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Seth Barnes' Blog
Adventures In Missions

Ike Isn't Katrina: More on the hurricane aftermath
(10/8/2008)
Why Money Won't Solve All of Ike's Problems
(10/4/2008)
50 People Still Missing After Hurricane Ike
(10/3/2008)
Photo Blog: The Destruction of Hurricane Ike
(10/2/2008)
Ike's Effect on the Job Market
(10/2/2008)
One Nonprofit Doesn't Want Your Money for Hurricane Ike
(9/30/2008)
More Post-Ike Photos - Galveston, TX
(9/26/2008)
Insurance Deductible Hikes for Victims of Ike
(9/25/2008)
Economic Lessons Learned from Hurricane Ike
(9/25/2008)
Galveston Residents Return to Their Post-Ike Homes
(9/24/2008)

9/2008
10/2008



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Ike Isn't Katrina: More on the hurricane aftermath



The following report is from Mike McCord:
 
Ike wasn't Katrina, Galveston isn't New Orleans, and the Bolivar Peninsula isn't the Mississippi gulf coast. Perhaps Ike wasn't the same magnitude of storm; it certainly didn't leave Galveston flooded for three weeks or longer as in post Katrina New Orleans. One thing, however, is exactly the same: losing everything in a hurricane. Whether it is Katrina or Ike, Louisiana or Texas, there are always plenty of hurting people left in the wake of any hurricane. 
 
I heard recently from our partner Jerry Davis that 75% of Galveston is uninhabitable. That statistic is surprising because it doesn't look like the damage is that bad. Houses are standing and the city seems to have been very prompt with debris removal. Looks, as the cliché goes, can be deceiving. 
 
What is not seen is the inside of many of the homes below the Galveston seawall where the water came up at least three feet. Perhaps that doesn't sound like much water, but it is enough to soak nearly everything of value below the kitchen counter. People are returning to find that just a shell of their home will be usable as everything four feet and down must be removed to the studs. That's Galveston.
 
Conditions on the Bolivar peninsula go from bad to worse. In the town of Port Bolivar, the sea gutted some buildings such as the volunteer fire department, and deposited mud and grass in others. It stinks, literally; the smell of the mud, the mold, and the rubbish can be very strong. 
 
Last week, I met a young couple who was only able to salvage a few things from their home. Due to the mud, most things were a total loss and the fate of the home itself is in question. Around the corner, I toured the wife's grandparent's house. What was an immaculate house before the storm is now filled with grass and mud, the front door destroyed by a sea carried piling. A lifetime worth of work and memories is gone.

Further up the Bolivar peninsula the destruction continues. Buildings are destroyed and cars are flipped over or buried in the sand. In some places nothing is left. The town of Gilchrist has been virtually wiped from the face of the earth. People are left with the distressing thought of what would be better - to have everything completely gone or to have something left but find it covered in mud and mold.

People are overwhelmed and hurting. They do not know where to begin this process and will need much emotional, physical, and spiritual support. Please do not equate a lack of media coverage with a lack of need. 

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Why Money Won't Solve All of Ike's Problems



Seth Barnes just posted the following on his blog:
 
It was almost two weeks ago that I posted a call to action to help clean up the areas that Hurricane Ike had devastated. This past week, we distributed a press release with the headline: "One Nonprofit Doesn't Want Your Money for Ike."
 
Now, why on earth would we do that?

As a nonprofit, AIM depends upon the generosity of people like you.

And yet, part of that vision isn't simply to throw money at problems, but to expose Christians to situations that will break their hearts and create a holy unrest in them to see the kingdom of God come to earth.

So, we want to invite the Body of Christ to unplug from their lives for a week and spend it being the hands and feet of Jesus to those who are hurting in Galveston.

In a sense, we're asking for much more than your money. We're asking for you.
 
The Church made a huge difference after Katrina and it can make a difference here.
 
Please contact us and one of our staff people can talk to you about the opportunities.
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50 People Still Missing After Hurricane Ike



Hurricane Ike search tems to target five areas as hunt resumes for missing bodies
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, October 3, 2008
The Associated Press

 

GALVESTON – Search teams looking for as many as 50 people who remain missing since Hurricane Ike have identified five "hot spots" where they will focus their efforts, officials said.

PAT SULLIVAN/The Associated Press
PAT SULLIVAN/The Associated Press
Hurricane Ike blew debris from Bolivar Peninsula to areas including Trinity Bay, near Anahuac, Texas, where the storm destroyed a fishing camp. Dozens of people are still missing more than two weeks after Ike struck.

Mounds of debris scattered across Bolivar Peninsula likely conceal the remains of those still missing, authorities said.

The search for bodies also is expected to move offshore to uninhabited Goat Island, where one storm victim's body was found and where large, remote piles of debris have collected.

The renewed efforts to find bodies has come too late for some, including Dallas-area contractor Raul "Roy" Arrambide, whose mother, sister and nephew disappeared while evacuating from a beach house in Port Bolivar. The two vehicles they left in have been found, with no sign of bodies.

"I really don't have any confidence with the way this is being done," Mr. Arrambide said.

Meanwhile, the Harris County medical examiner's office reported the death of a man killed when struck by a limb while cutting trees Sept. 27. That brings the storm's toll in Texas to at least 33.

Also, the state attorney general's office said it was suing a hotel in Nacogdoches and one near Katy for raising their rates during hurricane evacuations.

The Associated Press

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Ike's Effect on the Job Market



From Businessweek:

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, as well as the Boeing (BA) strike, will conspire with an already-deteriorating labor market to depress U.S. payrolls in the September employment report, scheduled for release on Oct. 3, raising the risk of an outsize drop in jobs for the month.

We also expect a further rise in the unemployment rate to 6.2% from 6.1%, given expected payroll weakness, a deteriorating trend in weekly initial jobless claims, and a falling labor market reading in the last consumer confidence report.

We expect payrolls to fall by 100,000 in September, with a drop that may exceed the 101,000 June decline to mark the biggest pullback in payrolls since March 2003, when hiring paused with the uncertainty at the onset of the War in Iraq.

The expected 6.2% unemployment rate would mark the highest level since June 2003. The average workweek should hold at 33.7 hours, and average hourly earnings should rise 0.3%, to leave year-over-year hourly earnings growth a tick below the 3.6% rate posted in August.
 
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Photo Blog: The Destruction of Hurricane Ike



Here are some pictures of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike in Galveston, TX. We need your help cleaning it up. While we appreciate monetary gifts, we are also asking you consider the gift of yourself, of actually going down there to get your hands dirty, to pray with those who are hurting, and bring hope to the destitute.
 
 
 
 

Call 800-881-2461 (ext. 212) or send us an email for more info.
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One Nonprofit Doesn't Want Your Money for Hurricane Ike



We just posted this news release on Christian Newswire:

Adventures In Missions (AIM), a nonprofit organization based in Gainesville, GA, is mobilizing relief teams to repair homes and businesses devastated by Hurricane Ike. They are asking for labor, not donations, to support the effort. Workers are staying with a church in Houston and are engaging in everything from demolition to food distribution in the areas near Galveston that were hardest-hit by the storm.

Click here to continue reading...
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More Post-Ike Photos - Galveston, TX



More photos from our team on the ground in Galveston, TX, where Ike hit almost two weeks ago. We're not just asking for your donations - we're asking for you... to come down to Texas and volunteer some of your time to help bring hope back to this devastated area.
 
Click here to email us, if you're interested.

 




Call 800-881-2461 (ext. 212) or send us an email for more info.
 
 

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Insurance Deductible Hikes for Victims of Ike



The wind-versus-flood debate – meaning which caused the damage – was all the rage three years ago when Katrina and Rita forced impacted residents to review their insurance policies.

But among the biggest industry shockers this go-around involves a special hurricane deductible attached to some homeowners policies.

After hurricanes Gustav and Ike battered Louisiana's coastline this month, many homeowners expected to see the traditional deductible of $500 or $1,000 on their policies. Instead, many found a new kind of deductible based on a percentage of their home's insured value.

For Steven Evans of Houma, that special deductible on his Allstate policy is $18,000.

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Economic Lessons Learned from Hurricane Ike



Nearly a week after Galveston Island took a severe beating from hurricane Ike, a Kroger grocery store has finally opened for business, grilling up fajitas for its employees. With the Texas island still not ready to take back evacuees, the open store is at least one encouraging sign of normalcy.

For that is the aim of rescue and relief workers, government officials, neighbors, and perfect strangers who all assist in the aftermath of any disaster – to help residents return to as normal a life as possible.

But normalcy has its downside in America's hazard-prone areas. If it means rebuilding exactly as everything was before the hurricane, fire, or earthquake, then business-as-usual is itself hazardous.

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Galveston Residents Return to Their Post-Ike Homes



Many residents who fled this storm-ravaged island waited in their cars early Wednesday for permission to return and see for themselves what Hurricane Ike had done to their homes.

Even before dawn, Galveston-bound traffic was stacked up on Interstate 45 for 10 miles from the entrance to the only causeway to the island city left open after the hurricane.

Many Galveston residents haven't been back to their island community since fleeing Hurricane Ike more than 11 days ago. Island leaders were to allow them back Wednesday morning.

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