A question about Ike

Julie, who lives in a flood surge zone, has a question:

I live by quite a few superfund sites---chemical and manufacturing plants. In fact, my area is home to "the nation's largest concentration of chemical plants and refineries," many of which are not even close to being in compliance with the EPA and other safety standards.

Were they inundated too?

What all else has my area been exposed to as a result of breaches from the hurricane?

Good questions. I'd like to know the answers to them myself.

Tom offers some observations from The Woodlands. This one caught my eye:

As a general rule, I do not listen to much radio. Maybe an occasional traffic report or Charlie Pallilo's sports talk show in the rare event that I am driving somewhere during it.

But I've been shocked at how bad the radio anchor reporters have been on KTRH, the main station providing disaster information to the public. Although a number of the KTRH field reporters are OK, the anchors often sound as if they are blithering idiots. It seems as if they aren't asking inane and non-challenging questions to "experts" or public officials, they laughing and making bad jokes at inappropriate times or in regard to serious issues.

According to Marc Campos, KTRH is also running an attack ad, presumably sponsored by the NRCC, against Rep. Nick Lampson. Classy. And as BOR has reported, John Cornyn is also on the air, though apparently not in Houston. The election is seven weeks away, and at some point life is going to go on, but I suspect there may be some bad will generated from this.

Along those lines, State Rep. John Davis sent out yesterday an email invitation to a fundraiser in Austin on October 7 - you can see it here (PDF). Again, life goes on and all that, but given that Davis represents Clear Lake and that word is he's been in Austin most of the week, you have to wonder about the timing.

By the way, take a look at Davis' webpage, then compare it to Sherrie Matula's. Quite the difference, no?

Anyway, since I mentioned Rep. Nick Lampson a minute ago, he has opened a mobile congressional office located at American Legion Post 490, across from Ellington Field, starting today and days thereafter from 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM, for people to report claims of hurricane damage with FEMA, request loans from the Small Business Administration, and begin the process of receiving funds to repair damage. The details:

DATE: STARTING WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2008

TIME: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

LOCATION: American Legion Post 490, 11702 Galveston Rd. (State Hwy 3),
Houston, TX 77034 (Across from Ellington Field)

PLEASE BRING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
- Social Security Number
- Description of losses caused by disaster
- Insurance information
- Directions to the damaged property
- A telephone number where you can be contacted

I'm told that response to this has been overwhelming, and they are looking for volunteers to help out. If you're in the area and can assist, please do so. Thanks.

And finally, since the elections will go on and there are some important ones that cover areas hard hit by Ike, this article, which speculates about the possible impact of all the now-displaced voters, has some relevant information for them:

Randall Dillard, spokesman for Secretary of State Hope Andrade, said displaced voters will be accommodated.

"It's too early for us to start speculating," said Dillard, suggesting satellite polling places could be set up or displaced residents could vote by mail.

This is definitely something to watch for. I'll keep my eyes on it. If you hear something, please let me know.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 17, 2008 to Hurricane Katrina