rooms in the 20-30 mile range North of Houston a couple hours ago. Most hotels/motels are already booked within that range. We got lucky because we found one which was newly built and not “on the books”. She spent 2hrs. in search. 

Voluntary evacuations of the South Texas Coast below Houston have begun and we expect mandatory evacuations to begin soon.

“Ike” is a monster, now being projected to hit the coast as a potential Cat-4 sometime Friday night or Saturday morning.

You can follow the latest “Texas Hurricane Ike Updates” from multiple sources with us here.

Ken

It’s starting to look like Hurricane Ike is going to hit the Texas coast somewhere as a major hurricane (level 3 or more).

Landfall projections are holding the Corpus Christi area as taking on the brunt of the storm right now, but that is subject to change. The entire Texas Coast needs to remain aware, especially anyone in regions redefined as central prospects for landfall, taking extra precautions going forward.

It looks like we Texans are going to take a hard hit by Hurricane Ike at or near Katrina strength. Landfall projections are still all over the Texas coastal map, but it’s pretty much for sure to hit Texas with vehemenence Friday night or Saturday sometime. Let’s hope and pray together that it doesn’t play out in a direct hit on any highly populated area on the Texas coast.

Landfall projections should become better defined in the next 12-24hrs.

You can follow the latest “Texas Hurricane Ike Updates” from multiple sources with us here.

Ken

You can help us send John Faulk to Congress today.