Distribution centers open throughout Houston Highway flooding makes mess; one in four customers now have power

Ellie Cox carries her 6-month-old daughter, Jazya, as an unidentified California National Guardsman helps them to a helicopter Saturday in Galveston. Guard personnel were evacuating people off the island to Texas City High School. less Ellie Cox carries her 6-month-old daughter, Jazya, as an unidentified California National Guardsman helps them to a helicopter Saturday in Galveston. Guard personnel were evacuating people off the island to ... more Photo: MELISSA PHILLIP, CHRONICLE Photo: MELISSA PHILLIP, CHRONICLE Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Distribution centers open throughout Houston 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Distribution centers have been opened throughout the greater Houston area to provide residents with needed food, water and other supplies that have been scarce after Hurricane Ike pounded the Texas coast and knocked out power and access to clean drinking water for at least 5 million people in the region.

The "points of distribution," which opened later than expected due to a bureaucratic snafu, according to federal and local officials, will be at the Harvest Time Church at 17770 Imperial Valley in Greenspoint; Baker 6th Grade Campus, 9800 Spencer Highway in LaPorte; the PAL gym at 2910 E. Southmore in Pasadena; Klein's Grocery on FM 2920 at Buvinghausen in Tomball; and 4100 Decker Drive in Baytown. The centers will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday. Officials said 10 more would open tomorrow morning.

The availability of federal aid in Houston was one of a few positive developments as people in the area continued to recover from the toll of death and suffering wrought by the destruction of the hurricane. Roughly one out of four people in Houston and surrounding areas now have electricity. Both airports were expected to reopen Monday with limited service, fleets of trucks carted off heaps of debris all over the city, gas stations and retail outlets reopened and and flooding that blocked many major thoroughfares receded this evening. Gas stations and retail outlets opened up to long lines.

But reports of deaths and damage in some of the region's most prized areas continued to pour in.

So far, 21 people in nine states have been reported dead either from the storm or its aftermath, and officials feared the number would climb.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff alluded to the grim task of rescue workers who had fanned out across Galveston and other low-lying areas that had been devastated by flooding. About 2,000 rescues had been made over the weekend, an extraordinary number that still fell far short of the estimated 140,000 people under mandatory evacuation that did not leave their homes.

"As we get into areas where there may have been a lot of damage, there may be some unpleasant surprises we may find," he said.

Major damage to NASA's Johnson Space Center, which employs 16,500 people, delayed its reopening for at least a week, according to a spokesman. Mission Control Center, which watches over the international space station and its three-man American and Russian crew, received roof damage and had to be reestablished in Austin with help from controllers in Huntsville, Ala.

"A tough storm"

Houston and the soggy, wind-ravaged communities all the way to western Louisiana remain in a state of crisis after Hurricane Ike battered the area with a towering storm surge and fearsome winds.

"This is a tough storm and it's one that's going to require time for people to recover," said President Bush, who plans to visit the area Tuesday. "Our first priority is search and rescue. It's very important for citizens, who I know are anxious to get home, to take your time and listen take advice of the local folks."

As many as 13 have been reported dead in some of the hardest-hit areas as well as places as far-ranging as Dallas and Louisiana, either as a direct result of Ike or from complications stemming from storm preparations, evacuations or living without power.

Utility companies ramped up their work forces and restored power to hundreds of thousands of customers, but a vast majority still remained in the dark and without air conditioning in 90-degree heat. Mayor Bill White and other officials called on the federal government to make restoring power "a national priority."

Meanwhile, recovery efforts became severely complicated as water built up anew on numerous thoroughfares that had flooded and drained after Ike passed through. Rain continued to pour for much of the day as a cold front mixed with the trail of moisture from the hurricane.

Ignoring warnings from a bevy of public officials, people took to those flooded streets, prompted either by a desire to return home or an attempt to flee for more comfortable environs. Traffic bogged down all over the region and some, unable to turn around, abandoned their vehicles on the highways. Lines stretched for hours both for gas and stores.

Areas still not ready for inhabitants, curfews established

White today again admonished coastal residents who fled Ike not to return to their homes until leaders of their communities say it's OK. Houston police, who made more than 30 looting arrests at pawn shops, convenience stores and auto parts stores, went so far as to establish a nightly curfew citywide beginning at 9 p.m. It would remain in effect through 6 a.m. each night through Saturday morning, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said.

"Most of the lights are still out, traffic signals are still not working, debris is in the streets and it's dark in the community," Hurtt said.

The message in the city was as plain as blinking lights on a highway signboard could make it: "Do not travel to Houston or Beaumont." Galveston officials were equally blunt. No one but emergency personnel engaged in the state's largest search-and-rescue mission were being allowed on the island.

"Galveston has been hit hard," Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We have no power. We have no gas. We have no communications. We're not sure when any of that will be up and running. We want our citizens to stay where they are. Do not come back to Galveston. You cannot live here right now."

Officials there readied buses to move at least 2,000 people to San Antonio. All are residents who had decided to stay behind, said City Manager Steve LeBlanc. A curfew in place was extended from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., and violators were threatened with arrest and up to a $2,000 fine.

LeBlanc said there were three deaths on the island but would not offer details. Only one was identified. George H. Helmond Jr. of the 1900 block of Sydnor Lane, attempted to flee late Friday; he was found dead in his pickup on Sydnor near 99th Street.

Some power restored

Although the area's main electric company had succeeded in restoring power to 380,000 of its 2.1 million customers late Sunday, more than 4 million people were left in the dark. Tens of thousands of utility workers poured in from all over the country to fix damaged infrastructure and electric lines. Downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center were among the only areas that did not lose power. The Galleria, which had electricity today, also became a destination for many who sought to escape the sweltering heat.

CenterPoint Energy spokesman Floyd LeBlanc today said that, while crews are working throughout the service area, they are succeeding best in restoring power to western areas such as Sealy, Katy and Fort Bend County.

Other areas are proving more problematic. Central areas were hit hard and eastern and southern areas were hit extremely hard, LeBlanc said. In some cases, crews have to hack their way through downed trees blocking streets just to get to the utility poles.

Entergy Texas reports that more than 150 major transmission lines were damaged, including several toppled towers along rights-of-way. Most of those problems took place north and east of Houston, including The Woodlands, Splendora, Conroe and Liberty, according to company spokesman David Caplan.

The company's 395,000 customers are largely without power and company officials warn it could take longer than three weeks to restore electricity where extreme transmission damage has occurred.

Texas-New Mexico Power Co. said it has restored power to 10,000 customers in Galveston County and 7,000 in Brazoria County.

Streets flooded from cold front, some drivers stranded

Floodwater from unexpectedly high amounts of rainfall added a dreary element to recovery efforts. Rain fell throughout the day, and a variety of flood watches and warnings were in effect for southeast Texas.

The trigger is a cool front that is mixing with the trail of moisture the hurricane brought in. High temperatures were expected to approach 90 degrees, but the front was expected to drop temperatures into the upper 60s overnight. The remnants of Ike now downgraded to a tropical depression moved northeast, bringing heavy rainfall, flooding and power outages in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Interstate 45 South closed in both directions between Loop 610 and Beltway 8 and large sections of Interstate 10 were impassable because of high water.

Some drivers were stranded, unable to turn around on freeways or take to frontage roads due to flooding. Many left their vehicles in the road, while others milled about, talking and swapping hurricane war stories.

Late tonight, many of the waters had receded, but local officials continued to urge people to stay home and be patient. Mayor White warned that many gasoline stations still lack power and cannot dispense fuel.

Where gasoline is available, lines of idling autos and fuming motorists in some cases stretch for blocks and police had to manage the traffic and tempers.

Rescues proceed, but damage in the billions

Local heavy rains weren't stopping convoys of buses and heavy-duty vehicles from lining up outside the staging area at Tully Stadium in west Houston before dawn, preparing to head out to hard-hit areas.

At midmorning today, a caravan of at least 50 military trucks carrying heavy equipment lumbered down Washington Avenue. Public works crews were in downtown Houston cleaning up uprooted trees and jagged window shards left by Ike.

Still, the latest deluge complicated the recovery effort after Ike, whose toll in property and life was still coming into focus today. RMS, a company that estimates insured damage for companies, put the initial estimate in a wide $6 billion-to-$16 billion range. That doesn't count flood damage or uninsured losses, which certainly will amount to billions more.

Energy companies were also hit hard by the storm, although federal officials said it was too soon to know how much damage they sustained. As many as 10 oil platforms out of 3,800 in the gulf were destroyed, a fraction of what Hurricane Katrina knocked out, but the harm was enough to prompt some to seek federal help.

Citgo Petroleum has asked the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for 1 million barrels of crude at its Lake Charles, La. Refinery because crude delivery has been curtailed by closures of the Sabine Pass and Calcasieu Ship Channel waterways after Gustav and Ike.

Shell said some of its refineries and chemical plants are operating at limited capacity while others are awaiting power restoration.

Death toll rises

So far, 21 deaths in nine states have been attributed directly and indirectly to Ike, but that number was expected to rise as officials continued massive search and rescue efforts in areas that were inundated or pummeled by high winds.

Many lost their lives in accidents before and after the storm.

A woman was killed by a fire believed to have been started by a candle at her northeast Houston home Saturday night. The Houston Fire Department was called to the home on Chapman near Quitman about midnight, but was unable to rescue the unidentified woman, said Assistant Chief Omero Longoria. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Additionally, a 4-year-old boy died Saturday from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by his family's generator, which was inside their north Houston home. An adult and three other children are being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Harris County, a driver swerving to avoid a fallen tree in the 1200 block of Ashland Road died about 1 a.m. when his auto ran into a ditch, hit a mailbox, became airborne, struck a concrete parking block and overturned.

The victim was ejected from the car and died at the scene.

The Associated Press and Chronicle reporters Roma Khanna, Kristen Hays, Eric Berger, Lynn Cook and Harvey Rice contributed to this report.