Galveston Still Rebuilding as Hurricane Season Starts

June 1, 2009 — -- As the 2009 hurricane season begins, people around the U.S. will be bracing themselves once again for nature's wrath, but residents of Galveston County, an area destroyed twice by hurricanes, are still working to rebuild after Ike's destruction last year.

In the early morning of September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston County, Texas. The category 2 storm brought winds of 110 mph and widespread floods to the coastal town. Causing an estimated $21 billion in damages, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration considers Ike the third costliest natural disaster in the United States after Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew.

More than eight months later, the people living in Galveston are still cleaning up the mess.

Galveston mayor Lyda Ann Thomas confirms the city's commitment to rebuilding, but acknowledges the process might not be as swift as some might hope.

"People are helping with cleanup, building fences, putting the businesses back," Thomas said. "People in Galveston have come together and we are determined to recover. It's going to be a one to five-year process."

Rebuilding a city nearly destroyed by storms and so vulnerable to future ones might seem futile, but for many Galveston residents, staying and rebuilding their community is the only option.

Although they thought about leaving Galveston, Craig and Angela Brown felt reopening their coffee shop was a way to reunite the people in their community.

"This is my home," Craig Brown said. "Our friends are here. That tie to home is so important to individuals. Feeling that you are part of something and helping develop something: that's why decided to stay."

But it's not enough to restore the city to its original state. A new approach is required for rebuilding.