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Hurricane Ike: A Personal View
By: Bill Taylor

Like Hurricane Rita in 2005, for most American's Ike is another forgotten hurricane. Memories of Katrina continue to take center stage in the psyche of American’s because Ike’s story wasn't told and re-told around the country like Katrina’s. Once Ike came ashore and didn't annihilate Houston, the national news media quickly turned its attention back to presidential politics and the economy. If you were not in Texas or southwest Louisiana, it’s difficult to comprehend the destruction a Cat 5 storm surge can have on a huge and highly populated area. Scores of people died; hundreds of others went missing. Tens of thousands lost everything. Here’s a little of Ike’s story told from my personal perspective:

Late on Saturday, September 13th, the day Hurricane Ike came ashore, the Emergency Mobile Shower Unit was staged in Lake Charles, LA with our good friends at KPLC-TV. Lake Charles experienced extensive flooding and to the south in Cameron Parish, Ike’s wind and storm surge reeked havoc similar to the hell Rita brought three years earlier.

On Sunday morning we rolled into Orange, Texas, just over the Louisiana state line. Orange took a severe whacking from Ike; it was estimated that two-thirds of the county was under water at one point. Much of the city of Orange was under water and Bridge City, TX was completely submerged. It will be many years before they recover.

We hooked up with the Mobile Command Center from Denton, TX and a National Guard unit that staged in a grocery store parking lot. The capable staff in the Command Center quickly embraced the Shower Unit. Meanwhile, the soldiers were going door-to-door doing water rescues. They had stories to tell; fortunately there were no fatalities in Orange County even though it was estimated that half of the residents didn't evacuate and rode out the storm. The National Guardsmen also spent time recovering caskets that floated from the cemeteries.

After more than a year in design, construction, this was the first utilization of our shower unit. The goal was to provide hot showers for the soldiers and other first responders as well as disaster victims; it worked perfectly. Sunday evening about 40 National Guardsmen showered. They told me they haven't been able to clean-up for 4 days! The last showers wrapped-up about 2:00 a.m. after the last patrol came in soaking wet from wading through flood waters.

Tuesday morning the Mobile Command Center got orders to relocate to hard hit Galveston County -- they told me they wouldn't go without the Shower Unit. Funny, but true. We rolled-out at noon Tuesday with the Shower Unit tucked in the middle of a 10 vehicle convoy running red lights and sirens on the 2-1/2 hour trip on I-10 and I-45 through Houston and south to the Galveston area. Its a great way to beat Texas traffic.

We set-up and the Bacliff Volunteer Fire Station a few blocks from Galveston Bay. Bacliff was hard hit, but more devastated was the adjacent San Leon, a little fishing village with modest homes and trailers mixed with expensive shoreline homes. It took a 13 foot storm surge and much of San Leon was destroyed. It was estimated that 12 people died in San Leon.

We provided showers for the 40+ first responders every evening. Word spread among the town folks that the Shower Unit had arrived and we had a steady stream of people each day. They are grateful to get cleaned-up for the first time since the storm hit Saturday morning. It was important to take time to ask each of them how they’re doing and get them to talk. One fellow was particularly memorable. Picture this: long, stringy hair, beard, tattoos, very dirty and overall, rough enough he would be scary if you passed him on a dark street. He told me he was a tug boat guy. When I asked about his circumstances, he broke into tears; a tough guy with a broken heart. He lost everything he owned, including his job.

Amazingly, most every victim I encountered showed relatively good spirits. At that early point, most hadn’t started to figure out what they were going to do, still, they showed the American resolve to count their blessings and get on with putting their lives back together. Based on my experience after Katrina, I assure them that it will get better, particularly when the faith-based workers arrive to help with clean-up and re-building.

In my view, most of the Texans devastated by this hurricane are resilient and thankful to be alive. Many were sad and lost, but not angry. They were also appreciative of all that was being done on their behalf. Their misery is far from over; many will take years to recover. Pray for them. Go there and volunteer to help them clean-up and re-build. And, if you’re inclined, donate to the Red Cross which has poured millions of dollars in relief into Texas (money it doesn't have!).