UPDATE: Media have not been allowed into Crystal Beach, High Island, Gilchrist; all areas on the northern sections of Bolivar Peninsula. Media has been allowed to fly over the southern tip of Bolivar Peninsula. It is unprecedented that media is not allowed to access an area after a disaster and these actions are similar to what China does. I do not know what the situation is in the middle and upper sections of Bolivar Peninsula. However, as it stands right now, there are only two ways to view the area: by air and by Highway 124 South, both of which are closed off to media by state and federal authorities. I will post an update once more is known.
Local news has been allowed to fly over the Bolivar Peninsula, just north of Galveston Island. Many people chose there chose to ride out Hurricane Ike. However, as the storm approached, they called for emergency assistance and while some were able to be evacuated, weather conditions prevented many rescues from taking place.
Now, the area is just absolutely demolished. There does not appear to be one single home standing. A battleship monument at Seawolf Park washed ashore and listing right. Bolivar Peninsula is a barrier island unprotected to the Gulf of Mexico unlike Galveston. A storm suge of at least 15 feet is believed to have passed across this area as the hurricane’s northwest eyewall and eye passed over this location.
