The image above was taken Sunday, and shows a lone house in Gilchrist, Texas, on the Bolivar Peninsula. The Peninsula was on the “dirty side” of hurricane Ike. This area of coastal Texas has been devastated because of Hurricane Ike. Flyover Video Of Gilchrist and Bolivar

The title of this article doesn’t describe it well anymore. I know this is now a long and messy post. I apologize for that, but this is a messy story. This post began with an aerial video of Galveston after Hurricane Ike that people were desperately wanting. Since then, the article has taken on a life of it’s own. I hope it will continue to be a helpful one. It has been linked all over the world, so I am not going to change it’s URL; I will just continue to add to it. There are so many updates, videos, images and links here, and this is the post where I will continue to follow the tragic story of Hurricane Ike, the frustration of the media, the search for the missing, and those directly impacted by the current lack of official information, FEMA and officials. This is not a regional story. It is an American story.

*CLICK HERE FOR WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO HELP: FOR IKE’S VICTIMS AND THE PEOPLE WHO CARE*

10/19/08: Texas And Louisiana Forced To Re-bury Dead After Ike- Caskets Floated Miles And Miles Away

10/18/08: Property Owners Will Still Owe Taxes…Even If There’s Nothing Left

10/18/08: The Search Continues For Ike’s Missing: Alligators, Swamps & Millions Of Cubic Ft. Of Debris

10/17/08: FEMA Still Disastrous At Distributing Mobile Homes; Thousands Of Ike Victims Still Waiting

10/11/08: Rebuild Bolivar’s Extensive Photo Gallery Of The Bolivar Peninsula

10/11/08: Rebuild Bolivar…First Coordinated Volunteer Cleanup Event For Bolivar On Sat. Oct 18th. Go to rebuildbolivar.com for details.


10/11/08: Bolivar Residents MAY have power, water and sewer in November

10/11/08: Insurance Companies Do More Damage Than Ike- Those Forced By The City To Demolish Will Not Get Reimbursed Fully, Only For Storm Damage.

10/11/08: Bermuda Beach Drive In Galveston- Completely Gone. Now The Fight Starts For Who Will Pay To Replace It.

10/11/08: Over 4000 dead are registered to vote in Houston…system is PAINFULLY primitive and ripe for abuse.

10/5/08: First Organized Body Search ON Bolivar Peninsula: 7 Men, 1 Dog, 80 square Miles To Cover


10/5/08: The stories of some who died…and who are still missing.

10/5/08: San Leon Gets Some Much-Needed Help

10/5/08: Galveston City-Owned Convention Centers And Hotel Are Too Good For Shelter Use

10/05/08: Link To The “Hurricane Ike Missing” List At The Laura Recovery Center, One Of Many Lists

UPDATE 10/3/08: Listen to Lan Lamphere, photojournalist from Oklahomaexpeditions.com , and Snarkfood discuss the missing from Hurricane Ike. The Podcast Is Here.


10/2/08: 3 Weeks After Hurricane Ike, The Search For Bodies Finally Begins

10/2/08: UTMB Galveston Photo Slideshow

10/01/08:On Galveston Island: “Dear Resident, Move Out.”

10/01/08: A look at the Crystal Beach Area With MadNonnie.com

9/29/08: A Resident Returns To Galveston, Documents What Is Left

9/28/08: After nearly 2 weeks, almost 400 people are still missing from Hurricane Ike, AND from the mainstream media. Snarkfood thinks this number is conservative. Video.

9/28/08: Ground and aerial pictures of Canal City Texas, practically obliterated.

9/28/08: Two Bolivar Men Survive Unbelievable Ride On Ike’s Storm Surge, And Live To Tell About It

9/25/08: Video- Galvestonians Return To Disaster: Many That Thought “Not My House”, Finding Out Otherwise. Everywhere You Look is “Memory Mountain”, People Having To Throw Out Everything. Many Considering Just Walking Away.
9/25/08: Video: Many Denied FEMA aid. 589,000 applications, only 11,400 approved. 154,000 denied.


9/24/08: Look And Leave Begins Friday For Bolivar Residents…Registration Forms Will Be Posted On GuidryNews.com Prior, And Will Be Available On The Peninsula. Tetanus Shots Recommended Prior,But Will Be Available At High Island School

9/24/08: The NEW Boliver Re-entry Plan

9/24/08: Galveston Residents Return To Ruin: No Need For Boxes

9/24/08: Video: Galveston Residents Return Home For The First Time

9/24/08: Galveston Residents Come Home…How To Be Prepared For “Primitive” Conditions: Video

9/23/08: Snarkfood lists (some of) the missing, screw the mainstream media.

9/23/08: FEMA To Pay For 6 Months Of Temporary Housing For Ike Victims, Help With Up To 18 Months

9/23/08: Jeff From MadNonnie.com Updates The Situation On The Bolivar Peninsula

9/23/08: Lighthouse Charity Team On Site, Ready To Help. Want To Make Sure Your Donations Stay Local? Consider Lighthouse. LighthouseCharityTeam.Com
9/23/08: Joeygulfshores- Why They Stay; WE Are Our Brothers’ Keeper, Not The Government


9/23/08: Live Stream Video: Officials Appeal To Congress For Ike Relief Funds
And They Are Getting Grilled. Snarkista’s listening. Too bad they are in line behind our collapsed financial system. If this live stream becomes available in it’s entirety, you’ll see it here.Highlights here. Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas praises FEMA when it’s her turn in front of Congress.

9/22/08: This Morning County Judge Jim Yarbrough Answers Questions From Residents-Audio

9/22/08: Additional resource to find loved ones…call 1-866-GET INFO


For FEMA Disaster Recovery Center Locations check https://asd.fema.gov/inter/locator/drcLocator.jsp.

9/22/08: POD (Point Of Distribution) Locations:

9/22/08: Angry Bolivar Peninsula Residents Gather In Winnie: Video


9/22/08: New On-Ground Crystal Beach Footage Part 1

New On-Ground Crystal Beach Video 2


New On-Ground Crystal Beach Video 3



9/22/08: Tour Of Damage From 61st Street To The West End: New Videos From The West End Anglers At FishWestEnd.com


9/21/08: Crystal Beach, Bolivar Residents Take A Boat In, Want To Know Where The List Of Missing Is, And How Long It Is

9/21/08: New Extensive Sea Isle Photo Gallery

9/21/08: Large Jamaica Beach Photo Gallery

9/20/08: Mail Service: Residents from Gilchrist, Port Bolivar/Crystal Beach, High Island, Sabine Pass and Wallisville are being served through alternate delivery at the Winnie, TX, Post Office (77655). The Winnie Post Office is located at 324 Highway 124 Winnie, TX 77665

9/20/08: Click Here For How To File For Unemployment/Disaster Unemployment Assistance

9/20/08: Video: Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas Announces That Residents May Return On Wednesday…But West-Enders Have To Look-N-Leave

Beginning Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 6:00 a.m. all residents will be able to re-enter Galveston Island. You must show photo identification that verifies your Galveston address or place of business at all manned checkpoints. The City of Galveston will distribute advisories as returning residents and business owners enter the island.

Areas Located Behind the Seawall East of 103rd Street/Cove View Lane: All residents and business owners may re-enter the City of Galveston, assess the damage to their property, and determine if they wish to remain in the city. Very limited water, sewer, natural gas, and electric services have been restored to areas behind the Seawall. Areas Not Located Behind the Seawall West of 103rd Street/Cove View Lane: All west end residents/businesses may re-enter the City of Galveston, assess the damage to their property, gather important belongings, and then leave the city to return to safe and more secure locations no later than 6:00 p.m. Water, sewer, natural gas, and electric services have not been restored to areas West of Seawall therefore sanitary living conditions are not available at this time.

9/20/08: 40% Of Building Permits Issued In The Past Few Years Along The Coast Were For Bolivar Development, Far More Than Any Other Area

9/20/08: Residents of the harder-hit Bolivar Peninsula will start seeing their homes next week, albeit for only a quick peek. And because the main road is impassible in many spots, residents will be loaded into dump trucks and other heavy vehicles for their tour. In Beaumont, near the Louisiana line, authorities lifted a mandatory evacuation order Saturday that had been in effect since Sept. 11, clearing residents to return to the city of 110,000 for the first time in more than a week.

9/20/08: Sign The “Bring Back Bolivar” Petition


9/20/08: Mandatory Evacuation Orders Rescinded Beginning Today For Beaumont, Port Arthur and Jefferson County.

Within minutes of each other on Friday afternoon, Port Arthur Mayor Deloris Prince, Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames and Jefferson County Judge Ron Walker each announced that the Mandatory Evacuation orders in effect for their respective jurisdictions would be lifted, effective at 6 a.m. on Saturday, 9-20-08. The curfews remain in effect, but Jefferson County shortened the hours of their curfew to 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Port Arthur slightly modified their curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., while the Beaumont curfew remained at 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and all three jurisdictions emphasized their curfews would be strictly enforced. Surrounded by city officials, Mayor Ames said that with at least half of Beaumont without power, it is “too dark” to maintain public safety without the curfew. More info here at The Examiner.

9/20/08: San Leon, Creamed By Ike, Gets Screwed By FEMA.

“Not only has FEMA not responded to San Leon, they have given out locations where supplies are available that are fictitious. Of four “POD” distribution locations FEMA gave out over KTRH radio (9-17), one of them does not exist. Two other locations had no FEMA supplies and had no clue that they had been designated. The 4th was there but had no supplies to give out. The FEMA “POD” in Seabrook refused to let people from San Leon in. Our residents are being turned away there. It is tragic enough that our lives have been destroyed by a horrific storm. It further injures us that communities like Tomball are getting assistance and we are not. It is even worse when FEMA’s publicity people give out phony information to inflate their numbers and waste what little fuel we have sending us to places that are not distributing assistance. I realize that to many government officials, this is a “political event”. To us it is a matter of survival. If you don’t help us, we will do it ourselves. But please don’t lie to us, and don’t make things worse..”

9/20/08: In Scrappy San Leon: The “Outlaws Of Galveston County” Want Y’all To Get Your Butts Home!

9/20/08: THE PORT ARTHUR PD…GREAT, COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE SITE… MANY HELPFUL LINKS FOR ALL IKE VICTIMS

9/20/08: GuidryNews.com has been contracted to be the official online newspoint for Galveston & Coastal Texas official announcements, re-entry news, aftermath progress, utility updates etc. Guidrynews.com

9/20/08: If You Go To Galveston, Get Your Shots And Bring A High-Rated Mask

9/19/08: Missing And Presumed Dead
9/19/08: The Bolivar Tsunami

9/19/08: If This Doesn’t Tear Your Heart Out…Get A Checkup. This Is What Gone Looks Like.


9/19/08: Galveston Officials Lay Out Plan For Residents’ Return

9/19/08: Chambers County, Smith Point, Oak Island Update…Including Story Of 3 Washed-Up Survivors!

9/19/08: Virginia Point, On Galveston Bay, Is Completely Gone.Video. Virginia Point, across from Tiki Island, has been wiped off the map. This area has not had much media coverage. This is a new video today.

9/19/08: FEMA Will Pay For Hotels Between September 15-October 15. Details Here.

9/19/08: More Bad News For Ike Victims: Obscure Texas Law Could Let The State Seize Your Beach House

VENT TO TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY HERE

9/17/08 The Press Pushes For Info- Video especially re deaths and access to Bolivar and West End. Officials pass the buck. Gets pretty heated.

9/18/08: NOAA posts more satellite images of Galveston and coastal Texas where Ike destroyed so much. High res pictures, be patient for them to load. Navigate in on the Texas map, then you can click to zoom in further.

9/18/08: New Video Of Sea Isle, Jamaica Beach After Ike


9/18/08: The Missing- From The Austin American-Statesman: Some Of Ike’s Victims May Have Just Washed Away; Systems to list the missing are chaotic

9/18/08: Galveston’s Mayor Lyda Thomas- Part Time Job, Full-Time Dictator

9/18/08: Looking For Loved Ones, Getting Nowhere. Look And Leave Not Allowed For Those Looking For Missing Family. Video. Family members are having to resort to posting names on news forums and creating Facebook groups to try to get information on what/where they are. Galveston JUST created (9/17/08) a hotline for the unincorporated areas to list the missing. The phones have two actual people manning the lines! WTF! The number is 1-866-898-5723. Unincorporated areas of Galveston County include Bolivar Peninsula, Bacliff/San Leon, Freddieville and Algoa. Those calling should have their contact information available, as well as information about the person they are searching for, including: Description of the individual, Address, Last time they were in contact with the individual, Plans the individual had for the storm.

9/18/08: News Blackout On Bolivar & Missing: Wayne Dolcefino Pushes Governor Perry For Answers…Perry Passes The Buck

9/18/08: Frank Billingsley on Click2Houston.com: New Video Aerial Tour of Galveston’s West End, West Beach. Longer clip to be posted soon. (See Link Below)

9/18/08: Longer Video Aerial Tour Of Galveston’s West End, West Beach.

9/18/08 New aerial photos from Galveston To Crystal Beach taken yesterday

GalvestonIsland.TV has been started by residents to document damage and recovery. Links to many photo galleries of neighborhoods, personal look and leave stories here.

9/17/08: Jake Abbey Has Finished His Remarkable Compilation…Labor Of Love… Photos Documenting Ike And The Texas Coast. Must See.

9/17/08: Firsthand account of hundreds of bodies seen in trees in Galveston. This from an oilfield executive who was allowed to check on the rigs, and therefore had to fly over Galveston. Many were seen is marshes, ditches. People who have access to the island are now being patted town by officials to ensure no camera footage would be shot and get into the media.

9/17/08: Video- Media Blackout Doesn’t Sit Well: Coverup?

9/16/08: Very Important Update: A reporter and his wife who formerly lived in Tyler were on Galveston Island during Ike. The media blackout is trying to be enforced by the mayor and other city officials, but rescue workers are telling people that the death count is far more than is being reported. They are going door to door, but are leaving bodies inside of structures for now, so they can focus on rescuing those who survived. Unlike Katrina, they aren’t spray-painting “X” on the houses where the dead are. Instead they are putting discreet stickers on the structures, making them harder to see by the already handcuffed media. Click here for the Tyler Paper story and interview.

9/16/08: Bolivar No Longer A Peninsula, But Is 3 Islands. Martial Law To Be Instituted Next Week

9/16/08: President Bush Clams Up After Tour Of Area- Refuses Comment To Media


9/16/08: NY Times On The Toxic Sludge Left By Ike

9/15/08: The LA Times Asks About The Elephant In The Room: Where are all the people? If you do the math, about 20,000 people believed to be in Galveston just aren’t there. Is this why the press is being restricted and the no-fly order is in place? CNN says today: “Rescue crews on the Texas coast continued to look for the estimated 20,000 residents who dismissed evacuation orders and tried to ride out the Category 2 hurricane’s massive storm surge and 110-mph winds.” Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough orders the evacuation of survivors on Bolivar Peninsula. Says he’s heard there are bodies floating on the peninsula. “There are going to be some, but no one has given me a list of deaths,” Yarbrough said.


UPDATE 9/15/08: NEW NOAA Satellite Imagery Up: These are High-Res images, you will see a map of the state of Texas first, click on the area you want to see, and go from there. West end of Galveston available. Be patient, as these are high-res images that you can navigate. http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/ike/IKE0000.HTM

NEW: Fly- Over of Galveston Including West End

9/15/08 CNN takes a boat to part of the west end of Galveston

UPDATE ON SAN LEON DEVASTATION: VIDEO

Lots of people are wanting to see aerial fly-over video of Galveston Island, particularly the West end, West beach part of Galveston. Hurricane Ike wrought much destruction up and down coastal Texas. There has been a no-fly for media helicopters over the coast side of Galveston island, due to search and rescue efforts. This video is from the Coast Guard, and the contrast isn’t the greatest. There are clearer videos from the bay side.

Below is a fly over of Galveston Island from a HU-25 Falcon Jet from the Aviation Training Center in Alabama. Scenes include flooded neighborhoods, hotels, highways, an airport and flightline as well as a burning building. This video shows massive flooding and devastation on Galveston Island, Texas, and the beach side. Reports coming out of Houston are saying that much of the Bolivar Peninsula, Crystal Beach and Orange are gone, or heavily damaged. The West End was particularly hard hit.

“The devastation was horrendous,” Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said. “I counted at least 30 homes that were out in the water. I saw homes that were picked up off the piling and set down alongside the piling. I saw massive erosion that’s occurred and tons and tons of debris.”
LeBlanc said he did see one positive thing. “We saw cattle that survived,” he said. “Must have swam around all night, but they swam and were out and walking around. That’s the only life I saw on the West End of the island. LeBlanc said it was not known if anyone stayed on the West End despite a mandatory evacuation order.


Link To Slow Fly-Over Video Of Galveston’s West End: Sunday 9/14

All of our prayers are with those who have been in the path of Hurricane Ike.

1-800-RED-CROSS or www.redcross.org to help.

Additional video:

ALSO:
Drive-through video from the Austin American-Statesman

And…excellent, yet terrible pictures from the Statesman showing the destruction of Crystal Beach, Orange, Bolivar and other hard-hit areas.

Raw aerial images of Crystal Beach and the Bolivar Peninsula, sadly reclaimed by the sea.

Aerial Fly-Over Of Crystal Beach- Hurricane Ike Crystal Beach Aftermath

UPDATE: Crystal Beach and Bolivar are the story that is not getting told by the media. Stories are being told of a Homeland Security no-fly-zone over the Bolivar Peninsula. The aerial pictures linked here were taken by a private aircraft. Snarkista doesn’t understand WHY the mainstream media is only concentrating on Galveston and Houston, and has made essentially zero mention of the massive devastation that has occurred elsewhere along coastal Texas. These towns were not second-home type places. They have been home to permanent residents for many decades. Approximately 4000+ homes appear to be gone in this area.

CNN’s Ed Lavendera Flies Over Crystal Beach

Crystal Beach Before And After Ike (side-by-side large pic)

More Excellent Yet Tragic Pictures From The Austin American-Statesman: Bridge City, Orange, Kemah, Seabrook and San Leon Included

Surveying The Damage In Kemah
San Leon Very Damaged- Video

UPDATE 9/15/08: In an unprecedented move, the FAA is keeping all of the news helicopters and other private aviation away from the disaster areas. The FAA has issued NO FLY ORDERS that prevents all general aviation aircraft from flying within one mile of the worst of the stricken areas, specifically the areas along the Boliver Peninsula, including the cities of Crystal Beach and Gilcrest, and the coastal city of High Island. Evacuees from those areas are reporting almost total devastation, but the media is not being allowed to see the areas and report the story. What are FEMA and the FAA trying to hide?

Channel 13 in Houston is incensed that they are being kept away from the disaster areas and that the Federal Government is trying to control the media and the story. To see the story unfolding, go to www.abclocal.go.com/ktrk/index and click on the link for “Watch live streaming video of our coverage of Ike’s aftermath” . Look for reports by Channel 13 investigative reporter Wayne Dolcefino, who is saying that the Federal Government is trying to keep the media and American people from seeing images reminiscent of New Orleans and Waveland, Mississippi until they have a chance to control the story and what America sees. Watch the video titled: “Wayne Dolcefino confronts Gov. Perry.”

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