More striking images from Hurricane Ike's impact

Mikey posted this image... not trying to be a complete copycat, but wow! Thanks, Mikey for sharing... sorry for swiping... Mikey found it on Jeff Masters' Blog. Striking impact, isn't it? It has been said that 80% of the structures on the Bolivar peninsula were destroyed by Hurricane Ike's storm surge. Today, Jeff Masters blogged about the impact on Gilchrist... the story there is grim. I posted the pic of Gilchrist yesterday, the one of the entire coast destroyed except for one lonely surviving house.

The destruction of Gilchrist
High-resolution satellite imagery made available by NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (See Figure 1 below) confirm that of the approximately 1000 structures existing in the town before Hurricane Ike, only about five survived the hurricane. Approximately 200 of these buildings were homes, and it is thought that some of the residents attempted to ride out the storm in their homes. According to media reports, about 34 survivors from Gilchrist and the neighboring communities of Crystal Beach and Port Bolivar have been fished out of Galveston Bay in the past few days. Rescuers who have reached Gilchrist have not been able to find any victims in the debris because THERE IS NO DEBRIS. Ike's storm surge knocked 99.5% of the 1,000 buildings in Gilchrist off their foundations and either demolished them or washed them miles inland into the swamplands behind Gilchrist. Until search teams can locate the debris of what was once was Gilchrist, we will not know the fate of those who may have stayed behind to ride out the storm. ~source, Jeff Masters' blog

I altered the image to show where the house in the below post is... Apparently built since the original photo.

There was no sign of Gilchrist residents, dead or alive. The authorities hope that they all chose to evacuate, but they know there is always a group of stubborn individuals who opt to stay. And the chances that they survived are zero. ~ source

[T]his was no ordinary storm.

The Authorities have offered a U.S. Ike related death count of 49, but as you read, Gilchrist is lost... I was disturbed by some of those deaths... a couple of golfers... who golfs in a tropical storm?! A 10 year old!!! struck by a tree in Kentucky while mowing the lawn! DURING A TROPICAL STORM?! What is wrong with these people? Just to reiterate my point, I found this story... click here for an LA Times article about the stubborn nature of the once Bolivar peninsula... now island... residents.

Here is a link to the Greg Nordstrom blog that Mike referenced in the previous post comments.

That's it for today.
God be with them all...
~Dewdrop