Six days after landfall, I am fortunate enough to have a very stable situation with all services restored, plenty of food and water and relatively easy access to a functional supermarket. I have registered with a number of volunteer agencies and trust I will hear back from one shortly. Here is Houston's situation as I understand it.
Galveston
There has been little news from here since midday yesterday. Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas is in control of the city after a contentious city council meeting that ended after one of the mayor's supporters walked out of the meeting depriving of a quorum. Council members were bickering with Mayor Thomas over extension of emergency powers. In the absence of this extension, the state would assume control. Thomas is rightfully criticized for some poor decisions that include a delayed evacuation order and a "look and leave" program that snarled relief efforts and was suspended after five hours. However, Texas is run by a gang of country club Republicans, from whom Bush-level incompetence can be expected at any given time. The last thing you want is this bunch running your city during a crisis.
Last I heard, there were still 15,000 people on the island. It is clear that many of the are refusing to evacuate, because of concern for their pets, property or other reasons. It is not clear that anyone is providing transportation for those who want to get off the island but don't the means to do so. The state's chief medical officer has declared the island basically unfit for human habitation. There is no water, sewage or electricity, and anyone who remains on the island is in danger of water- and food-borne diseases.
Bolivar Peninsula
Seems to be a total loss.
Houston
Houston is too large and diverse to address with clarity. Much of the city will remain without power well after Monday. As of now, services are restored to various pockets while others remain in darkness. The water has been declared safe to drink but I am not sure that all areas, particularly those around I45S and areas North of the loop, have access to any water at all. I hear nothing from the underserved communities in the Third and Fifth Wards or Acres Homes. These areas contains pockets of extreme and concentrated poverty in a city where 40 percent of the population lives in poverty.
Bellaire
Inside the loop, where I live is a mixed bag. I was very fortunate to have all services restored Monday night. AT&T U-verse (cable and internet) has worked as long as there was power to the gateway, and I have blogged Ike since Thursday at So What?. When the power went down, I continue posting updates on twitter. If I walk three streets North or South of my block, there is no electricity. As of Tuesday, the grocery stores around here were either closed or bare. Yesterday, the Central Market (H.E.B.) was open and well stocked, with short lines. My Democratic precinct just called with an offer of assistance and a request for volunteers. Way to go 182!
North Houston and Harris County
This is an area I am particularly concerned with. My concern is for my students at a community college in North Harris County. There is very little information coming out of North Houston, and hardly any of it good. From the houstonmacbro:
Since there is still no water at home, we have been camping out at the newly renovated downtown library. It is really nice, air conditioned, and has free WiFi. Still a few bums here and there, but hey, bums are people too!
As for the water...
We were initially going to the Acres Homes branch today to camp out, do homework, surf the 'Net since it is closer to the house, but they happened to be closed. That is when we saw someone motioning us over to the church across the street. We didn't know it was a makeshift POD giving out bottled water.
We scored 2 cases! Now if we could just get some ice... (I won't push my luck though).
From DKos's on the cusp:
Coldspring, the county seat of San jacinto County, has about a mile of lights up, servicing one bank, one convenience store, one grocery store that has now received a full tanker of fuel..no diesel, though... There is a Family Dollar store open, as well as the post office.
The jail and courthouse and the rest of the town square is in the dark.
2 communities, Coldspring and Camilla, have water. I know of no other water available in the county.
FEMA brings in bottled water and ice, and today, mre's. The lines were short, and moved quickly.
I see little federal presence. All logistics has been set up to deliver and move traffic by locals, including county employees, volunteers, trustees from the jail, dept of pub safety troopers, and several people in what I believe to be Texas Guard.
Conroe, west of me, still north of Houston, expect to have electricity on or about Sept. 29.
In her own voice from Kingwood:
My comments from yesterday in New York's diary--
No teevee, just red cross radio
Daughter on Memorial near the park and Buffalo Bayou.
peak oil standing in line
things haven't changed--still no power here in Kingwood except for a small strip of businesses that opened today on Lake Houston Pkwy--Randall's, Alspaugh's Ace Hardware, Le Madeleine, New York Pizza, and yes finally some caffeine-----STARBUCKS! WOOHOO--GOT ME SOME THIS MORNING! Also had a warm meal last night at Le Madeleine--mmmmmm!
Working all the time to just keep up and running. Need to find and get more ice. Mostly still eating cereal, fruit, nuts. Made "sun" tea today--really like camping out in fall weather--won't be so easy when it gets hot again! We won't all still be so "zen" around here.
No teevee, just red cross radio
Daughter on Memorial http://www.dailykos.com/... near the park and Buffalo Bayou.
Most of my students come from Aldine and Spring ISDs. Getting right to the skinny: between 60 and 70 percent of my students come from low-income families. Many are second-generation immigrants. They are first-generation college students in a critical transition phase wherein they are trying to build the fundamentals for a middle-class life. There grasp is frequently tenuous under the best of circumstances. They struggle to pay tuition, buy books and frequently work more than one part-time job. Many are single parents. For these students a lost job or even a flat tire can pose a huge obstacle to success. Ike will certainly set many of them back. I began social networking with my students last Spring and so am able to contact some of them through Myspace and Facebook. One or two have checked in with an open thread at my blog. Mostly, I'm not hearing anything.
My students are young, resourceful and in good health. I expect they will manage. However, the little knowledge I have about these communities in North Houston does not bode well for the population at large, especially the disabled, elderly and chronically impoverished. These are the people who were least able to properly prepare for a hurricane. They were least able to fill their tanks with gas, their cabinets with non-perishable food and their coolers with ice. Many of them are unable to make their way to a FEMA POD even where such is available. The lack of water and food might be growing acute.
The story of the FEMA POD clusterf@#%k hasn't fully emerged yet but what I know about it is posted at So What?
Mayor White made public statements that FEMA had assured him that large quantities of relief supplies were staged in forward positions near Houston. White continued, "I fully expect them to honor their commitments and follow through." He sounded skeptical.
Michael Chertoff, Governor Perry, and John Cornyn gave joint press conferences conveying a rehearsed-sounding message about how seamlessly federal, state and local authorities were working together, as opposed to the Katrina fiasco. Saturday was spent assessing need and staging supplies. As the day progressed, it became clear that damage to Galveston and coastal areas was catastrophic.
By Sunday morning, it was time to empty the refrigerator. We had been hoarding ice since Thursday, and there was some left but not enough to keep perishables through the night. This was during the several hours when FEMA supplies were delayed because of the state guys --the same ones who had been yammering on about the "seamless" cooperation--reneged on their commitment to man the FEMA PODS (Points Of Distribution). According to County Judge Ed Emmet, Harris County has 12, 000 volunteers trained to man the PODS, but the state stepped in and said that they would man the PODS. Then they realized that they needed all state assets in the devastated areas. 36 hours after landfall, only one POD was established with ice, water, and MREs. Conventional wisdom seems to be that natural disaster is always followed by some chaos. In this case, it looks like much of the chaos could have been avoided if the city and county guys had been heeded.
My thanks to Arken and all who have tried to maintain a liveblog presence on DKos. I understand there are other priorities at a political blog. Feel free to use this diary as an open thread/mothership as you care to.
I will try to update as called for.
Real Mothership Diary here.
Update from the Texas Democratic Party:
wanted to take the opportunity to make you aware of a service being organized by Congressman Nick Lampson. In order to provide assistance to those affected by Hurricane Ike, a mobile congressional office will be opening today, September 18, 2008, at American Legion Post 490 located at 11702 Galveston Rd.(State Hwy 3), Houston, TX 77034 (across from Ellington Field).
The facility will be open from 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM and affected residents will be able to report claims of hurricane damage with FEMA, request loans from the Small Business Administration, and begin the process of receiving funds to repair damage. This truck will provide 225 laptop computers with internet connectivity and 225 cell phones. Congressman Lampson's staff will be on hand to help you through the FEMA claims process.