Holdouts cling to Bolivar Peninsula

CRYSTAL BEACH — Although a mandatory evacuation order remained Thursday for Bolivar Peninsula, authorities are unlikely to force anyone from what remains of their homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough said he initially called for the removal of more than 200 residents who braved the storm surge, saying there were health concerns.

“The public health administration went in to assess the medical care available to the community, and with better access from Winnie to High Island, they’re getting water, meals-ready-to-eat and emergency medical services if they need.”

Peninsula evacuees who were airlifted by helicopter from their Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach and Gilchrist homes told hair-raising stories of their survival, floating to whatever they could find for four hours.

Yarbrough said authorities completed search and rescue efforts Wednesday and are focusing on recovery. The sheriff¹s office is also patrolling the peninsula day and night.

“We have finished our search for live bodies in rubble piles and now were looking for the deceased,” Yarbrough said.

A group of five stragglers rode out the storm at The Crystal Palace. The Daily News found them making dinner.

“I saw a twister that blew that blue house across the street,” said Armando Briones, who was the maintenance man for the Crystal Beach hotel.

When asked why they didn’t leave, assistant manager Cheryl Harwell said, “I live here. Where else am I going to go?”

The same can be said for Al Newman and Mary Shirey, who along with their dog, Myra, camped at Crenshaw Elementary and Middle School, where the storm surge rose about six feet, Newman said.

“The cars were floating in the water, and you could hear their electrical systems pop,” Newman said. “Their headlights danced across the water for a while.”

The couple, a beach fixture probably most known for their brightly decorated Volkswagen Golf, lost their car and recreational vehicle in the storm.

Shirey said she spoke to a man named Floyd, who she said owned the Garza liquor store she frequented.

“He said ‘Anything on this side of the road you’re welcome to,” Shirey said, noting it was strewn about by the storm.

“I’ve been using Sky Vodka for sanitation purposes,” Newman said.

Dr. Mark Guidry of the Galveston County Health Authority took a boat from the ferry landing Wednesday and toured the peninsula until high water stopped him.

“We did not see a large number of people staying there,” Guidry said in a statement released by the health district.

“They do have some social needs that need to be taken care of, and they did say they would consider moving off if there was a place that they could take care of things like their dog and get some of their personal property.”

Most of the homes and businesses in Gilchrist are gone or severely damaged, many wiped away, leaving only their stilts as proof of their former existence.

Just reaching Gilchrist and Crystal Beach is a chore, as feet of sand hurled by the storm onto state Highway 87 render the road nearly impassible.

In Crystal Beach, the waves pushed one house onto Highway 87, and it blocked half the road.

David Loop, the Crystal Beach fire chief, lost his home in the storm.

“My stuff is gone, but my job as chief is to coordinate a safe and fast recovery with the judge and to start getting everything coming back for the community. That’s what the judge wants. That’s what we want. People just have to be patient.”

With High Island open for residents to return dusk to dawn, Yarbrough said he would like the same for the rest of the peninsula, but the judge didn¹t give a timetable.

Raul Arrambide of Dallas drove last night to the peninsula to check on relatives, but troopers stopped him north of High Island.

Arrambide said he’s been unable to locate his sister, Magdalena Strickland, through FEMA, the (American) Red Cross or the morgue.

“They’re not on the search and rescue list,” Arrambide said. “They called us

(Friday) after the pass was underwater. At 6:15 a.m. the water was already up to people’s necks, and they couldn’t get out.”

Yarbrough said debris removal would likely start after residents have had a chance to try to salvage what¹s left of this decimated, wind and water-swept landscape.