This is why I cannot forget. These images say so much. The media has moved on but the everyday Coastal resident struggles to do any task at all.

You must see this

School Closing List Take a look that is how many kids in southern Texas are still out of school. It is not a state wide list this.

List of Zipcodes out of power in Texas

The amount of money it will take to get only Texas back in the saddle must be in the billions.

The figure for all the damage is $22 Billion. While the presidential candidates are doing fund raisers who will spend the money to help our people? It is a question I cannot answer. I can say that John Cornyn has decided to curtail much of his

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This about says it all

What is left of Bolivar Peninsula

I have two new contacts.

GalvestonIsland TV has many accounts of what is left and what happened. It is for the residents and those that love Galveston.

There is also a new site called Galvestonrising. While I cannot say this is a legimate site it does seem the creator of it has long generational ties to Galveston. Right now it is about the only way I can see to help Galveston rebuild directly.

The Marines and the Navy has Landed.

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I apologize for not posting yesterday. Hubby had his day off and he hijacked the desktop. I have to get him a laptop again since I hate sharing. I will catch up on comments today.

I know that for me to post about Galveston may be boring to some. I cannot get past all the injustices endured by citizens of the USA. For me it is a liberty issue.

People in a town about 20 miles from me were told yesterday they would be out of electricity for six weeks. What I have come to find is that there is a energy company that is at the bottom of this. Entergy, and Centerpoint are the problem corporation. They are at the bottom of this electrical nightmare that has left cattle, dogs, cats and people powerless for over a week. The outage is all the way to Calvert, TX. I spoke to a rancher’s wife that was from Trinity, TX near Lake Livingston. Her husband stayed back because he had cattle, dogs and cats. The hurricane did not flood them badly what happened was they were part of the area that local officials had chosen Entergy as the electricity provider. Entergy is not from Texas it is a New Mexico Company.

The good news is most of the towns near me now have power. I expect that Huntsville is back on as well. Bare in mind that this company had over 90% of it’s customers without power. And for anyone to think that a town can endure six weeks without power when there was no damage is ridiculous. Sen. Steve Ogden gave the company an ultimatum, and suddenly Gause, TX had power late last night. I don’t think de-regulation is at fault, it is local leaders trying to save a dime ignoring the service issue. The contracts these towns have should be looked at carefully. I believe capitalism works, if you have Entergy you need to contact your local leaders and say, “hey this company is not a great service provider in a emergency.”

Now to the hard part figuring out what is wrong in Galveston. My gut was to think FEMA was not servicing. That has proven wrong. My take on the issue is that the local mayor was not prepared and is not handling Ike well at all. Much like Naigen I see a lack of control and obvious decisions and plans that should have been in place months before Ike hit. Every city has emergency plans, but somehow she is making them up as she goes along. Only to change her mind a bit later, not a good sign of a leader. The residents are confused and bitter, and I truly understand it. They are told one thing only to find out hours later the Mayor has changed her mind. During the look and see phase people sat in vehicles for hours only to be turned away. The media has been stifled. There are rumors that the reason we saw no homes on video with reporters is that the mayor would not allow them to move about. Now she has issued a media moratorium she will not allow any public official or officer to speak to the media. Only she and one other person may speak. There are reports of looting, and you have to have sympathy that residents have been told the land they own they may not see, the looters roam free. The residents are mad as Hades and I fully empathize.

You can read all about what the residents feel on KHOU. Here is the Forum I check several times a day. I go to Galveston Island mostly but you can see all the areas there.

Now for the bizarre news, yes there is a lion in the Crystal Beach First Baptist Church, and I am sure he is hungry. There was a special permit for a resident for him to be there, but when the evac was ordered, there was no shelter for a man and a lion.

As a side note I have confirmed my uncle’s place is totally gone, they will rebuild. My aunt has been crying but they are thankful this is the beach house not the only home they own.

Many Galveston residents as well as Crystal Beach residents live there 365 days a year.

Update 11:05 I found an article about Thomas. Bear in mind she is part of the Landry’s Family. She has a specific vested interest in Galveston. Here it is.

The search with the most information on Lyda Ann Thomas is here.

God Bless Texas

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Ike has left a bad taste in my mouth. There are four small towns nearby without electricity and it will take weeks to get them back up. Our small town has a little less than a hundred evacuees staying here. Normally we feed and water them for about three days and they go back home. Some may even permanently relocate here; they know it may take months to go home.

Here is what I can’t resolve in my brain. Personally leaning on the government doesn’t help you. You are better off most of the time standing on your own two feet. Private groups do better at helping out those in need, the reason is they actually understand what the person needs. That being said, I am sure many of those that stayed on their property were convinced just like Rita it would pass by quickly and it is better for you to protect your own property than expecting the government to do so. The plan didn’t happen that way. Ike was the worst in 108 years. It came over the wall that had protected Galveston for so many years. It hit Houston far worse than many were told it would. Plan B would be to figure out how to get Galveston, Houston up, and running. I watched many people drive back towards Houston yesterday, but knowing many employees like the city and Harris County were calling it mandatory what else could they do?

Somehow, some way there needs to be a balance where you as a citizen can be independent, protect your property, BBQ your meals, and move towards making Galveston better. I don’t know how they expect Galveston to get fixed if you don’t allow the people that live there in. The residents are the ones that love the town more than anyone else, and it is cruel to watch reporters and others walk that land while you are told you are not welcome.

The Seawall Blvd is mostly the tourist section. I saw Academy parking lot, so maybe it, Walmart and HEB(major food store) is okay. You can do a lot with those stores open and running. I just pray they soon let those affected back in to do the work many want to.

Life can go on but only if you face what you have lost. I want to see it for myself and I don’t own a sprout of grass there. My belief is that many would help out if they could get there to make it better.

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I admit I take it personally when a town I love is under siege. I find it irreprehensible that nothing much is being done in Galveston. That several millions are without water, electricity and food that some I am sure were told, “you can evac if you want to.”

I want to see bulldozers, National Guard troops going door to door. Debris being hauled off would be nice. When you compare this to what happened before Gustauf I don’t get it. My confidence in FEMA, Perry and the local officials is lacking. From what I see very little is being done to help Galveston to recover. There is more being done for Houston but not nearly enough. I have yet to see Perry even come to Houston or Galveston. You would think he could get in Copter and fly over.

From my point of view nobody cares, and it is not my home. Matter of fact Houston and Dallas have always been big rivals, so my loyalty to Houston is next to none.

Before you say I am expecting too much, think of what they asked before Rita, Gustauf and Ike. Abandon your homes. We as the state will take care of them. We will get you back in as soon as we can. It will be easier if you are not here. By any account, not many stayed home, but I don’t see the security being done at all. Late yesterday it was reported food was gone for relief workers. How can that be? How can you ask you to abandon your home, put people in to help and then run out of food?

Meanwhile the devastation is just a blip this morning. Millions are homeless. Houston the largest shipping channel in the USA is frozen. 20% of our refineries are not working, and the workers have no place to live.

Good gravy I just don’t understand how so much devastation can happen that the officials knew would happen and nothing is done.

I would love to tell you about other towns, but I have barely seen enough of Galveston much less any other town.

So that is my take, just a regular Texan view.

More Texas views
This has video of the west side of Galveston, the west side is the less populated side of the island. Feel free to watch all the videos, the reporter says it is a quick response. I just don’t know what to think.
KHOU Video

God Bless Texas

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FYI been busy watching TV. We never lost power, but I am dog tired from readying for the loss of power. I know the evacuees are very worried. They are not showing many pictures of what I want to see. I will post more later got to feed the family.

All day I have watched and hunted for pictures of homes in Galveston. I have seen very few. I think Gaidos/Casey’s gone but I don’t know. I know Joe’s Crab Shack is gone. As well as two souvenir shops our family would visit when there. I am 100% sure the Crystal Beach Home my uncle owns is gone. Crystal Beach has no seawall.

Pix I found

I would love to think differently but the reality of one picture says it all, Crystal Beach is often destroyed. In my lifetime I think my uncle has rebuilt it 8 times.

Galveston has not been ever devastated like this since 1900. The seawall has kept it safe and sound. All my searching had more questions than answers, many were asking about their favorite spots but the news is not coming. Is it me or is the response slow? I want to see bulldozers moving debris at a rapid pace. Because I know the faster you get rid of it the faster you get electricity on. One step closer to getting people back home. I did see a report that the Salvation Army is feeding Galveston. The Red Cross is feeding those in shelters.

Pray for those who are struggling, I am so frustrated and I own nothing but memories.

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I could write about a 100 things this morning, but the beauty of Galveston is what I keep going back to. As a native Texan, I have traveled to most corners of this Great Lone Star State. Galveston has been a vacation spot my entire life, I remember as a child frolicking on the beach below the seawall.

Galveston has beautiful scenic homes, wonderful fresh shrimp, and some of the most historic Victorian homes I have ever seen. We as a family have toured many of the homes. Many mansions come to mind but one of them being of course the Moody Mansion. Galveston was the place that many immigrants from all over landed to become Americans. It has a wonderful place called the Seaport Museum housing the critical papers and history of many families including Hubbys. You can actually look up the ship’s passenger list, and we have. The sea wall was built after the 1900 hurricane that absolutely devastated Galveston. Without news stations no one actually understood what was happening. It was frightening from all accounts, I have read. Galveston seaside is a common marriage spot. It has public beautiful gazebos that photograph so beautifully. You can stand in a gazebo with an ocean view saying you will marry the one that you love.

This morning what is left of Galveston will be hard to look at, and yet even harder to look away. I will study the video looking for my favorite places. Is Casey’s okay? What about the mansion down the road from all the hotels that is an old classic with a beautiful old glass green house, I just cannot imagine Galveston without the places I love.

As I type the weather guy on Fox News has said we in our county will have hurricane force winds, Oh CRAP. God Help Texas.

Being on my blog is not my priority, I need to make sure our family will be okay. My brother in Rockport said last night it was hot and no wind. He is completely safe and okay.

If I have power in the AM I will post. If not I will post as soon as I can.

God Bless Texas

8:43 CST Ike is supposed to come over us at 9 CST. That is what my son is saying. We have already gotten a huge limb fall. I am posting because I am really mad at Perry. Houston was not given a mandatory evacuation order. The Texas coast is 350 miles long, Texas is 772 miles long and even farther in length. People can drive all day and not be out of harm’s way. Nobody is understanding that the residents of Galveston only had a 48 hour warning. Rockport got nothing, which on Monday and Tuesday was told they would be the eye. More Texans died in Rita evacuating than stayed put, Galveston has endured multiple numbers of hurricanes since 1900.

Okay I feel better, if I can’t blog for a few days at least the blog world will know that Perry acted with Gustauf was so important, but Ike was only important after it got the press. Hating the media right now big time.

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FYI if I don’t post we are okay probably. Our area has many trees and we may lose power with the heavy wind. Right now the sky is clear as a bell, but we know it is coming. We have propane, and I am getting pitchers of water in the frig. We don’t think we will be without power long but there you go. It is really cool right now I will tell you that, almost winter cold air.

My prayers are with those losing their homes and businesses. I know Galveston well, if I can I will post about it tomorrow.

God Bless Texas

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