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Along Texas Coast, 'Monumental' Damage
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Half of the homes in Chambers County, east of Houston, were severely damaged, a local television station reported, while Galveston Island took a "horrendous" pummeling from Ike, Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.
Among the few signs of life greeting rescuers on the west end of the island, LeBlanc said, were cows that had scrambled in some cases onto house decks. "They must have swum around all night," he said.
Authorities remained concerned about people who chose not to evacuate. Among them was Matthew Bartlett, assistant fitness instructor at the Galveston Health and Racket Club, who stayed in his second-floor apartment because of his experience fleeing Hurricane Rita in 2005.
"I didn't want to go through that again," Bartlett said.
His apartment came within five feet of being inundated. "It was close," said Bartlett, who was interviewed about 10 miles from Galveston, where he had gone to get supplies. He was not allowed back home.
Coupled with the devastation was frustration over logistical problems that slowed the movement of food, water, generators and other critical supplies from Federal Emergency Management Agency staging areas to local distributors.
"We expect FEMA to deliver these supplies, and we will hold them accountable," Houston Mayor Bill White said at a televised news conference.
FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison forcefully rebutted the criticism, saying the agency had sent 5 million pre-packaged meals and 3 million bottles of water to Texas, with 7 million more meals on the way.
"We have not been slow to deliver anything," said Paulison. Texas officials, he said, were responsible for coordinating distribution of the supplies to residents.
White said Sunday morning that Houston was planning to set up 40 distribution points for ice. But those plans foundered because of flooded or blocked roads and fears that residents would put themselves in danger by venturing outside. By late afternoon, no one seemed able to locate a city ice truck.
Another precious commodity was gasoline. People lined up, many with plastic canisters, filling up at the few open stations. But most gas stations remained closed.
Becky Little, who runs a real estate agency in Galveston, questioned why local and federal authorities haven't distributed vouchers for displaced residents who can no longer pay for hotels.
"They have no money. No food. They're coming in for bread, anything. Diapers. Tylenol for kids," Little said at the foot of a bridge 10 miles from Galveston, where police were stopping drivers trying to go home.
Many evacuees were taken to an enormous warehouse on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. At the largest shelter for those who fled the storm, about 3,000 people were trying to adjust to the concrete floors and cots just arms-length away from each other. By late afternoon, workers had set up an additional 1,500 cots.
"They're really hustling," said Kate Conradt, of the Washington-based organization Save the Children. "It's a very organized madhouse here."
Achenbach reported from Galveston and Markon from Washington. Staff writers Spencer S. Hsu and Carol Leonnig in Washington and staff photographer Jahi Chikwendiu over the Bolivar Peninsula contributed to this report.
