Ike and Galveston

It's currently 8.50GMT, which translates to 4.50am in New York and earlier in Texas. I've just looked at a BBC video of the hurricane's effects upon Galveston, and, I gotta tell you, it looks bad.

What I saw on that video was Galveston completely inundated with water. Water had covered the entire city streets. Houses and buildings were jutting up out of the water. But that's not the worst part.

You see, the video showed Galveston from the air during the daytime. In other words, what I saw was not the worst of it. Ike passed over Galveston about 4-5 hours ago, so what I saw on the BBC video was small compared to what it would've become when Ike passed over it. But that's not the worst part.

The worst of it is that 23,000 people stayed in Galveston.

Back in 1900, Galveston was levelled by a massive Hurricane. 6-8000 people were killed. It was the biggest natural disaster in US history. As a result of this disaster, a sea wall was built to protect the city from any future hurricane. Ike, however, produced a storm surge that topped the wall. Moreover, it topped the wall hours before the storm surge reached its highest point.

I think there is a massive tragedy happening now in Galveston. I hate to say it, but people are probably dying as I type. Let's hope and pray that there is a minimal loss of life. I'm not optimistic, however.