Swamplot Archives by Category: Disaster Aftermath

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Bolivar Panoramas from the Air: Private Disaster Tours

Panoramic Aerial View of Nelson Lane, Crystal Beach, Bolivar Peninsula, after Hurricane Ike

Tired of looking at the same old images of Hurricane Ike devastation? Now, thanks to the amazing aerial camerawork of Dallas’s Hawkeye Media, you can conduct your own Bolivar Peninsula post-disaster flyover, focusing only on the destruction you want to see — from the comfort of your own broadband internet connection.

Hawkeye’s interface allows you to navigate through the company’s panoramic overhead views of wasted homes and newly desolate landscapes, zooming in and out as fast as your middle finger can scroll.

Photo of Nelson Lane, Crystal Beach: Hawkeye Media

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Monday, October 20, 2008

Ruh-Roh: What Ike and Scooby-Do Did to Frank’s Grill

Franks Grill, 4702 Telephone Rd., Houston, after Hurricane Ike

Snapstream CEO Rakesh Agrawal finds the rooftop sign above Frank’s Grill on Telephone Road is still canine-consonant-challenged, a few weeks after Ike.

Photo: Rakesh Agrawal

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Friday, October 17, 2008

Galveston Damage Map

Hurricane Ike Damage Assessment Map of Galveston East of 61st St.

FEMA-approved colors liven up this property-damage-assessment map for 24,000 structures in Galveston.

The red areas are “unsafe; leaning; structurally unsound; completely destroyed; collapsed or structure missing.”

Yellow means “general interior flooding; wind damage; or significantly damaged, but repairable.”

And green means go! “No damage or only minor damage; or missing siding; shingles; handrails; breakaway walls.”

The gray areas? “Flood zone.”

More colorful maps of other Hurricane-Ike-hit areas of the city are available on the City of Galveston website.

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Got Mulch?

   

What to do with the 5.6 million cubic yards of wood waste left after Hurricane Ike? The city doesn’t know either — so it’s sponsoring an ideas competition:The contest will pay $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 for the top three ideas for how to best use the heaps of debris, which city officials have said would be enough to fill up the Astrodome nearly four times over. . . . So far, the city has given about 700,000 cubic yards of wood waste to two companies that will turn it into mulch and compost for resale. But the sheer volume of debris far outstrips local market demand for recycling it. . . . ‘We don’t want to have to fill up our precious landfill sites with a bunch of wooded waste, so we’re going to try to recycle all of it,’ [Mayor] White said. ‘It will probably be the single biggest recycling project that there is in the country this year.’” [Houston Chronicle; competition site]

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Seen on the Street: Blown Away

Van Missing Letters, Houston

A few fun — and not-so-fun — sights around town: First, Houston visitor Mike Smith’s photo shows some of the few letters left after Ike’s attack.

More hurricane photo souvenirs below!

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Monday, October 6, 2008

Houston Streetside Lumber Yards

   

Hurricane Ike means . . . free wood! For the taking! To woodworker Jim Fuller, southwest Houston is in bloom: “’I’m harvesting right now,’ he says. ‘I’ve got six or seven different types of wood – live oak, white oak, some kind of cedar, a stewartia. I got a huge piece of sweetgum – it was about 36 inches around and it was kind of hollow in the middle so I was able to saw it into planks right there. I also got a big magnolia, and that’s something you don’t see very often.’” [Hair Balls]

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Hurricane Ike Turns a Warehouse into a Haunted House

Last week Hair Balls blogger Dusti Rhodes reported that most Houston-area haunted-house attractions were faring pretty well after Hurricane Ike — and managed to elicit this gem from the owner of haunted-house chain Phobia:

Our customer base is still screwed over. We bet they’ll be happy to hear that the fake houses in the area have their power back.

Now from Crosby comes a different kind of Hurricane Ike haunted house horror story: A warehouse attached to auto accessories shop B&M Accessories received so much damage from the storm that the owners decided to scrap their plans to expand their store into it. Instead, they’re turning the entire building into . . . yes, a haunted house:

“When we first came and walked through, my son said it looked like a haunted house in here,” [co-owner Billy] Maness said.

Though the power was out around much of the community, two light bulbs flicked on at the mention of Halloween.

After some discussion it was decided: the eerie warehouse was to become Crosby’s House of Terror, a 9,000-square foot maze of Halloween fun and fear.

While others are mourning the loss of their homes and businesses, the duo turned their misfortune around, giving the entire community something to scream about. Since Sunday, they’ve been hard at work, not cleaning up, but ramping up the Halloween spirit unleashed by Hurricane Ike.

The Halloween attraction will open to the public on October 3. Less than a year ago, the building at 117 Ulrich Ln., off FM 2100 in Crosby, was Shooters Bar. Before that, it was called the Chicken Coop.

After the jump: design touches from Hurricane Ike!

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Midsummer Books: 8 Feet Is Enough

   

This fall was the final season for Midsummer Books, near the Strand in Galveston: “‘All those shops and restaurants on Strand, Mechanic and Postoffice were hit bad, and Midsummer Books got 8 ft of muddy water which soaked and ruined everything, books, furniture, computer equipment, etc.,’ owner Tim Thompson says by e-mail. ‘Luckily I have flood insurance so I will most likely get compensated for the loss. However, this is one of those times in life where tough decisions have to be made and for a variety of reasons I have decided not to ressurect Midsummer Books,’ he says.” [Hair Balls]

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Friday, September 26, 2008

Seen on the Street: Convoy

Tree Truck Convoy, Houston, after Hurricane Ike

Fun pix from around town: Part of a convoy of about 40 tree trucks headed down the Eastex Freeway last weekend, looking for a little bit of work.

More photos:

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ike’s Toxic Imprint

   

So far, regulatory officials have identified 228 sites potentially poisoned with gasoline, industrial chemicals, feces and other contaminants from Greater Houston to Lake Charles, La. But none of the reported spills is considered major, authorities said. Cmdr. Virginia Kammer, who leads the U.S. Coast Guard’s cleanup efforts along the Texas coastline, said the largest spill was about 3,000 barrels, and the responsible facility moved quickly to get the problem under control.” What about the region’s 28 Superfund sites? No word yet, but the EPA has “started to investigate.” [Houston Chronicle]

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Ike Takes Office

Trading Desk at JPMorgan Chase Center, 601 Travis St., Downtown Houston, after Hurricane Ike

If they had been trading weather futures here, it would have been too perfect: A view of a trading office in the JPMorgan Chase Center at 601 Travis St., from the morning after Hurricane Ike.

Another view below:

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Elysian Pools: Hardy Toll Road Impromptu Water Park

Flooding at Elysian St. and Kelley St. Near Start of Hardy Toll Road, 11 Days after Hurricane Ike, Houston

Fox 26 reporter Isiah Carey finds a lot of water loitering around the intersection of Kelley and Elysian — a full 11 days after the storm:

What I was shocked to see is that 12 feet of water has yet to recede near the beginning of the Hardy Toll Road near 610. . . . The water still looked like a giant swimming pool. It’s a very scary to see. I can’t believe the city’s drainage system hasn’t been able to swallow the water. I think there’s likely a lot of debris at the bottom blocking the sewage system.

More pics below of water . . . standing still!

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Should Galveston Be Rebuilt?

   

“The city and its environs rest on barrier islands, which are made of sand, low-lying and prone to significant geological shifts. In Galveston’s case, even before Ike’s landfall, the island was both sinking slowly and becoming sharply eroded along its west end. Moreover, a couple of years ago, the city itself commissioned University of Texas geologist Jim Gibeaut to create a geohazards map for the island, that is, where should development not occur? The research study found that nearly all the development along the beach front west of the seawall, which protects the core of the island, is in ‘red’ or ‘yellow’ zones, where Gibeaut says development should not occur.” [SciGuy]

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Thousands Lost Their Homes. How Many Lost Their Land?

   

With all the beach erosion, coastal homeowners may find their homes now sit on public property: “Even people whose coastal houses were spared by Hurricane Ike could see them condemned under a little-known Texas law, and hundreds whose beachfront homes were wrecked could be barred from rebuilding there. 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. And if these homeowners do lose their beachfront property, they may get no compensation from the state.” [L.A. Times]

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Great Secret Billboard Repair Caper Begins

   

Certain billboards grandfathered by city ordinance can’t legally be rebuilt after the hurricane: “For billboards, the city ordinance says that if the cost of repairing the weather damage is more than 60 percent of the cost of erecting a new sign, the billboard comes down. . . . [Scenic Houston program director Holly] Eaton said documenting weather damage is critical because ‘it’s one of the few ways we can get these things down.’ Showing the city the damage avoids ’sneaky, stealth-of-darkness repairs on signs that really should be coming down.’ She’d collected photos or notice of at least 20 billboards with significant problems by Monday afternoon.” [Houston Chronicle]

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