Texas Bars Ike Evacuees From Galveston, Area Unsafe

By Crayton Harrison and Brian K. Sullivan

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Texas officials barring evacuees from returning to Galveston five days after Hurricane Ike said the area remained unsafe as relief agencies struggled to provide food and water to thousands.

``I don't think it's a safe place to live,'' state Health Commissioner David Lakey told reporters yesterday. ``The capacity to take care of even moderate injuries, moderate illnesses, is not here at this time.''

Galveston authorities stopped residents returning to inspect their homes for storm damage, saying they couldn't cope with the influx. Those who rode out the hurricane face $2,000 fines if they breach the dawn-to-dusk curfew there.

The Bush administration, stung by criticism of its slow response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, vowed to get supplies into the Houston-Galveston area, where the storm downed electricity lines, cut off water and left 28,500 people in shelters. The hurricane killed at least 51 people in 11 states, the Associated Press reported.

Supplies of food, water and ice have been sent to every county, though some of those distribution points are still far from cities and towns, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in an interview on Houston's KTRK-TV.

He said officials will look at setting up satellite locations to make sure supplies get to people who need them.

``I wish we could set one up immediately in everyone's backyard,'' Chertoff said.

Strategic Kicks Threatened

Yesterday, Chertoff, whose department oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, promised to ``kick someone in the rear'' if necessary to ensure a smooth relief effort. ``Those whose butts need to be kicked will feel it in their butts,'' he said.

FEMA set up a trailer to process residents at Ball High School in Galveston at noon yesterday and almost immediately a line of 20 people formed. Ronald Lee Homrighaus, 56, was hoping for enough money to rent a hotel room for 30 days and find a new place to live after his home was destroyed by water he said rose as high as 16 feet (4.9 meters).

``FEMA's being better because of what happened in New Orleans,'' he said. ``They got caught with their pants down there.''

Stress Taking Toll

The lack of water and the destruction was taking its toll on Galveston residents, said Texas Air National Guard Colonel John Nichols. Dehydration, fatigue and stress were all seen among residents lining up for help.

The Salvation Army has served 300,000 meals since Ike struck and is now in position to serve 210,000 a day, according to Major Dan Ford with the assistance organization in Texas. It has mobile kitchens and canteens set up in Galveston.

People ``don't want to leave because everything they have is there but they can't survive on the island,'' he said.

Floods are receding and at least 90 percent of the state should be dry by today, Bob Smerbeck, a meteorologist with private forecaster AccuWeather.com, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Electricity has been restored to more than 1.5 million people, though about 1.3 million remain without power, CenterPoint Energy Inc. said today. About 70 percent of Houston should have electricity back by the end of the week, FEMA Administrator David Paulison said.

Rescue Operations Ending

Search and rescue operations, which saved more than 3,540 residents in coastal areas, are almost finished, according to Governor Rick Perry.

Refiners along the Gulf Coast are restoring operations after Ike caused about 20 percent of the nation's production capacity to shut.

Most refiners are waiting for power to be restored and for pipelines and ports to bring in crude oil. The Houston petroleum port, the largest in the U.S., partly opened to daylight transit by tankers, the Coast Guard said yesterday.

Oil companies, which shut most of their offshore Gulf production for the storm, were examining assets for damage and beginning to return workers to rigs and platforms.

To contact the reporters on this story: Crayton Harrison in Galveston at tharrison5@bloomberg.net; Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.