G.J. McCarthy

Newspapering: Hurricane Ike

Images from the country's third costliest hurricane, which killed more than 100 people in the US alone.

Storm clouds roll in over refineries as the outer bands of Hurricane Ike begin to make landfall September 11, 2008 in Clute, Texas.
  
Three days after Hurricane Ike made a direct hit on Galveston, Thomas Grazier uses bottled water, dish soap and a plastic cup to take his first "shower" September 15, 2008 on the Texas coastal island. Grazier and several others road the storm out on boats in the PayCo Marina. Some where forced to jump from their boats to unoccupied boats that had broken free from docks, floating and crashing around them. Grazier, an Amarillo native, had been living at the marina for about a year and-a-half, working to restore two older boats. "I just got done fixing both of them and now they're all tore up," he said. "I'm tired, man."
   
A stray dog walks past as Silvester Tapia labors to free leaves and debris from a manhole in the Houston Heights neighborhood as the White Oak Bayou overflows due to heavy rains September 14, 2008 in Houston. Two days after Hurricane Ike made landfall and inundated the area, flash flooding continued in low-lying areas following a storm front that passed through the area in the morning hours. Tapia, who has lived the Houston Heights area for three years, said flooding during this year's hurricane was more severe in the neighborhood than he remembers during 2005's Hurricane Rita. "Right here -- it never happens like this," he said.
     
  
Overview of damage in the Surfside, Texas area after Hurricane Ike made landfall on September 11, 2008.
   
The top of a mast peaks out above flooded marina waters in the El Lago area several hours after Hurricane Ike made landfall September 13, 2008 in the Houston metro area.
   
Garson Silvers (center), owner of El Lago Marina, waves at circling news helicopters while standing in front of his inundated business as friend Larry Fagala looks on September 13, 2008, several hours after Hurricane Ike made landfall in the Houston metro area. Silvers said his business was devastated, and that it sustained substantial more damage than during Hurricane Rita in 2005.
     
  
Kirk Koepsel scales a large, collapsed tree as he makes his way to his El Lago home September 13, 2008 several hours after Hurricane Ike's landfall in the Houston metro area. The Koepsels said they had planned to wait out the storm but got nervous at the last minute, relocating to a family member's house in Deer Park. "Which is good, " Mr. Koepsel added, "Because the sounds of these trees crashing around us would have been awful."
   
Family photos are left to dry on a couch as Gustavo Hernandez makes sense of the mess of his Galveston home September 16, 2008 more that three days after Hurricane Ike devastated the Texas Gulf Course. Hernandez and close family members spent the duration of Hurricane Ike at the temporary shelter at Ball High School. The family returned the following day, and have been cleaning up since, with much of the house destroyed after sitting in several feet of water. The elder Hernandez said he has lived in the house for more than 30 years.
   
Doris Petteway (left) becomes emotion after receiving food water and ice from Regina Herrington September 16, 2008 in Petteway's Galveston home. Herrington and her boyfriend, Jesse Ramirez, have been delivering wares from a FEMA Point of Distribution centers to elderly and in-need neighbors for the last two days, and nearly four since Hurricane Ike ravaged their coastal community.
     
  
Clutching her dog, Priness, Judy Settlocker hugs her son, Eddie Settlocker, as daughter-in-law Rose Settlocker looks on after Judy and her husband were attended to by members of the Texas Task Force One September 15, 2008 in Galveston. Judy and her 67-year-old husband, John Settlocker, rode out Hurricane Ike in the Island Bay Resort. After two days, concerned relatives contacted the task force and asked for a welfare check on the couple. Mr. Settlocker, who is in poor health, was taken via ambulance to University of Texas Medical Branch. Ms. Settlocker said they evacuated their nearby home ahead of the storm but were only able to make it as far as the resort, where son Eddie works. "It's not that we didn't want to go," off the island, "it's just that we didn't have any transportation," said Ms. Settlocker.