Hurricane Ike

What do you think of when you hear the name Ike? We often think of cute little things, or even babies such as Kyle's little brother on the comedy series South Park. However, in this case, Ike is a huge whirlwind of rain, wind, and debris. It is actually 70% stronger than the average hurricane. The only thing small about Ike is it's name. Hurricane Ike is said to be wider than the state of Texas in diameter. It is expected to hit the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas at midnight CST. Residents of Galveston have been forced to evacuate. Despite all the warnings, and the begging from authorities, 40% of the residents have decided to stay in their home town. Officials are asking the ones who are staying in Galveston to get a permanent marker and write their social security numbers on their arms. Local News stations are calling it "certain death" if they stay. Hurricane Ike is said to be larger and more destructive than the deadly hurricane Alicia back in 1983.

Millions of people have packed up their belongings and their animals and headed North. The largest shelters in Texas for the evacuees are in San Antonio, and in Dallas / Fort Worth. Red Cross, volunteers, and many more city officials are prepared this time to take in large capacities of people. The Fire Marshall of Carrollton, TX (a city in Dallas) quotes "We are more prepared than we were with Katrina. We don't want to make that mistake again."

Shelters are not the only place that victims can stay. Many hotels here are packed, and people are lucky to find a vacancy. Some residents of Dallas have opened up their homes to these shaken strangers. It is an act of pure love, and human nature.

Right now, I am sitting in a hotel room with my mom and dad who have evacuated from Houston yesterday. They hope and pray that their house is still standing tomorrow evening.

Gas stations have lines of 8 cars or more for each tank. Not only are gas stations busy, but I have seen a lot of price gouging, which the government will not tolerate, and those specific companies will be reported, and later prosecuted. People are all down in the Lobby watching the Geraldo Rivera wading in the gulf water in Galveston that has already gone over the sea wall. Our family that still remains in Houston called us and told us that it looked like a war zone. A major restaurant burned down in downtown. Debris is flying all around, and the sad part is, is that most of the emergency crew is not able to respond to calls of help. Last night the restaurant stood burning, and no one could do a thing about it.

We cannot do much about it but hope and pray for the best. Hopefully Ike will not cause to many injuries, and everyone will be safe and sound. I would like to thank the people who have opened up their homes, including chuck Norris who opened up his ranch here in Texas to people who needed to stay there. It's times like these where we have to put our pride aside, and give back to our country who has given so much to us.