From boatyard to scrapyard , thanks to Hurricane Ike's £7bn trail of destruction

They lie piled on top of each other like a heap of broken toys, snatched up then discarded by a brute called Ike.

These mangled wrecks at a Galveston boatyard demonstrate the ferocity of the hurricane that tore into Texas on Saturday.

Yesterday, the biggest search and rescue operation in the state’s history was under way with nearly 2,000 people plucked to safety from their flooded homes. Hundreds more are awaiting rescue.


The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Ike stood at 13.

But search teams stocked with body bags were scouring communities including Galveston, where 20,000 ignored a mandatory evacuation order.

‘We hope for the best but I want to prepare people for the fact that we may have some fatalities,’ said

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. Some told remarkable stories of survival.

Denis Covington, 63, of Port Bolivar, southeast of Houston, had his home smashed in two by a falling pylon.

Both halves crashed into 14ft of floodwater. ‘I had to spend the second half of the hurricane in a tree just clinging on. The rain was like nails sticking in to me,’ he said.


Ike came ashore at Galveston in the early hours of Saturday, bringing a 20ft storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and causing an estimated £7billion damage.

Nearly five million people are without electricity along the Gulf coast, and many have no running water.

Ellie Cox, 22, was airlifted from Galveston with her husband Lester and their three children, including disabled six-month-old baby Juilianna after spending the storm cowering in their third floor apartment.

A tree fell on their roof and water rose up around them.

‘I’m not going back, there’s nothing left for us now,’ she said.


Karen and Paul Thompson, both 57, were winched from their home on stilts in Crystal Beach after huddling together in a bedroom as the hurricane ripped the house around them and 14 feet of water crashed in from the Gulf.

At one point a large boat was flung past their window.

‘We called the Coastguard for help but they said they couldn’t get out to us, it was too dangerous,’ said Mrs Thompson after being winched off her porch along with her husband and five dogs.

‘I was scared to death. Glass was being blown out of the windows, things were hitting the house, the roof was being torn off.’

Mr Thompson said: ‘There were rows and rows of houses at Crystal Beach but there ain’t no more.’

Ike tore into Texas, coming ashore at Galveston in the early hours of yesterday.



It brought a 20 feet storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and pounded the region, including the city of Houston, with eight hours of hurricane force winds.

President George Bush declared 29 Texas counties and parts of Louisiana a major disaster area.

Thousands of National Guard, military troops, police, fire and ambulance teams from around the country were assisting the recovery effort.

Nearly five million people along the Gulf coast were without power, and some were warned it could be up to a month before their electricity is restored.

Many were also left without running water.

And Pump prices jumped above $5 per gallon in some parts of America yesterday s Hurricane Ike left refineries and pipelines idled and destroyed at least 10 offshore petroleum platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or seriously damaged in the fury of the storm and insurance industry officials estimated the damage would exceed £7billion.

Humanitarian teams planned to hand out one million ready-meals and 1.5 million gallons of water a day.

More than 40,000 Texans remained in emergency shelters, officials said, and many areas remained under curfew to discourage looters.

President Bush, who was due to visit Texas today, said: ‘This was a tough storm and it’s one that’s going to require time for people to recover.’