Ike did turn right and weaken, as almost all Texas hurricanes have done for years.
Unfortunately, the turn east and the weakening were too late and the intensity level did not decrease enough to spare Galveston Island. Galveston was hit harder than Carla and Alison. The surge water level was higher. Ike wiped out older structuctres that outlived both of those storms, according to reports.
For Crystal Beach and the Bolivar Peninsula, the late turn not only didn't help, it helped push water from G bay right over the Bolivar Peninsula and essentially wiped out 90% of the structures in Crystal Beach. This is really sad. Crystal Beach was a really, really beautiful place.
There are other communities that are impacted seriously -- about 10% of the 5 county area near Houston has electricity as I type this.
It's a slow motion disaster so far, however, because the worst news is yet to come from southeast of Houston.
