[MMike]

Just from the looks of it, it seems pretty elite. Is that true?

In which case, those 2000 people that had defied the evac order and then had to be rescued really had no excuse? (couldn't afford it etc...)

So should they get a bill for their rescue?

Not like the hurricane was a surprise....

 

[Samirol]

Wikipedia says the median income for a household in the city was $28,895, and the median income for a family was $35,049. Males had a median income of $30,150 versus $26,030 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,275. About 17.8% of families and 22.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 14.2% of those age 65 or over.

I don't think people should be sent the bill, because we shouldn't charge people to save them from a catastrophe, even if the evacuation was mandatory.

 

[MMike]

Really? What are poor people doing on prime beach real estate?? They have no business being there.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Really? What are poor people doing on prime beach real estate?? They have no business being there.

Um.... you do realize Galveston is in Texas, right?

 

[splat]

Really? What are poor people doing on prime beach real estate?? They have no business being there.

Duh.... the rich white people need the poor Mexicans to do the laundry

 

[sanjuro]

There is a saying in Galveston:

Anyone can make a living in Houston.

It takes a genius to make a living in Galveston.

 

[ohio]

I don't think people should be sent the bill, because we shouldn't charge people to save them from a catastrophe, even if the evacuation was mandatory.

I don't agree with that. If I get rescued from the backcountry, I pay for it, because I was warned or should have known that there was a risk to being there and it costs money to save my ass.

Unless you can somehow prove that you never received the warnings and mandatory evac notice, or were somehow incapable of evac-ing (although the state assisted in evacuating those folks in advance) you should absolutely pay for your own decision to put yourself in danger. If you don't want to pay, you're welcome to refuse rescue.

 

[X3pilot]

Please search and notice Bolivar Peninsula and Crystal Beach, Tx. It is east of Glaveston across the ship channel.

Myself, my family and several friends have lost houses there and it is utterly destroyed. These folks that live there full time are either workers that support the tourist industry in Glaveston or work petro in Texas City.

While I understand it's fun to make fun of Texas and Texans on this forum, try to remember that there are real people that have lost it all and just like Katrina, the focus then was all New Orleans when it was the MS gulf coast that got destroyed, in this case, all you'll hear about is Galveston and Houston, but it is way worse just 20 miles east.

 

[Defenestrated]

FEMA to the rescue! Oh wait.

 

[X3pilot]

Not so well to do anymore..



red circle is where our house used to be...

 

[Wumpus]

Maybe y'all should do some reading first.

This was on Wednesday:

Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, urges those people who haven't already made arrangements to shelter in place.

"If you can stay at home, we would like for you to do that," Thomas said. "We do not intend to evacuate Galveston Island."

Galveston City leaders say it's too late to call for a widespread mandatory evacuation.

"We have gone on exactly the information we have received. We try our best not to pull the mandatory trigger," City Manager Steve Leblanc said.

Then all of a sudden, they changed their minds after downplaying "just another Cat 2 storm might graze the island".

 

[X3pilot]

Maybe y'all should do some reading first.

This was on Wednesday:




Then all of a sudden, they changed their minds after downplaying "just another Cat 2 storm might graze the island".

That was based on the post Rita fiasco that resulted in 110 deaths on the highways of Texas. After a certain point prior to storm arrival, it becomes too dangerous to evacuate. The shelter in place is the only option. After the storm passes, they issued an evacuation post storm due to health and safety hazards regarding no water, power, sewers, etc.

 

[jimmydean]

If they told you to leave and you don't, sorry. If I have to come get your ass because you chose to stay, here's a bill. Thanks for playing. I spent a month in New Orleans a week after Katrina.

 

[X3pilot]

Not disagreeing. I lived in NO as well. You should leave when they tell you to. My understanding is the Coast Guard does charge for rescue after mandatory evacs.

 

[jimmydean]

Not disagreeing. I lived in NO as well. You should leave when they tell you to. My understanding is the Coast Guard does charge for rescue after mandatory evacs.

You get a big ass bill if they have to pull your ass off Mt. Hood around here.

 

[Wumpus]

I
Unless you can somehow prove that you never received the warnings and mandatory evac notice, or were somehow incapable of evac-ing (although the state assisted in evacuating those folks in advance) you should absolutely pay for your own decision to put yourself in danger. If you don't want to pay, you're welcome to refuse rescue.

About 10,000 people living in Galveston's low lying west end are now under a mandatory evacuation order beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday. The city of Galveston and the majority of the rest of the county are under voluntary evacuations.

Galveston has about 3,800 residents with special needs who have registered with the city. Right now there are no plans to bus them off the island since the majority of Galveston is under a voluntary evacuation. Shelters will open in Galveston at noon on Friday. City leaders will announce the shelter locations on Thursday.


Of course this is from FOX news so...


edit -- my only point was they seemed to be downplaying the whole severity issue until it was too late.

 

[jimmydean]

I just don't choose to live on a flood plane, but that's me.

If my house got wiped out, it's time to move. I guess I'm not THAT attached to any place I've ever lived.

 

[ohio]

I just don't choose to live on a flood plane, but that's me.

If my house got wiped out, it's time to move. I guess I'm not THAT attached to any place I've ever lived.

I live on a fault line so I can't throw rocks at them for that one, but you bet your ass I would get out of town when warned if there were such thing as an earthquake warning, and living where I do, we keep a months worth of food and water in the basement, as well additional water purification tools (iodine and filter).

 

[Wumpus]

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- Hundreds of people whose beachfront homes were wrecked by Hurricane Ike may be barred from rebuilding under a little-noticed Texas law. And even those whose houses were spared could end up seeing them condemned by the state.

Now here's the saltwater in the wound: It could be a year before the state tells these homeowners what they may or may not do.

Worse, if these homeowners do lose their beachfront property, they may get nothing in compensation from the state.

The reason: A 1959 law known as the Texas Open Beaches Act. Under the law, the strip of beach between the average high-tide line and the average low-tide line is considered public property, and it is illegal to build anything there.

Over the years, the state has repeatedly invoked the law to seize houses in cases where a storm eroded a beach so badly that a home was suddenly sitting on public property. The aftermath of Ike could see the biggest such use of the law in Texas history.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/19/ike.beach.houses.ap/index.html

 

[X3pilot]

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- Hundreds of people whose beachfront homes were wrecked by Hurricane Ike may be barred from rebuilding under a little-noticed Texas law. And even those whose houses were spared could end up seeing them condemned by the state.

Now here's the saltwater in the wound: It could be a year before the state tells these homeowners what they may or may not do.

Worse, if these homeowners do lose their beachfront property, they may get nothing in compensation from the state.

The reason: A 1959 law known as the Texas Open Beaches Act. Under the law, the strip of beach between the average high-tide line and the average low-tide line is considered public property, and it is illegal to build anything there.

Over the years, the state has repeatedly invoked the law to seize houses in cases where a storm eroded a beach so badly that a home was suddenly sitting on public property. The aftermath of Ike could see the biggest such use of the law in Texas history.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/19/ike.beach.houses.ap/index.html

On Bolivar Penisula, HWY 87 (the main road through) used to go all the way to Orange, TX. They closed it off, took the land under this provision and barred vehicle traffic and building to reclaim beachfront for a bird sanctuary. The don't need to rebuild along the beach there. (And I was a homeowner there. Well, technically still am, just not sure where it is..)

 

[Wumpus]

Among those accepting a hand was Cheryl Harwell, who holed up in an empty hotel as Ike devastated the Bolivar Peninsula community of Crystal Beach. She ignored a mandatory evacuation order six days ago, and suggested she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"I got everything I need here," said Harwell, 50, as she sat on the hotel's second-floor balcony with her husband and a friend.

Destruction surrounded them, but their second-floor abode was dry and tidy, complete with clean linen, bottled water and beer.

"We're happy here," said Harwell's husband, Armando Briones. "We've got plenty of cigarettes and plenty of food."

If they need something, they simply flag down the National Guard, which has been making daily checks.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jG1m4XT341oCKXPMIZlKffdhP9vwD939VNUO0

 

[jimmydean]

Among those accepting a hand was Cheryl Harwell, who holed up in an empty hotel as Ike devastated the Bolivar Peninsula community of Crystal Beach. She ignored a mandatory evacuation order six days ago, and suggested she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"I got everything I need here," said Harwell, 50, as she sat on the hotel's second-floor balcony with her husband and a friend.

Destruction surrounded them, but their second-floor abode was dry and tidy, complete with clean linen, bottled water and beer.

"We're happy here," said Harwell's husband, Armando Briones. "We've got plenty of cigarettes and plenty of food."

If they need something, they simply flag down the National Guard, which has been making daily checks.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jG1m4XT341oCKXPMIZlKffdhP9vwD939VNUO0

I bet getting room service would be a pain in the ass, though.

 

[sanjuro]

Based on my experiences with New Orleans and hurricanes, let me point this out:

while obviously anyone who suffers through flooding, wind damage, or both, is totally screwed, many of the other homes survive with minor damage.

however, if everyone returned at the same time, with no street lights, power, or clean water, there would be chaos.

while one person with enough supplies could stay without a problem, thousands of people would cause massive headaches.