It will be dark soon and the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management
reports that residents in the Bolivar Peninsula will be without power this
evening and in its effort to further provide for their safety, it is working
with the Red Cross to open a shelter at High Island High School on 6th
Street.

The Galveston County Office of Emergency Management also reports that meals
will be available for residents at High Island at the First Baptist Church
located on Weeks Street and in the Crystal Beach Annex Building on 900 Noble
Carl Drive.  Also, other points of distribution for ice, water and emergency
supplies are being established. 

In response to Galveston County Judge, James D. Yarbrough’s request for
disaster assistance and a declaration of disaster, earlier today, Governor
Rick Perry issued a proclamation declaring  Galveston,  and two other
counties, Jefferson, and Orange Counties,  disaster areas resulting from
Hurricane Humberto.  “Public utilities have been impacted to the extent that
the entire Bolivar Peninsula, including homes and businesses have been left
without electricity and land based telephone services,” said Judge Yarbrough
in his plea to the Governor.

Galveston County and state emergency response teams are continuing to assess
the damage to the Bolivar Peninsula, particularly in High Island, where
Hurricane Humberto hit early this morning at 2 a.m.  They report that
progress is being made to restore the area back to normal.
Also, reports about the Peninsula’s power restoration still indicate that it
will be about 4 days, meaning next Tuesday, before the electricity is back
on. 

The water supply system serving the area continues to be monitored and
remains fully operational.

The clean up effort continues aggressively and the Road Department roughly
estimates that the debris being cleared, most of it on High Island, is about
1,500 cubic yards of structural material and there are about 3,000 cubic
yards of vegetative waste. This equates to roughly an area the size of
one-and-a-half football fields, three feet deep containing that debris.
The main thoroughfare through the Bolivar Peninsula, State Road 87 is now
open to vehicular traffic.  Power poles and other obstructions were removed
earlier today from this road.  Residents with downed trees or other major
structural debris on their property are being advised to place it on the
road alongside their homes for pick-up.
The Red Cross is assisting the area with its immediate needs and is
requesting monetary donations to  help the citizens of the Bolivar
Peninsula. Telephone numbers for the Red Cross is 1-800 RED CROSS.

No curfew is in effect at this time at Bolivar  Peninsula  This area,
however, is being highly secured by local and state law enforcement
officials.

The Galveston County Emergency Operations Center is continuing to monitor
the response to and recovery of the Bolivar Peninsula.

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