ABOUT THIS BLOG

In Field Notes, NBC News will shed light on the stories that don't always make the headlines as well as offering analysis on the big and small stories of the day.

Regular contributors include NBC News correspondents, producers and staff based in bureaus across the country and on assignment.

Click here to read more about the journalists behind this blog.



Assessing Ike's toll

Posted: Saturday, September 13, 2008 3:14 PM

Hurricane Ike


By Don Teague, NBC News Correspondent

 CLEAR LAKE, Texas – After making it through the rough ride of Hurricane Ike last night, we set out this morning to assess the damage.

We headed for a nearby town called Webster and the scene I saw on a little cul-de-sac called Beach Grove Drive was telling. It’s an area that is in a flood zone, so most of the residents had left. When we arrived there this morning, a couple of home owners were just coming back and were seeing their houses for the first time since Ike.

They couldn’t actually drive up to their houses because there were so many trees down on the street. They were big pine trees – like 70 feet tall – and a lot of them have crashed down in yards and across the streets.

VIDEO: Clear Lake calmer after the storm

But amazingly, on this little cul-de-sac, none of the pine trees have crashed onto houses. There was literally one tree that had fallen right next to a house, not five feet away – if it had fallen differently, it would have crushed the house. So they are all really thankful that didn’t happen.

They also didn’t get floodwater in their homes like they expected. The water came close; it got in their backyards, but the storm surge has already gone down and so it didn’t make it into the homes.

Nassau Bay is another town next to Clear Lake that the police won’t even let us into. They have blocked off every entrance. They say it’s under water and that it’s not safe.  

So the damage is hard to assess. It’s about what we expected, although I would say that there are fewer damaged homes than I expected to see.

We expected to see a lot of trees down, and that is the case. We expected to see some power lines down and fences down, and that’s all true. But, I haven’t seen homes with a lot of wind damage – which is good news.  

It’s not good news for everyone here though. Clearly there are going to be hundreds, if not thousands, of homes that have water in them.

And there has been a ton of damage to the boats here. Yesterday we were watching boats all day in Clear Lake. The hotel where we were staying sits right on the lake and there is a little marina next to it that had a couple dozen pretty nice boats.

But as of this morning – many of those boats have sunk. And those that haven’t sunk have been seriously damaged because they all broke loose from their docks. They have all been piled on top of each other. One of them – what looked like a very expensive sailboat that was probably 50-60 feet – was actually sitting in a parking lot this morning. 

Click here for complete coverage of Hurricane Ike.

Correction: This original post misspelled Nassau Bay.

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

People who stay when it clearly is unsage and have to be rescued should be fined for placing rescuers in danger and for causing expenses because of their rescue.  Money talks this might make them move.  Parents should be looked at if they endanger the lives of their children.

R Mcconnell, Alpharetta, GA (Sent Saturday, September 13, 2008 5:42 PM)

There is so much coverage of Galveston. I am very interested to see the damage to Crystal Beach, however there seems to not be so much coverage of that area even though it is probably the area hit hardest by the storm surge.  Please send a helicopter over the area so I and others can get an idea of the level of damage there.

Misty Hussey, Austin, Texas (Sent Saturday, September 13, 2008 6:10 PM)

Just a correction, it's "Nassau Bay".
I grew up in Nassau Bay and Seabrookand I really wish I knew what was going on there, maybe an aerial shot or something because the surge was a problem there. A friend sent a picture to my phone yesterday afternoon; the Dairy Queen on 146 already had knee-deep water in it.

James; Webster, TX (Sent Saturday, September 13, 2008 6:27 PM)

Just for clarification, the name of the city is Nassau Bay, not NASA Bay, although it is very close to the Johnson Space Center.  A lot of people make that mistake and often think we're a bunch of hicks down here that can't pronounce NASA.  :)

Joseph Majsterski, Houston, TX (Sent Sunday, September 14, 2008 1:00 AM)

i agree,  the moral corruption and liberal lifestyle have warped average Americans into a gross shell of humanity.  if they get a warning,  then patriot Americans that server their country shouldn't be putting their good lives at risk to save these fools.

Dave Johnson, Dallas , TX (Sent Sunday, September 14, 2008 1:03 AM)

I'm sorry, but if I was told to evacuate and didn't, I would be to ashamed to ask for help.  If I chose to set it out, then that is what I should do, set it out. and not expect someone to put their lives at risk just to rescue my stubborn butt.  These people were warned of possible death.  Did they think that Ike would leave then unscathed? People can be so Stupid.......



 

Gaynell Reaves Piedmont Alabama (Sent Tuesday, September 16, 2008 12:11 PM)



SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.): 

 Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private)