wfn.org | CWS Storm-Hit Galveston, Yards Caked in Toxic Sludge

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In Storm-Hit Galveston, Nearly Every Yard is Caked in Toxic Sludge
By Matt Hackworth
Church World Service

GALVESTON, Tex. - The cigarette Jim Aubel smoked barely covered the
smell of all Hurricane Ike left behind.

â??When I walked in I felt like somebody ransacked our house,â??  Aubel
said, standing in his driveway under the hot Texas sun, a growing pile
of debris rising waist-high beside him. â??I walked in and I was
devastated.â??

The working-class neighborhood where Aubel, an elevator mechanic and
his wife, Lisa, have lived for five years barely withstood the surge of
seawater Ike pushed from the shoreline, just a few blocks away.
Hurricane Ike struck this island city, 60 miles from Houston, September
13 with 110-mph winds and a wall of sea water. As the ocean surge rose,
it carried toxic chemicals, effluent and debris into thousands of living
rooms, bedrooms and kitchens.

Aubelâ??s home is like most along Fairway Drive, where piles spill  onto
the roadway covered in dust and sand from the storm.  Most residents
here have returned and begun mucking out the spoil.

Nearly every yard is a catalog of lifeâ??s items, caked in toxic
sludge. A broken coffee table. Still-wet clothes hanging out of a chest
of drawers. More than a few survivors searched for mementos like
photographs among refrigerators filled with rotting food. The stench is
thick, carried around the city on top of the briny smell of the Gulf.

â??Itâ??s important people realize that walking into a flooded  home
without a protective mask and coveralls can make them sick,â?? said
Church World Service Emergency Response Specialist Joann Hale, who is
assessing damage and meeting with local partners to determine what
support CWS can provide.

â??Weâ??ve seen a lot of people without the right equipment.â ??

Galveston officials still limit most residents to working on their
homes only during daylight hours. Many residents are staying off the
island in hotels or with friends. Shelters remain open here, and
electricity is slowly returning. Police check identification to limit
neighborhood traffic to residents only.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to set up mobile shelters
to accommodate around 600 people in the interim. Other shelters remain
open around the region, and hotel rooms from the coast to Houston and
beyond are full of people displaced by the storm.

Houston also sustained damage from Hurricane Ike and is eligible for
federal disaster assistance, along with nearly 30 other counties in
coastal Texas.
The Houston area is still home to many families displaced by Hurricane
Katrina in 2005. Following Katrina, FEMA extended housing benefits to
displaced families from 18 to 36 months. Jennifer Postem, emergency
preparedness director at Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, said
sheâ??s worried survivors of Ike in the Houston area may react poorly  if
a similar exception isnâ??t made this time.

â??We are proud of how we helped out in Katrina,â?? Postem said.
â??People here are going to see the lack of assistance and say,
â??What are we, chopped liverâ???â??

In Houston and in Galveston, survivors are uncertain of what help will
be available. A faith-based response is underway, including materials to
help survivors in shelters and those cleaning out their homes.

A steady stream of cars lined up in front of Moody United Methodist
Church, where members handed out clean-up buckets and cases of drinking
water.

â??The need is here,â?? student ministries director Lowell  Bagott said.
â??Itâ??s been nonstop all day.â??

While colorful, oceanfront homes line Galvestonâ??s beaches nearly
one-quarter of the population here lives in poverty. More than 60
percent of Galvestonâ??s children receive free or reduced lunches in
Galvestonâ??s schools, which r
emain closed.

As he loaded boxes of water into a waiting SUV, director of evangelism
and education at Moody United Methodist, David Dunaway said he worries
if help will be available to those in his community.

â??Right now everyoneâ??s still in shock,â?? Dunaway said.  â??FEMA has
said theyâ??ll give you housing but there are no hotel rooms or  housing
to be had.â??

Aubel and his wife are sleeping in a tent in their back yard.  He is
planning to stay no matter what is offered in the way of assistance.

â??I like it here,â?? he said. â??I keep thinking Iâ? ?m gonna wake up
and itâ??d just been a bad dream.â??

How to help: Contributions to support hurricane recovery efforts may be
made online at www.churchworldservice.org,  sent to your denomination or
to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515, or made by
phoning 800-297-1516.

Matt Hackworth is a Church World Service communications officer.

TO EDITORS:

Please include Church World Service in any listings you may publish or
reports noting agencies accepting donations for this disaster.

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