GILCHRIST’S LAST HOUSE STANDING

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike it has been revealed that in the coastal town of Gilchrist in Galveston County, Texas, there remains one single home still standing. The home that remains is that of Warren and Pam Adams.

The Adams family were obviously overjoyed to see that their home remained standing after the hurricane had passed, but were obviously very sad that the remainder of the town had been destroyed.

The house was in fact a replacement house built in 2006 for one that had been destroyed by Hurricane Rita in 2005. This replacement house stood 19 feet above the ground, allowing it to survive the fury of Hurricane Ike and its tremendous storm surge that washed away all the other homes in Gilchrist.

HURRICANE IKE AND THE BEAR???

As Hurricane Ike began its assault on Texas and the United States, a news crew filming the onslaught came across an unusual sight – a guy walking along the beach in a bear suit.

See the video clip below:

HURRICANE IKE

It was only a short time ago that Louisiana was stuck by a major hurricane, yet spared the wrath of another Hurricane Katrina. Now it appears to be the turn of Texas and in particular Galveston and Houston with Hurricane Ike now hitting the US gulf coast in the vicinity of those cities.

Ike has already had a devastating impact on Cuba, causing massive damage in that country. Hurricane Ike is expected to bring with it a storm tide surge of several storeys in height, which would have a massive impact on Galveston and Houston in Texas. Already there is flooding in Louisiana as a consequence of the approaching hurricane.

Residents of coastal regions in the path of Ike have been told to evacuate or face near certain death if they live in a single or two storey building. Such is the expected impact of this hurricane. Yet the latest reports out of the region suggest that as many as 90 000 people have decided to risk their lives and ride out the storm.

Hurricane Ike is not a powerful as Katrina was, yet the storm is huge and is described as being of a similar size to Texas itself. It has therefore the ability to whip up an enormous tidal surge as it approaches and hits the gulf region of the United States near Galveston.