Hurricane Ike

Mike Hickey

World Cultures, Entry 9_21

Hurricane Ike vs. Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane season is upon us and already halfway through the season two have already done considerable amount of damage. Hurricane Gustav made its way through New Orleans, which has already taken considerable damage from Hurricane Katrina some three years ago, while Hurricane Ike has just recently hit Houston, doing considerable damage. Houston is unlike its southern neighbor Galveston because unlike Galveston, Houston has received minimal damage due to hurricanes in the past. We were almost hit hard by Hurricane Rita soon after Hurricane Katrina but it suddenly switched course and hit Beaumont, leaving Houston relatively safe. Galveston, like New Orleans, has also had a past of being devastated over and over again by serious hurricanes like Hurricane Allison or Hurricane Carla. With neighbors like Galveston, New Orleans and Beaumont it is a wonder that Houston has remained lucky up until now in taking only minimal damage from hurricanes. Hurricane Ike is probably the most damage Houston has taken from a hurricane and even Ike did not do too much to Houston. It has already been a week since the hurricane and already more than fifty percent of Houston is back up and running. Stores are opening, schools are resuming the semester and houses are receiving power. Already a week has passed and Houston almost looks like a hurricane never passed through, except for the occasional downed streetlight (like the one I see outside the window) and several neighborhoods still without power.

Houston has done a lot to rebuild after being hit by Ike. Soon after the hurricane hit, power went out in most neighborhoods, as well as water. Stores, businesses, gas stations and schools closed and a few choice people were urged to evacuate. Fences, trees and other property were knocked over as well. However, in just this past week so much has been done to rebuild Houston. Houston was hit hard but it was also able to quickly rebuild and repair. This rapid time of rebuilding is a sign of a truly amazing city, capable of resisting a hurricane that flooded Galveston.

There are still areas in Houston that are still damaged from the hurricane. There are areas without power, stores that are still closed and streetlights that are still not working. However compared to the damage done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike did relatively little. No Levis broke; no houses were submerged in water. No roofs, cars, or animals were blown away in the wind, nothing to compare to Katrina. Ike came and went and Houston stands strong and is fortunate to receive only the damages we have and nothing close to the wounds Ike left in Galveston.

Ike devastated Galveston. The coastal city is so close to Houston but the damages it received is anything but close. The beach is basically gone, the coastline receded even father back than during Carla, leaving beach houses literally standing on top of the ocean! Soon after the hurricane people had to be rescued by helicopters! Making a connection to the damages Galveston suffered and the damages New Orleans suffered from Hurricane Katrina almost seem alike. Both cities were flooded and both were on a coast. New Orleans has a Levi that broke and caused a flood while Galveston had a sea wall that could not hold against the rising waters and Galveston got flooded as well. Meanwhile, Houston has never had similar damage or devastations. This is because we are farther inland than both New Orleans and Galveston. However, although Houston has never experienced hurricane damage as terrible as Galveston or New Orleans, Houston has always remained cautious whenever a hurricane enters the Gulf of Mexico. Within the past ten years Houston has taken serious measures against Hurricane Ike and even Hurricane Rita. Even though neither hurricane did damage close to what Katrina did to New Orleans. In my own experiences with these hurricanes I would have to say that I was made to be more worried about a hurricane coming to Houston than I really should have been.

When Rita was heading down the Gulf soon after Katrina, I was worried. I was made to believe that Rita was going to be as bad as Katrina and my mom and I evacuated Houston to head for Dallas. We traveled for more than 24 hours straight in heavy traffic, nearly running out of gas and staying overnight in a rural truck stop simply named “The Hitchin’ Post” and my mom nearly losing her mind in this exodus from Houston only to find out that the most Houston got was a little wind and rain! Taking such extreme measures that did not even hit us made me feel stupid for believing in the hype of a big hurricane hitting Houston. However, even now when a hurricane once again comes to Houston people panic and expects the worse. I feel better this time though because I did not evacuate like I did during Hurricane Rita but I was still expecting the worst. My family planned to go so far as to hide in closets when the hurricane came! I remembered my experience during Hurricane Rita and I doubted that whatever was coming to Houston it wouldn’t be anything that bad. A couple of hours before the hurricane hit me and my cousin actually went out in the high winds, which were actually quite nice, and played Frisbee, nicknamed “Hurricane Frisbee”. I wasn’t scared of Ike coming to Houston and I feel better now because of it. I do not think Houston is in danger of experiencing anything close to Hurricane Katrina, Carla, or Allison. Even if we do experience something close I am confident after seeing the work done after Hurricane Ike that Houston will be able to effectively deal with hurricane relief. Houston is overly cautious of hurricanes and I believe that makes us better prepared. If people are evacuating Houston for Hurricane Rita and boarding up houses for Hurricane Ike then just think what we could do to prepare for something like Hurricane Katrina!