GALVESTON — As Hurricane Ike churned toward the island, emergency crews continued to pull people from their homes until it was no longer safe for them to be on the roads.
The outer bands of Ike slammed into the island causing widespread power outages and flooding. People were franticly trying to find a safe place at the last minute. At 8 p.m., almost all of the island was underwater.
Rescues crews were ordered to return from patrol an hour before they were expected to come back because conditions deteriorated too quickly. Rescue crews will not respond to any more emergencies until the hurricane passes. In places where roads were flooded, rescue crews loaded residents into the beds of dump trucks and drove them to Ball High School where the city established a last-minute emergency shelter.
At least four people have been arrested for burglarizing buildings. At least one person has been arrested for doing a drive by at a house.
As transformers blew, there were reports of fires, but crews couldn’t reach them. Police and firefighters continued to plead with people to get to a safe place.
Lt. J. Caldwell said he felt bad that crews couldn’t get to everyone but said some took that risk when they didn’t heed the warning to evacuate.
There are at least 300 people at the city’s emergency shelter at Ball High.
