Texas Officials Work to Avert Health Crisis After Ike (Brian K. Sullivan and Demian McLean)

Created by : Francis Goodwin View profile

(Bloomberg) -- Three days after Hurricane Ike delivered a less-powerful punch than predicted, coastal Texas is struggling to fend off a health-care crisis.

In Galveston, water and sewer systems aren't working. Its hospital is closed. The city is littered with debris and officials are asking for help against disease-carrying mosquitoes. One of the biggest challenges may be ensuring clean drinking water for the region.

``We're telling people who are here if they can leave, leave,'' Galveston spokeswoman Mary Jo Naschke said by telephone today. ``We are telling residents we will let them know when it's OK to return. Right now it's not good.''

When Ike hit land as a Category 2 hurricane on Sept. 13 with 110-mile per-hour (177 kph) winds, its eye passed over Galveston, perhaps sparing the city the worst of the storm's fury. The storm surge in Galveston, predicted to be as high as 25 feet (7.6 meters), may have peaked at half that level, according to a National Weather Service tidal gauge.

Forty percent of the city's 57,500 residents opted to ride out the storm, Steve LeBlanc, the city manager, said the day before Ike struck.