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Texas rushes Ike relief as health crisis looms
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-16 11:20 GALVESTON, Texas -- Texas officials warned on Monday of a possible health crisis and urged thousands to leave the island city of Galveston, where relief supplies were scarce after the onslaught of Hurricane Ike.
In Houston, millions of people had to cope without power as the US energy hub and fourth-largest city struggled to return to normal. About 2,000 people have been plucked from flooded areas by helicopters and boats in the largest rescue effort in Texas history as search teams scoured battered communities along the coast and Galveston Bay. US President George W. Bush will view storm-damaged areas in Texas on Tuesday. He still is trying to rebuild his image as a disaster manager after being widely criticized for a botched relief effort in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Galveston, a city of 60,000, was decimated when Ike made landfall on Saturday morning and 15,000 to 20,000 people remained in quickly degrading conditions. "There's nothing to come here for," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas told residents still on the island. "Please leave." She called in a cruise ship to house recovery teams. The city was bringing in a refrigerated mobile morgue. "We cannot accommodate people who are getting sick," said Galveston City Manager Steven LeBlanc. "You have the potential for a health crisis." More than 4 million people, several oil refineries and many businesses around Houston remained without power. Government agencies will distribute ice, water and packaged meals from tractor-trailers. Long lines snaked around the few gas stations that were operating in and around Houston, where the car is king, but officials said tankers were rolling in with fuel. Even with gas, many stations remained without power. "Tanker trucks are coming in to make sure service stations are given fuel," Ed Emmett, chief executive for Harris County, which includes Houston, told reporters. The relief roll-out appeared to defuse tensions that had flared between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local officials after Houston Mayor Bill White vowed to hold FEMA accountable for delivering on its commitments. Officials from Texas, which sheltered some 200,000 evacuees when Katrina devastated New Orleans, pressed for equal treatment from federal aid agencies. "I have asked the president and the administration to just treat us as fairly as they treated Louisiana back during Katrina," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry. "Texans will take care of the rest." FEMA said it will deliver 7.5 million meals over the next few days, along with 5.1 million gallons (19.8 million litres) of water, 19.2 million pounds (8,700 tonnes) of ice and 80,000 tarpaulins. Residents of Texas and Louisiana are in for tough times, FEMA Administrator David Paulison said. "Some people will be out of their homes for not only weeks, but months," he said. |
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