Islanders who insisted on staying died in Ike. Your thoughts?
Author: admin / Category: long island coastal homesBy MONICA RHOR, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 4, 1:58 PM ET
GALVESTON, Texas – The final hours brought the awful realization to victims of Hurricane Ike that they had waited too long. This storm wasn’t like the others, the ones that left nothing worse than a harrowing tale to tell.
George Helmond, a hardy Galveston salt, watched the water rise and told a buddy: I was born on this island and I’ll die on this island.
Gail Ettenger, a free spirit who adopted the Bolivar Peninsula as her home 15 years ago, told a friend in a last phone call: I really messed up this time.
Within hours, the old salt and the free spirit were gone as the powerful Category 2 hurricane wracked the Texas Gulf Coast on Sept. 13, flattening houses, obliterating entire towns and claiming at least 33 lives.
The dead — as young as 4, as old as 79 — included lifelong Galvestonians firmly rooted on the island and transplants drawn by the quiet of coastal living.
As young as 4 years of age, died in hurricane Ike. That’s sad. Very sad. 
A 4 year old isn’t able to make "rational" decisions like consenting adults. People were warned well ahead of time to leave. Some people stayed out of sheer stubborness. Willful pride or ignorance. My thoughts? If only they would have heeded the warnings. If only.
omg
thats makes me so angry at that 4 year olds parents!
January 19th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
omg
thats makes me so angry at that 4 year olds parents!
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January 19th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
It’s been proven over and over again that people do not make rational decisions about evacuating for a storm. They base their judgment on the last storm that passed through, not on the current storm that is bearing down on them and the historical likelihood of a complete wipeout, which happens in Galveston every 25 years or so.
They should not even let people build there. I think flood insurance should not be extended to places like that. People would not build if they knew that the government would not foot the cost of rebuilding.
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January 19th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
I live in Houston, 60 miles from Galveston. A few hurricanes and tropical storms had already come through this year, and people were going through "hurricane fatigue", in that the people who stayed thought that this would be just another gully washer. Although it was a Category 2, it was large, and it was the storm surge that killed and destroyed.
I agree that anyone with a small child should not have stayed, and were IDIOTS for having done so.
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