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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Tag: Hurricane Ike
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!
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]
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]
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]
HOUSTON BAYOUS: NOW FEATURING RAW SEWAGE! “Ever since the hurricane, a number of the city’s waste water treatment plants went without power. As a result, the city was forced to actually dump raw sewage straight into the bayous. First of all, it smells awful. There have also been some oil slicks along the waterways. And you can’t miss the dead fish.” [abc13]
A company called U.S. Forensic has posted 1700 aerial photographs taken from a low-altitude airplane the company flew over southeastern Texas and Louisiana a few days after the hurricane. The photos are arranged in an overlay accessible through Google Earth, so you can import the file into the free software and search for views by address.
Even if you don’t use the Google Earth interface, the directory of individual photos provides some shocking scenes:
Touring the Heights after the hurricane, Katharine Shilcutt Gleave is surprised to discover the front porch of Fitzgerald’s still intact. And Mimi Swartz spots these recycled yard gingermen leftover from Christmas, pressed into window-protecting service.
A few more of their photo finds from the Heights, Woodland Heights, and Norhill:
With the City of Houston code enforcement and permit offices out of commission until Monday — that’s the reason there haven’t been any Daily Demolition Reports here lately — it’s heartening to see that Hurricane Ike hasn’t shut down demolition activity citywide. A camera-phone-wielding bicyclist sends us these photos of continuing non-hurricane destruction from earlier this week at the Highland Village Shopping Center — catty-corner to Cole-Haan, across the street from Crate & Barrel:
HURRICANE IKE: GREAT FOR HOUSTON REAL ESTATE! “. . . the storm, which might have left about 50,000 homes uninhabitable in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria metro area, could actually give a boost to the housing market, University of Houston Professor Barton Smith told me today. The local job market, which has remained robust thanks to the booming energy sector, has helped to fuel the need for housing. The storm has created a shortage of homes, some of which will likely never be rebuilt, Smith said. And new home starts could drop as builders turn their attention to repairing damaged homes, he added. ‘This is probably going to create a strengthening of the housing market,’ Smith said.” [Hot Property]
A note from the City of Taylor Lake Village:
Taylor Lake is closed to recreation – swimming, boating, fishing, and water skiing. The Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority industrial wastewater treatment plant on Port Road was inundated during the storm and its ponds of untreated industrial and sanitary waste overflowed into Taylor Lake. The Lake may be contaminated with industrial pollutants (volatile organic and other compounds) and bacteriological contaminants. Residents should avoid all contact with Taylor Lake water until further notice.
Any other area industrial pollutants gone AWOL after Ike? Where did they end up?
- Hurricane Ike Update [Taylor Lake Village]
Photo of house and damage on Taylor Lake: Flickr user Linda Railsback
Remember this house from July, featured as the subject of our weekly Neighborhood Guessing Game? Yeah, the one with the wacky carpet in the garage apartment. On the corner of N. Macgregor and Wildwood Way, on the left bank of Brays Bayou in lowest Idylwood.
Well, the pre-Hurricane-Ike storm surge brought it some problems. Sad photos below:
Discovered in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike: David Adickes’s giant Beatles sculpture on Summer St. is now one member short. That’s 7,000 pounds of McCartney-ish concrete rubble under that black tarp.
Think this is some kind of hoax? Further photographic evidence of Paul’s fall . . . below:
Having trouble finding photos of your Iked house on Flickr? Try finding it from the air, using NOAA’s brand-new aerial photos, taken only a few days after Hurricane Ike.
Aerial photo of Villa Dr. in Seabrook after Hurricane Ike: NOAA
