Earth Equity News

In Houston, 250,000 without Running Water, Little Relief in Sight. By Bradley Olson, Houston Chronicle, September 23, 2008. "A quarter of a million people in the Houston region were without running water Tuesday, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality... Commission officials did not know about another 600,000 people because they have been unable to communicate with those utilities in the wake of the storm. The result is hundreds of thousands of people who cannot bathe, use the bathroom, or even cook nearly two weeks after they lost access to running water. Restoring it may prove complicated. The problem has myriad causes, including power outages and severe infrastructure damage in coastal areas. Some public water systems, which Texas regulators require to continue pumping in spite of power outages, have failed to do so, according to residents they serve and state officials. 'I can do without the lights or the air conditioning, but I can't do without water,' said Rose Melchor, 69, who lives near Hobby Airport." Mayor White Says Houston Needs $20-40 Billion in Ike Aid, and Soon. By Stewart Powell, Houston Chronicle, September 24, 2008. "Houston does not want to suffer a repeat of its experience after Hurricane Katrina, when the city took in an estimated 100,000 evacuees in 2005 but saw little federal reimbursement for its substantial costs, Mayor Bill White told a Senate panel this morning. Speaking to the disaster recovery subcommittee of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, White said the federal government poured $16 billion in emergency relief into Gulf Coast states, but Houston got barely $60 million to help offset the costs of taking in evacuees. 'Now we have been hit directly, and we need the federal government's help,' he said... White told the Houston Chronicle prior to his appearance that statewide federal assistance required will amount to between $20 billion and $40 billion. He is seeking an immediate injection of $2.5 billion for Houston in the coming weeks."