Homes, trailers, buildings and boats were destroyed when Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast. Photos: Jesse Muhammad

“I knew we couldn’t stay in Mississippi because we had nothing,” said Mr. Simpson, 43, to The Final Call via telephone. “Just when I thought we were getting back on our feet more disaster has struck.”

Mr. Simpson, who is Black, fled from the incoming threat of Hurricane Gustav—which hit Louisiana on Sept. 1—and headed to Texas to live with family in Houston. A week later they were escaping back to Baton Rouge because of Hurricane Ike, which hit the Gulf Coast of Texas on Sept. 13. The financial impact has been almost unbearable.

“These have been the most frustrating years of my life that it could make you want to just commit suicide,” said Mr. Simpson, a husband and father of two sons and two daughters.

“And it just seems like this government could care less about those of us suffering in the Gulf because they are so focused on bailing out the rich White people. This country has the attention span of an infant when it comes to issues like disaster recovery. We are not on the agenda of any of the presidential candidates so I’m not voting for either one of them.”

Robert Meacum, Sr., had to run a gas powered generator because his electricity was out.

Public housing condemned in Galveston

Don Martinez and his girlfriend Keisha Greene sit in their car along Seawall Boulevard just days after returning for the first time since Hurricane Ike swept through their hometown of Galveston, Texas.

“This is a horrible experience. I have been on disability without a job so I am waiting on FEMA to help us,” said Mr. Martinez to The Final Call, as he rubbed his two dogs. “We had a lot of water damage and there are a lot of people who may not be able to come back from this. I hope we can recover.”

Residents were allowed to return to the island in the last week of September and the sight was not pleasing. Galveston officials warned it was still unsafe and everyone should wear masks due to toxic air. Many surrounding areas were deserted because there was no running water or electricity—and it could take until November to completely restore the services. Adding to the trauma, there were reportedly 300 persons missing, perhaps 70 dead and fears the numbers would rise.

“This was my first time encountering a hurricane like this. I was frightened,” said Ms. Greene to The Final Call.

City streets were adorned with piles of debris stretching for miles, the remains of homes that once stood on the shoreline. Hundreds of boats were washed ashore, sitting in the middle of roads and on the sides of the main highways. Re-opened restaurants competed for business by painting the word “Open” on windows or holding hand drawn signs on the sides of streets.

“If people came here and saw for themselves, you would think this was the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans,” said 30-year-old James Kingsley to The Final Call via telephone. “When I came back I knew it would be bad but not like this. Boats with anchors were thrown into the city! Our housing projects are not livable and now they have given us a few days to get out.”

Mr. Kingsley is a resident of Palm Terrace, one of six housing projects condemned by the Galveston Housing Authority (GHA). According to GHA online reports, just over 2,000 families live in the housing projects or in federally subsidized housing for low-income people. Nearly two-thirds of those residents are disabled, elderly, or handicapped. All were ordered out by Sept. 26.

Those residing in low-income housing returned to find turned over refrigerators, moldy furniture, damaged valuables, thick layers of brown slime coating floors, and an unbearable stench in the air. They gathered what could be salvaged.

“Dang, this is a crushing feeling and now we may have to walk the same path of struggle as our people in New Orleans,” said Mr. Kingsley.

He and other residents were confused and pessimistic about future places to live given that Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas testified before Congress about her city’s dire need for over $2 billion in relief, but public housing was not mentioned. To further compound the public housing crisis, the GHA announced it would stop paying landlords for housing low-income residents by the end of October—unless their Section 8 homes were re-inspected for approval.

GHA online documents note that housing choice vouchers are for very low-income families to obtain housing. A Galveston family of four is considered very low-income if annual gross income is $29,900 or less. But the voucher program won’t be re-instated until the housing authority determines homes are livable.

The only current housing option has been public shelters, which are scarce on the island. Galveston opened its first shelter in mid-September at a community center. It offered room for about 100 people and filled up fast. The city set up a second shelter, filled with tents at an old elementary school, and the Red Cross opened a shelter that houses 500 people.

When Mayor Thomas spoke before Congress, she requested that the federal government hand over undeveloped land it holds on the island’s east end. She also requested money for a bridge over West Bay, a proposal that generated controversy in the early 1990s, along with a flyover lane off Interstate 45 initially rejected as a political favor for prime developers.

Mayor Thomas is president of Thomas & Company of Galveston, a private real-estate and investment firm, which had some residents questioning her motives.

“Is she trying to take advantage of this disaster? That’s sad man,” said Bernard Jones, 51, to The Final Call. “This is just like New Orleans all over again. These rich people don’t care about the poor people and that’s why their financial world is crumbling now because God is tired of them. I am too.”

In a recent interview on KFPT 90.1, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said, “I and Rep. Maxine Waters will be taking a very close look into the housing situation in Galveston to address any inequities.”

In defense of the requests made by the mayor, a Galveston Daily editorial read, “We have no hope of laying to rest all the conspiracy theories that were spun off by the list. But we do think people should know a bit more about the list and how it was compiled.”

An outgoing message on GHA’s answering machine tells residents they have until Oct. 9 to remove their belongings from their homes, while warning them of the severe health risks. The housing authority is urging residents to apply for FEMA housing assistance. Beginning Nov. 1, the federal government will pay rent for families displaced by Ike for 18 months as part of the Disaster Housing Assistance Program.

In May 2009, displaced families must pay $50 for rent and every month afterward, the family’s portion of rent increases in increments of $50 until the program ends in April 2010.

Houston residents suffer without electricity

Houston Mayor Bill White asked Congress on Sept. 23 that aid be sent directly to the city for immediate use to expedite the reimbursement process.

Texas is looking at $11.4 billion in damages from Ike, including $16 million in damages to Houston. Mayor White has been very vocal about his displeasure with the response by FEMA in his city, with supplies coming late and some shelters inadequate.

Led by Houston City Council member Jarvis Johnson, a huge press conference and rally was held in the driveway of an elderly Black resident who has been without electricity for over 18 days since Hurricane Ike struck the Gulf Coast.

The congregating group wanted to shed light on what critics called slothful and archaic methods used in restoring power to severely damaged areas in the city.

“My husband has suffered three strokes due to being without lights which has impacted the memory portion of his brain,” said Mrs. Johnnie Taylor, whose husband is on insulin. “We have been without lights since Sept. 12 and CenterPoint has been promising our lights would be on. Were it not for the assistance of our neighbors I don’t know where we would be.”

Council member Johnson said, “We must ensure that this does not happen again.”

He then proposed a five-point plan of action to CenterPoint Energy officials which included crafting a better deployment plan in response to emergency situations, constructing a better communication model, building a database of critical care patients and elderly customers to lessen personal suffering, getting generators in place at key locations, and having CenterPoint Energy rethink plans to charge customers the same energy bill they had prior to Ike—though many were in the dark for over two weeks.

With the massive power outages in the aftermath of Ike, CenterPoint Energy failed to restore power to critical care patients and over 70 percent of its customer base in a timely manner. This prompted restlessness and anger throughout the city and amongst this group of Acres Homes residents who attended the Sept. 30 press conference.

“I have been paying $40 a day on gas for a generator and have been without lights for 18 days. You do the math. What’s $40 times 18?” said Robert Meacum, Sr., with oxygen tubes hooked to his nose. “I’m on a fixed income! CenterPoint needs better management. I was expecting an outage but I didn’t expect to go through this.”

Brother Deric Muhammad, of the Millions More Movement Ministry of Justice, said, “It is a shame that our elderly has had to go this long without power. And it is a shame that CenterPoint is not sending out meter readers and is going to charge people the same rate as prior to the hurricane. This is legalized looting. You all should not pay those bills. Challenge them!”

Elderly patient Edna Barlow gave an account of how she has slept in her automobile. “It is cooler in the car than it is in my house. I am on insulin, a fixed income and this heat has caused me serious breathing problems. I’ve taken cold showers and boiled water on a Bar-B-Que pit. But I thank everyone that has helped me.”

The activist group ACORN successfully helped more than 850 victims of Hurricane Ike receive assistance at two neighborhood meetings.

“Some people think it’s just an inconvenience for people to be without lights this long but we call it a catastrophe. We are sending letters to the CEO of CenterPoint to let them know they need to be here on the grounds communicating with the people,” said ACORN member Alana Hill.

According to councilmember and renowned architect Peter Brown, the slowness of restoring power is due in part to the city’s outdated grid. “It is neither practical nor cost effective to operate a 21st century modern city on an electrical system designed in the 19th century. We absolutely must better protect our homeowners and businesses from massive power outages due to hurricanes,” he said.

At Final Call press time, there were still over 4,000 customers without electricity.

‘My spirit is broken’

According to a statement by Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, the state is facing $1 billion in damages from Ike and Gustav. In his testimony before Congress, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said that the $40 million cost of evacuating his city for Hurricane Gustav has led to a freeze on job placement and has brought all new expenditures to a halt.

On NOLA.com, Louisiana State Sen. Reggie Dupre Jr. criticized the Army Corps of Engineers for not constructing levees in his district since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He said the federal government appropriated $30 million in 2006 to build nonfederal levees, but the Army Corps has not spent any of it in Terrebonne Parish.

New Orleans resident Keisha Washington explained to The Final Call, “I have used up so much money just running back and forth from these storms that my spirit is broken. I am really trying to move out of this area for good.”

Activist Mtangulizi Sanyika was preparing to host a Gustav Town hall meeting Oct. 8 because “we have heard a broad range of evacuation stories and experiences, but perhaps the most consistent, compelling and universal story is that the evacuation is a financial burden and a hardship.”

“Baton Rouge is in bad shape,” said Fred Francis to The Final Call, who faced Gustav. “We will be put on the back burner with every other city in the Gulf. I’m not expecting any assistance.”

Gustav was blamed for 23 deaths in the state and caused flooding in parts of central and north Louisiana. Gov. Bobby Jindal estimated the storm could cost the state more than $130 million for evacuations, shelters and response efforts along with an estimated $1.7 billion in insured damages.

Mississippi lacking attention by media

One of the most forgotten areas in the Gulf Coast has been the state of Mississippi, which is still recovering from Katrina but felt the sting of Gustav. According to Gulf Coast News (GCN), there are thousands of residents still in FEMA trailers and yet to get homes rebuilt. There is also confusion over what is happening with money to help survivors administered by a dwindling number of agencies as volunteer groups slowly close their doors.

Currently there are 4,002 inhabited FEMA temporary housing units in Mississippi. GCN said there is concern among case managers working with Katrina survivors, and now someGustav survivors, needing help that there is no longer money to help coordinate the rebuilding of homes to get survivors out of trailers. One case manager recently told GCN, “They have us stalled with nothing we can do as we are told no money is available and the organizations that handle cases are unsure of funding and future.”

“People in the community are still going through the trauma of Katrina and dealing with those issues that are related to it,” said therapist Randy Kirkey to WLOX News. “Although they have started rebuilding their homes or trying to rebuild their homes, or they may be still looking for a place to live, because we still have a lot of families displaced, the stress level is high.”