Hurricane Ike- One Week Later in Houston

This will be my final daily update on hurricane Ike as it relates to primarily Houston and Galveston. Obviously, there are another 27 counties that have been declared a disaster area and every city or county has a story to tell. A week after the lights started going out, Centerpoint Energy reports that there’s still 56% of their customers without power: Entergy has 60% out and TNMP 40%. That’s a lot of misery.

While some people are just trying to find drinking water and ice, some are worried about their wine collections, especially with the temperature beginning to rise. Everyone has a burden to bear! :-)

With rain possible this weekend and claims with no end, questions are starting to be asked that have legal consequences. One such question as, “The remediation service my insurance company wants me to use to prevent mold damage to my wet house is overbooked and unresponsive, and even if they could come out my home has no power to run their equipment. Should I start tearing the walls out myself or will the insurance company cover any damage caused by allowing the house to remain wet? This was not flood damage, it was roof damage.”

What can you do and what can’t you?

Opinions abound; however, a good place to go is the Texas Depsrtment Of Insurance. Most of your questions can be answered there. So, simply CLICK HERE. And you can find the latest POD distribution centers by CLICKING HERE..

Despite around-the-clock efforts to clear debris, repair roofs and dry campuses soaked by Hurricane Ike, power outages are expected to keep several school systems, including Houston’s, from reopening Monday, officials said today. School leaders said they want to restart classes as soon as possible so children can resume their normal routines. HISD currently only has 106 of their 300 campuses ready to go.

The total number of those considered victims of Hurricane Ike in or from the Houston area now stands at 23, authorities said Wednesday. Eight deaths in Harris County are blamed on fumes from generators, falling tree limbs and house fires where candles were being used. Meanwhile, deaths in Galveston linked to the storm remain at six, authorities said. Eight others in surrounding counties died while cleaning up debris, and a woman was killed when a tree fell on her home. In another Ike-related death, a Houston toddler, who fled to Dallas with his family, was struck and killed in a parking lot.

The final cost of hurricane Ike is off the charts. Estimates range from $10-$20 BILLION.

It will literally take weeks and months for the nation’s fourth largest city to get back to some sort of normalcy, and yet for others things will never aver again be as they were on September 11, 2008, the day before Ike started pounding the Texas coast.

Related posts:

1. Flooding From Hurricane Ike Caused Major Damage And Death
2. How is the Hurricane season in the Houston area?
3. How do I keep my house safe during this years hurricane season?