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GALVESTON, Texas (BP)--It's been almost three weeks since Hurricane Ike ravaged Galveston Island, but residents are just now in the beginning stages of cleanup.
On Pine Street, most residents have moved their water-soaked belongings out to the curb waiting for dump trucks to carry everything away. Furniture and appliances along with books, photos and knickknacks once lovingly placed on shelves and tables will be taken to a landfill.
Mary Meade was gingerly picking through her personal belongings for anything that might be salvaged as the trucks made their way down the street.
"The people who helped move my stuff out of the house weren't careful about separating out the things that could be saved," Meade said, picking through a priceless collection of Beatles memorabilia. "Some of this could have been saved, but now most of it's broken.
"I had 50 years' worth of stuff in my house, and now it's all sitting in the street," Meade said, waving a glove-covered hand at the pile of debris behind her.
"I had 50 years' worth of stuff in my house, and now it's all sitting in the street," Meade said, waving a glove-covered hand at the pile of debris behind her.
Meade and her sister evacuated to Trinity, Texas, before Ike's Sept. 13 landfall. "My sister wanted to stay, but I begged her to leave." Their brother Robert stayed behind to ride out the storm. Water from the surge filled his house within an hour.
"He had to start swimming as the waters rose almost to the ceiling of his house," Meade said. "His dog, Sir Guy, was in the garage swimming for his life. Thank goodness Robert was able to save him. Robert and Sir stayed in the attic without food or water for three or four days after the storm." They were finally rescued by the National Guard.
Having lived her life on the island, Meade said she's wanted to leave for several years. "Maybe now I can convince my brother and sister to move."
Meade went back to her futile search as workers with their claw-like machines began filling trucks with debris just a few doors down.
"Galveston will come back," said Randall Dowdell, a surfer met riding along the sea wall on his bike. Dowdell moved to Galveston only eight weeks prior to Ike. He rode out the storm in the cab of his truck and is lucky to be alive. "The winds were really strong, the pressure blew out the windows," he said.
"This was the happiest place of my childhood and that of my children. We vacationed here a lot," Dowdell said, pointing to the sun-bathed beach now dotted with warning signs. "It may take a while, but the island will come back from this."
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