Reply #9: Many of the people who stayed were stranded by rising tide... [View All]

[GETPLANING]

and were unable to leave.

Bring up a Google Map of Bolivar Peninsula, TX before reading the rest of this post.

Highway 87 runs the length of Bolivar. At the West end, there is a ferry connecting Bolivar to Galveston Island. At the East end, Highway 87 runs across very low land before turning North. As Hurricane Ike approached, it's immense size created a huge flood tide that arrived much earlier than storm tides from previous storms. THE DAY BEFORE the hurricane was even felt in a change in the wind, the high tide forced the ferries to stop running because they were now too high for the ferry landings, and Highway 87 flooded at the East end. People who waited or took too long to pack up and move were now stuck. The article in the link refers to Galveston, but the real tragedy is Bolivar, where hundreds of people are missing.
Bolivar Peninsula is now two islands. The hurricane washed out the two narrow areas once known as Crystal Beach and Gilchrist. Youtube has some very sobering video taken by Coast Guard and National Guard choppers that flew in as soon as the wind fell back below 50 knots.