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Two More Hurricane Ike Victims Found
Sunday, Oct 5, 2008
Two more bodies were found on Texas' Goat Island this weekend, raising the total number of Hurricane Ike deaths to 70.
"The Daily News" cites a spokesman for the Galveston County Sheriff's Office as saying rescuers found a man and a woman Saturday afternoon. The two were recovered from marshland near Bolivar Peninsula just west of Rollover Pass. The only way to get to marshland areas is by way of airboat.
For the complete story, go to the "NEWS" section on this website.
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Search for missing continues after Hurricane Ike Sunday, October 5, 2008
The task is massive and the terrain is perilous, thick with snakes, alligators and mosquitoes, said Hector Gonzalez, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden, as he steered an airboat through a maze of cuts and sloughs in Chambers County.
For the complete story, go to the "NEWS" section on this website
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2 bodies found on Goat Island, raising Ike death toll to 35
By ANITA HASSAN Houston Chronicle
Oct. 4, 2008 Search crews recovered the bodies of two Hurricane Ike victims in debris fields in Galveston County this afternoon, raising the Houston-Galveston death toll to 35, authorities said.
For the complete story, go to the "NEWS" section on this website.
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Islanders who insisted on staying died during Ike Associated Press October 3, 2008
``We have so much to do with resp onding to damages and infrastructure, we haven't moved into the later stage of looking for people.''
In Galveston and Chambers counties, search teams have been using airboats and all-terrain vehicles to sift through massive debris fields, tangled and fetid marshlands, and the rubble left behind by Ike.
The task is massive and the terrain is perilous, said Hector Gonzalez, a game warden with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as he steered anairboatthrough a maze of cuts and sloughs in Chamber County.
Bodies could have been tossed anywhere in the marshes, where thickets of trees are tangled with seagrass and littered with the contents of houses. Refrigerators, office chairs, and television sets are scattered everywhere -- in the mud, in bushes, on treetops.
The marshes are thick with snakes, alligators and swarms of mosquitoes. In some places, Gonzalez said, searchers could step into waist-high mud or into an alligator nest.
For most of the last three weeks, search crews were limited to sheriff's deputies, volunteers firefighters and the 16 game wardens in a five-county-area, despite requests for more assistance from local officials.
Late last week, reinforcements from the state and special K-9 search and recovery units arrived, said Crystal Beach Volunteer Fire Chief David Loop, who has been leading recovery efforts
For the complete story, go to the "NEWS" section on this website. .
Team abandons horses for airboat in search for Port Neches man
September, 25, 2008 BRIDGE CITY - Kevin Walker, 38, stood along the marshy shoulder of Texas 87 Thursday afternoon by a spot where the marsh grass was bent over.
His brother's truck was found at the spot three days after Hurricane Ike struck Southeast Texas. No one has found his brother.
But Tim Miller, the founder of Texas Equusearch, had arrived and was working on a plan to search the marsh and highway culverts for Greg Walker. In this case, the group's usual horses were replaced by an airboat owned and driven by Paul McElroy of Anahuac.
For the complete story, go to the "NEWS" section on this website.
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Islanders who insisted on staying died during Ike By ASSOCIATED PRESS
The task is massive and the terrain is perilous, said Hector Gonzalez, a game warden with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as he steered an airboat through a maze of cuts and sloughs in Chamber County.
Bodies could have been tossed anywhere in the marshes, where thickets of trees are tangled with seagrass and littered with the contents of houses. Refrigerators, office chairs, and television sets are scattered everywhere -- in the mud, in bushes, on treetops.
The marshes are thick with snakes, alligators and swarms of mosquitoes. In some places, Gonzalez said, searchers could step into waist-high mud or into an alligator nest.
For most of the last three weeks, search crews were limited to sheriff's deputies, volunteers firefighters and the 16 game wardens in a five-county-area, despite requests for more assistance from local officials.
Late last week, reinforcements from the state and special K-9 search and recovery units arrived, said Crystal Beach Volunteer Fire Chief David Loop, who has been leading recovery efforts.
For the complete story, go to the "NEWS" section on this website.
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Grisly finds put Houston-area Ike death toll at 32
2 bodies found along Galveston shore, another in Orange County
By DANE SCHILLER Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 30, 2008
The Houston-area death toll from Hurricane Ike has reached 32 with the discovery this weekend of two unidentified bodies along the shore in Galveston County and the body of a Port Neches man found in Orange County.
For the complete story, go to the "NEWS" section on this website.
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Republican Presidential Candidate Senator McCain Tours Everglades in Airboat
Republican presidential candidate John McCain rides on an airboat as he visits the Everglades June 6, 2008 in Miami, Florida. Seated in the front row (L-R) John?s wife Cindy McCain, daughter Meghan McCain and Florida Governor Charlie Crist. The Everglades is the largest wetlands in North America.
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